Romeo and Juliet Notes

 

Iambic Pentameter

 

Iam: one line

Penta: five- There are five stressed and five unstressed syllables per line (total 10 syllables). All single words are considered stressed.

 

Blank Verse:  a line that has 10 syllables per line but doesn’t rhyme

 

Couplet:  2 consecutive lines in poetry that rhyme

 

Shakespearian Sonnet:

• 14 lines
• 12 lines of iambic pentameter
• Ends in a couplet

 

Important topics in Romeo and Juliet

• Family Feud
• Young Love
• Fate vs. Free Will

 Astrology: 

• Belief that a person’s character is determined by the position of the sun, moon and stars at the time of birth.
• Future events are not accidental but based on astrology and signs of the person with whom they come in contact.

 

1. Why do people believe in horoscopes?

2.  Why do people believe in fate?

 

 

 Literary Terms

Allusion- Casual reference to literature, famous historical or literary figure or event. An allusion may be drawn from history, geography, literature, or religion.

Prologue- Intro to the play. Common in plays written druing the 1500's but rare in Shakespeare's plays.

Monologue- long speech directed to other characters onstage

Soliloquy- a character reveals thoughts to the audience but not to other characters

Aside- a brief side comment between two characters

Oxymoron- comparison combining two contradictory terms

Dramatic Irony- the audience knows what the characters do not

Verbal Irony- character says onething but means the opposite

Foreshadowing- hints or clues of something that is going to happen

Personification- giving human-like qualities to something not human

Alliteration- repeated consonant sound at the beginning of a word

Simile- comparison of unlike things using like or as

Metaphor- comparison of unlike things NOT using like or as

Other Notes

What is the friar's second plan?

1. Agree to marry Paris

2. Sleep alone

3. Take the potion and sleep for 42 hours

4. Buried in Capulet's tomb

5. Awake to Friar and Romeo (who got letters about the plan)

6. Escape to Mantua

What are Juliet's fears before she takes the potion?

1.  What if it doesn't work and I have to marry Paris?

2.  What if it's poison?

3.  What if I wake before Romeo gets there and

     - suffocate

     - go crazy

     - Tybalt's go seeks revenge

Home | HHS Home | District Home | Parent Connect | Student Connect | Teachers and Staff Directory | Student Handbook