NYS Common Core ELA & Literacy Curriculum
9.1.3
DRAFT
Grade 9 • Module 1 • Unit 3 • Lesson 12
Lesson 12
Introduction
In this lesson, students will continue to develop their close reading skills as they resume their analysis
of Tybalt’s death scene in Act 3.1, lines 108–138. In conjunction with Lesson 11, Lesson 12 establishes
Act 3.1, lines 108–138 as a turning point in Romeo’s character development.
In their close reading of lines Act 3.1, lines 120–138, students will work in pairs to analyze word choice,
figurative language, and character interactions in order to explore the unifying focusing question of this
two-lesson arc: Is Romeo “fortune’s fool”? At the close of the lesson, students will consolidate and
strengthen the analysis they have performed in both lessons as they craft a final brief written response
to the focusing question. For homework, students will continue to read their Accountable Independent
Reading texts.
Standards
Assessed Standard(s)
RL.9-10.3
Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting
motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters,
and advance the plot or develop the theme.
Addressed Standard(s)
RL.9-10.1
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text
says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
ELALiteracy.CCRA.R.7
Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats,
including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.
Assessment
Assessment(s)
Quick Write: Is Romeo “fortune’s fool” (line 138)? Use evidence from the text to support your
response.
High Performance Response(s)
Responses to this Quick Write will vary. The sample responses below illustrate elements to look for in
student work:
• Romeo is not “fortune’s fool” because it was his own decision that led to Tybalt’s death and the
tragic situation he is in now. Romeo could have continued to avoid violence, but instead he chose
to kill Tybalt in retribution for Mercutio’s death. No one forced his hand; he made the choice to
resort to violence on his own when he said “away to heaven, respective lenity, and fire-eyed fury
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1
NYS Common Core ELA & Literacy Curriculum
DRAFT
Grade 9 • Module 1 • Unit 3 • Lesson 12
be my conduct now” (lines 125–126). The bad things that happen as a consequence of Tybalt’s
death are Romeo’s own doing, not just the result of fate.
• Romeo is “fortune’s fool” because the chain of events that led him to kill Tybalt were not under his
control. Romeo did not know that his relationship with Juliet would lead to Mercutio’s death. This
is an example of bad luck because he never could have known how one event would influence the
other. Once Mercutio dies, Romeo has no choice but to avenge his friend’s death. When Romeo
says “this day’s black fate on moe days doth depend, this but begins the woe others must end”
(lines 121–122), he is explaining just how little control he has over the events that will follow.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary to provide directly (will not include extended instruction)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
mortal (adj.) – causing or having caused death
temper (n.) – disposition; (v.) – to soften something by adding the influence of something else
aspire (v.) – to rise, climb, or soar
woe (n.) – great sorrow or distress
respective (adj.) – partial (obsolete)
conduct (n.) – guide (obsolete)
consort (v.) – accompany, escort (obsolete)
Vocabulary to teach (may include direct word work and/or text-dependent questions)
• lenity (n.) – the quality or state of being tolerant
• fortune (n.) – chance or luck, or an outside, random force that affects humans
Lesson Agenda/Overview
Student-Facing Agenda
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•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
% of Lesson
Standards: RL.9-10.1, RL.9-10.3, ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.7
Text: Romeo and Juliet, Act 3.1, lines 108–138
Introduction of Lesson Agenda
Homework Accountability
Opening Activity
Text-Dependent Questions and Activities
Quick Write
Film: Romeo + Juliet Act 3.1, lines 143–197 (1:10:37–1:12:24)
Closing
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2
5%
5%
15%
50%
10%
10%
5%
NYS Common Core ELA & Literacy Curriculum
DRAFT
Materials
• Film: Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet
• Film Tool: Stylistic Choices (see Lesson 2)
File: 9.1.1 Lesson 12 Date: 8/31/13 Classroom Use: Starting 9/2013
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3
Grade 9 • Module 1 • Unit 3 • Lesson 12
NYS Common Core ELA & Literacy Curriculum
DRAFT
Grade 9 • Module 1 • Unit 3 • Lesson 12
Learning Sequence
Percentage Teacher Actions
of Lesson
5%
Student Actions
Instructional notes (extensions,
supports, common
misunderstandings)
Introduction of Lesson Agenda
Begin by reviewing the agenda and sharing
the standards for this lesson: RL.9-10.1, RL.910.3, ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.7.
In this lesson, students will close read
3.1.119–138, concluding the exploration of
Tybalt’s death scene (Act 3.1, lines 108–138)
begun in Lesson 11.
Students look at the agenda.
Students will explore the final chunk of this
excerpt (Act 3.1, lines 119–138) in pairs and
then respond independently to the focusing
question of this two-lesson arc: Is Romeo
“fortune’s fool”?
5%
Homework Accountability
Instruct students to review the Lesson 11
Quick Write that they expanded for
homework. (What is Romeo implying about
his own role in the events to come?)
Lead a brief class discussion of student
responses.
Students identify a possible discontinuity
in Romeo’s prediction of the future and
the description of events to come as
provided by the CHORUS in the prologue
of Act 1.
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The purpose of this activity is to
review crucial understandings
developed in Lesson 11, as well as
to prompt students to continue
the process of making connections
across the text in its entirety.
NYS Common Core ELA & Literacy Curriculum
DRAFT
Grade 9 • Module 1 • Unit 3 • Lesson 12
Collect student homework for accountability.
15%
Opening Activity
Display the following activity on the board for
students to complete independently.
Students should jot down their responses and
be ready to share with the class.
Opening Activity: Reread Act 1 Prologue, lines
1–14, then revisit your Lesson 11 Quick Write.
How does Romeo’s prediction of future
events in lines Act 3.1, lines 121–122 compare
to the description of the events of the play
provided by the Chorus?
Lead brief class discussion of student
responses.
50%
Student responses may include the
following:
In Act 3.1, line 122, Romeo states that
Mercutio’s death has begun a terrible
chain of events that he will not be able to
stop: “this but begins the woe others must
end.” In contrast, in the Act 1 Prologue the
CHORUS informs the audience that the
death of the two children of the feuding
households (Romeo and Juliet) will “bury
their parent’s strife” (Act 1 Prologue, line
8). Although Romeo is not present to
witness the resolution, according to the
CHORUS Romeo does stop the “woe”
through his own death.
Text-Dependent Questions and Activities
As in Lesson 11, begin with a masterful
reading of the entire excerpt (Act 3.1, lines
108–138). Instruct students to follow along in
their texts as they listen.
Students follow along, reading silently.
Instruct student to reread lines 120–131.
Display the following questions for students
to discuss in their pairs. Pairs should be
prepared to share their answers with the
class.
1. Students identify the phrase “fire-eyed
fury be my conduct now” in line 126 to
determine that lenity must be the opposite
of fury, or "the state of being tolerant or
kind."
Student responses may include the
following:
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5
Students will most likely need to
rely heavily on the vocabulary
chart provided at the beginning of
class throughout this question
sequence.
NYS Common Core ELA & Literacy Curriculum
DRAFT
Grade 9 • Module 1 • Unit 3 • Lesson 12
1. What clues in line 126 can help you to
determine the meaning of lenity in line 125?
2. What choice is Romeo making in lines 126–
131?
2. Romeo is choosing to approach Tybalt
with violence and anger, rather than the
tolerance that he formerly demonstrated.
3. What three possible paths to justice does
Romeo propose in line 131?
3. Students identify the following three
options outlined in Romeo’s statement
“Either thou or I, or both, must go with
him” (131):
•
•
•
4. What do you notice about the pacing of
this fight sequence? Hint: How does it
compare to Mercutio and Tybalt’s duel (3.1
lines 82–97)?
Circulate and provide support as needed.
Lead full class discussion.
Instruct student pairs to read lines 134-139.
Pose the following questions one at a time for
full class discussion:
5. In what contexts have you heard the word
fortune before? Consider the meaning of
I die.
You die.
We both die.
4. The fight sequence between Romeo and
Tybalt is very brief as compared to the
extended fight sequence between
Mercutio and Tybalt. The fight is
encompassed in a single stage direction
after line 133 “They fight. Tybalt falls [and
dies]”. This direction is short, and includes
very little description. The action here is
very abrupt.
5. Students might suggest that they have
heard the word fortune in the context of
money. Other students might also mention
that they have heard the word fortune
used in the context of fortune teller or
fortune cookie. In this passage, fortune is
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Additional scaffolding for lines
134–139:
5. It may be helpful to have
students substitute each definition
of fortune that you have discussed
NYS Common Core ELA & Literacy Curriculum
10%
DRAFT
fortune in these different scenarios. What do
you think fortune means in the context of this
passage?
used to imply a future or fate that will
happen regardless of individual choice or
self-determination, it is a future that is
destined to happen.
6. What might it mean to be “fortune’s fool”
(line 138)?
6. If fortune means luck or destiny or
someone’s future, and to be a fool means
to be tricked by someone, or to be made
to look ridiculous, then to be “fortune’s
fool” is to be tricked by your destiny, or to
have bad luck, or to be a victim of your
fate.
Grade 9 • Module 1 • Unit 3 • Lesson 12
and paraphrase the sentence as a
strategy for determining the
meaning of fortune in this
sentence.
Quick Write
Students will draw upon the analysis they
have performed in their pairs in Lessons 11
and 12, in order to write a brief independent
response to the unifying focusing question of
this two-lesson arc. Students will hand in their
written responses at the end of class.
Student answers to this Quick Write will
vary. See High Performance Response(s)
for sample student answers.
Display the following Quick Write prompt: Is
Romeo “fortune’s fool” (line 138)? Use
evidence from the text to support your
response.
Collect student Quick Writes.
10%
Film: Romeo + Juliet
Hand out blank copies of the Film Tool:
Students watch film and take notes on
Lurhmann’s stylistic choices and key plot
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7
Film debrief questions:
NYS Common Core ELA & Literacy Curriculum
DRAFT
Stylistic Choices (see Lesson 2).
events on their film viewing tool.
Conclude the lesson by watching a twominute clip of Baz Lurhmann's Romeo + Juliet
(1:10:37–1:12:24; see Unit Overview). This
clip will address the culminating events of Act
3.1 that precede this lesson’s excerpt.
Key event of this clip: Prince banishes
Romeo
Lead a brief recap of student observations
(see Instructional Notes for possible
discussion questions). Ensure that students
have noted the key events of this clip in the
appropriate space on their tool.
5%
Closing
For homework, instruct students to continue
their Accountable Independent Reading
through the lens of their focus standard and
prepare for a 3–5 minute discussion of their
text based on that standard.
Students continue to read their
Accountable Independent Reading text for
homework.
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8
Grade 9 • Module 1 • Unit 3 • Lesson 12
• Where are these scenes set?
How does this influence your
understanding of the action of
the scene?
• What important props did the
characters use in these scenes?
Why do you think these props
were emphasized?
• How were the characters
dressed? What might their
costumes suggest about these
characters?
• What sounds did you hear?
What effect is Luhrmann
creating with these sounds?
• What did you notice about the
light in these scenes? Why do
you think Luhrmann made
these choices?
NYS Common Core ELA & Literacy Curriculum
DRAFT
Grade 9 • Module 1 • Unit 3 • Lesson 12
Homework
Students should continue to read their Accountable Independent Reading through the lens of their focus standard and prepare for a 3–5
minute discussion of their text based on that standard.
File: 9.1.3 Lesson 12 Date: 8/31/13 Classroom Use: Starting 9/2013
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Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
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9