DATE: Wednesday, March 7 – Thursday, March 8
TITLE: Act 3 Scene 5
TIME: 46 minutes
SETTING: Freshmen English I
OBJECTIVES:
Students will be able to:
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Identify examples of verbal and dramatic irony in Romeo and Juliet
Illustrate their own examples of irony in a modern setting with a partner
Interpret emotions and character motivation in familial relations between Juliet and her parents
in Act 3 Scene 5
MATERIALS:
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Copies of Act 4 reading guide
“Romeo and Juliet” by The Killers song
PREPARATION:
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Make copies
Read and take notes on the text in relation to meeting objectives
ACTIVITY:
Act 3 Scene 5
Opener:
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By the end of this song, have these definitions copied in your notebook and your reading
guides and Romeo and Juliet books out.
o Verbal Irony: when a speaker says one thing but means another
o Dramatic Irony: when a character says something that has one meaning to the
characters but another meaning to the audience
o Situational Irony: when the result of an action is different from the expected effect
Body:
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Read Act 3 Scene 5 in detail talking about irony and various themes
Tell students to have their notebooks out and be prepared to take really good notes
Begin by reading the summary at the beginning of the chapter
Vocabulary word “fickle” is after Romeo leaves Juliet says “O Fortune!... but send him back.”
(3.5.61-65). She also says that Romeo is not fickle so she doesn’t know what fortune wants with
him since fortune is fickle. Who is Juliet talking to here? “Fortune.” What is she telling fortune
to do? Be fickle, which means that it’s easily changeable and unpredictable. She wants
“fortune,” or fate, to be fickle and change its mind and send Romeo back to her.
Read lines 70 – 79
o
o
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Why does Lady Capulet think Juliet is crying? Why is Juliet really crying?
Lady Capulet finds Juliet crying and assumes it’s because Tybalt is dead. We know Juliet
is crying because Romeo has just left her.
o This is an example of DRAMATIC IRONY. Go back to your notes. Someone read for me
what Dramatic Irony means. Why is this Dramatic Irony?
Read line 98-104
o Point out when Lady Capulet says she will hunt him down and give him an
“unaccustomed dram” which means poison.
 Think back to what we have talked about in the past..
 What do we think this is an example of? – Foreshadowing – this is also ironic
because Romeo does poison himself
 What is this foreshadowing? Jot down these line numbers, write
“FORESHADOWING” next to them because you may want to come back to this
line when we get to the end of the play.
Keep reading while checking for comprehension periodically until we get to Juliet’s lines 131138. Juliet says, “I will not marry yet; and when I do, I swear it shall be Romeo, whom you know
I hate, Rather than Paris.”
o What does Lady Capulet think Juliet is saying? – LC thinks Juliet is saying “I’d rather
marry this guy who I hate more than anything before I’d marry Paris or anyone at all”
o What is Juliet really thinking? – she’s just lying because she’s already married to Romeo
o Look back at your definitions from the beginning of class. What is this an example of?
 Verbal irony
Keep reading while checking for comprehension
Stop at line 157 “I would the fool were married to her grave!”
o What do we see here in the line “married to her grave”
o What is this an example of? – foreshadowing because she is married and she will die
with her husband in the end
Closer:
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You’ve seen two examples of irony, with a partner, choose one type of irony and create your
own modern day example. Specify either Verbal or Dramatic Irony at the top of your page.
Day 2
Opener (5 min):
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Take a look at the example of irony you came up with yesterday. Why is this an example of
that type of irony specifically?
Volunteers share stories with the class.
Body:
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Refresh students’ memories of what we read about in Scene 5 the day before
Keep reading and then read lines 180-189
o What does Capulet mean when he says “young baggage”
 What is baggage? When you say someone has baggage what does that mean?
 So he’s calling his daughter baggage
o Then he calls her “disobedient wretch”
o
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Then he says “I tell thee what – get thee to church a Thursday or never after look me in
the face”
 He’s saying you better get your butt to that church to marry Paris on Thursday
or don’t ever talk to me again
o “my fingers itch” – he’s “itching” to smack her
o The next lines say are directed towards Lady Capulet saying
 We thought we were blessed to have a kid and now look at what we have
 Capulet says it was a curse to have Juliet
o “Hilding” – good for nothing
Take three minutes to write your reaction to this down.
Skip the next lines but indicate that the nurse tries to stick up for Juliet but Capulet knocks her
down too
Read lines 233- until the end checking for comprehension
Stop after line 241
o What is Juliet asking for here?
 She’s asking for help from her nurse
 She needs her
 Her nurse is her most trusted “family”
Continue reading the nurse’s part
o How does the nurse respond?
 She says to marry Paris – Romeo is banished and is nothing compared to how
great Paris is. Paris is noble and Romeo is someone her family hates
o Why does the nurse react this way?
o Up until this point, the nurse was always there for Juliet. She knew about the marriage
and didn’t say anything. Most of the time when Romeo and Juliet were sneaking around
together the nurse knew about it and didn’t bust them.
o What changed?
Continue reading until the last line when Juliet says, “If all else fail, myself have power to die.”
o What is Juliet saying here?
o What is this an example of?
 Dramatic irony
o She’s not sure if she’s more angry that the nurse betrayed her or that she talked badly
about Romeo
Closer:
o Journal: Throughout the play this far, Juliet has seemed to act like a little girl in love.
Now she reacts as strong young woman. Why do you think she has changed?
HOMEWORK:
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Due Thurs: finish short stories if you have not finished them
Due Friday: study for vocabulary quiz
Due Monday: Act 4 Reading Guide
STANDARDS:
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CC.9-10.R.L.2 Key Ideas and Details: Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in
detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and
refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text
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CC.9-10.R.L.3 Key Ideas and Details: 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.
CC.9-10.R.L.4 Craft and Structure: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are
used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact
of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time
and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone)