NYS Common Core ELA & Literacy Curriculum
9.1.3
DRAFT
Grade 9 • Module 1 • Unit 3 • Lesson 7
Lesson 7
Introduction
This lesson is the first in a three-lesson arc that addresses Act 2.2, the balcony scene. Close readings
will focus on building student understanding of Romeo and Juliet as they influence each other’s
character development, as well as building shared knowledge of some of the most iconic lines in the
play.
The reading is split at strategic points in the arc. The first lesson asks students to focus on soliloquies,
one for Romeo and one for Juliet. The next lesson shows Romeo and Juliet in conversation with each
other. The arc culminates in a writing assignment that comprises the Mid-Unit Assessment and asks
students to consider character development across the three-lesson arc. This concentrated exploration
halfway through the unit will prepare students to consider cumulative character development in the
End-of-Unit Assessment.
The first lesson engages with the lines 1–51, encompassing both Romeo’s famous line “What light
through yonder window breaks” and Juliet’s iconic musing “A rose by any other word.” This passage
allows for an exploration of Shakespeare’s structural and stylistic choices, as well as character
development of Romeo and Juliet. Students will focus on the playwright’s choices concerning both
concrete structural elements (e.g., where the characters are in relation to each other on the stage) and
craft (e.g., how the characters are revealed to the audience).
Throughout the three-lesson arc, students will be working in small groups. Group work will encourage
students to articulate their thoughts and expose students to varying opinions. For homework students
will re-read a portion of the text that they have close read in this lesson and complete an activity that
asks them to reflect on their understanding.
Standards
Assessed Standard(s)
RL.9-10.5
Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure a text, order events
within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks) create such
effects as mystery, tension, or surprise.
Addressed 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.
RL.9-10.4
Determine the meaning of words or 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;
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NYS Common Core ELA & Literacy Curriculum
DRAFT
Grade 9 • Module 1 • Unit 3 • Lesson 7
how it sets a formal or informal tone).
Assessment
Assessment(s)
Quick Write: Why do you think Shakespeare crafted the scene so that the audience is aware of
Romeo’s presence before Juliet is aware?
High Performance Response(s)

In crafting the scene, Shakespeare involves the audience in eavesdropping and sympathizing with
Juliet’s plight. The soliloquy reveals Juliet’s innermost thoughts, ones she may have kept to herself
had she known Romeo was listening, as evidence by her embarrassment “else would a maiden
blush be paint my cheek.”
Vocabulary
Vocabulary to provide directly (will not include extended instruction)

vestal livery (n.) – virginal appearance

doff (v.) – cast off

aloft (adv.) – high above

baptized (v.) – gave a name to
Vocabulary to teach (may include direct word work and/or text-dependent questions)

discourses (v.) – speaks, talks
Lesson Agenda/Overview
Student-Facing Agenda
% of Lesson

Standards: RL.9-10.3, RL.9-10.4, RL.9-10.5

Text: Romeo and Juliet, Act 2.2, lines 1–51

Introduction of Lesson Agenda

Homework Accountability

Masterful Reading: Romeo and Juliet, Act 2.2, lines 1–51

Text-Dependent Questions and Activities

Quick Write

Closing
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NYS Common Core ELA & Literacy Curriculum
DRAFT
Grade 9 • Module 1 • Unit 3 • Lesson 7
Materials

Free Audio Resource: https://itunes.apple.com/us/itunes-u/romeo-and-juliet/id384528334

Alternative Audio: http://www.audiogo.com/us/romeo-and-juliet-bbc-radio-shakespeare-williamshakespeare-gid-21505
File: 9.1.3 Lesson 7 Date: 8/31/13 Classroom Use: Starting 9/2013
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3
NYS Common Core ELA & Literacy Curriculum
DRAFT
Grade 9 • Module 1 • Unit 3 • Lesson 7
Learning Sequence
Percentage Teacher Actions
of Lesson
5%
Student Actions
Instructional Notes (extensions,
supports, common
misunderstandings)
Students look at the agenda.
Free Audio Resource:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/itunesu/romeo-and-juliet/id384528334
Introduction of Lesson Agenda
Begin by reviewing the agenda and sharing
the standards for this lesson: RL.9-10.3,
RL.9-10.4, RL.9-10.5.
This lesson is the first in a three-lesson arc
exploring Act 2.2. This arc will move slowly
through a close reading of this scene,
culminating in the Mid-Unit Assessment.
Alternative Audio:
http://www.audiogo.com/us/romeoand-juliet-bbc-radio-shakespearewilliam-shakespeare-gid-21505
In this lesson students will be listening to
and close reading Act 2.2, lines 1–51.
5%
Homework Accountability
Lead a brief class discussion asking students
to share their responses to the homework
question:
Students observe that Juliet has
discovered Romeo is a Montague, the
only son of her family’s enemy.
What has Juliet just discovered about
Romeo?
5%
Masterful Reading
Have students listen to a masterful reading
of Act 2.2, lines 1–51.
Students follow along, reading silently.
Instruct students to read along in their text.
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If students are confused about the
timeline of the play, inform them
that what they are about to read
today is happening on the same night
NYS Common Core ELA & Literacy Curriculum
Provide the following question to focus
student reading: To whom are Romeo and
Juliet speaking in this excerpt? How do you
know?
75%
Grade 9 • Module 1 • Unit 3 • Lesson 7
DRAFT
as the text they read in the last
lesson. The Capulet ball has ended,
but it is the same night.
Text-Dependent Questions and Activities
Have students form discussion groups.
Throughout the entire three-lesson arc,
students will stay in these groups unless
independent work is specifically called for.
Ask students to read Romeo’s lines (lines 1–
32) aloud in their groups.
Students form groups and read aloud lines Have students form small,
1–32.
heterogeneous groups for the
purpose of discussing the text in
more depth and recording insights.
You may choose to create these
groups ahead of time to ensure they
are diverse. Assign, or have students
assume, a role within the group, such
as Facilitator, Reader, and Recorder.
During discussions, allow time for
each group to share their
collaborative work with the class.
Encourage students to use sentence
stems in their group discussion.
•
•
1. To whom is Romeo talking? How do you
know?
Student responses may include the
following:
1. Romeo is talking to himself (or no one)
and/or he is talking to the moon. Students
point to the fact that Romeo is the only
figure present for nine lines before Juliet
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I think that Romeo is talking to...
because...
I agree/disagree with (student)
because...
NYS Common Core ELA & Literacy Curriculum
DRAFT
Grade 9 • Module 1 • Unit 3 • Lesson 7
enters and evidence like line 11 “O, that
she knew she were” and line 14 “’tis not
to me she speaks.”
2. What phrase(s) or word(s) in lines 12–14
can help you make meaning of the word
discourses? What can you infer about
Juliet’s actions from the way Romeo
describes her?
2. Listen for students to identify “speaks,
yet she says nothing,” “I will answer it”
and “not to me she speaks.” Therefore,
the word discourses is a reference to
speaking. The inference is that Juliet’s
mouth is silent, but her eyes are
communicating.
Circulate and observe student discussions,
assisting only as needed.
After students have had time to discuss in
groups, have them share their responses
with the class.
Instruct students to read lines 33–49 aloud
in their groups. Ask students to consider the
following questions while they read:
3. To whom is Juliet speaking? How do you
know? Hint: Consider how Romeo’s lines in
this passage help support your answer.
3. Juliet is also talking to herself (or no
one). Romeo states that “tis not to me she
speaks” (line 14). He hesitates before
revealing himself, by stating "Shall I hear
more, or shall I speak at this?" (line 37)
Romeo’s lines support the inference that
Juliet is thinking out loud.
4. What does the audience know that Juliet
does not know?
4. The audience knows Romeo hears Juliet
but that she is unaware of his presence.
Circle and observe, assisting only when
necessary.
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If students struggle over the meaning
of the word discourse, encourage
them to think of words it sounds
similar to—discuss or, more loosely,
converse. Also encourage them to
look into the next line of text, where
Romeo explicitly says he will answer
the discourse and that she speaks,
though Juliet does not say anything.
NYS Common Core ELA & Literacy Curriculum
DRAFT
Grade 9 • Module 1 • Unit 3 • Lesson 7
After students have had time to discuss in
groups, have them share their responses
with the class.
Direct students to reread lines 33–36 aloud
in their groups.
5. What does Juliet want Romeo to do?
Why? Tell students to consider what they
have learned about Romeo and Juliet’s
families.
5. Juliet wants Romeo to “refuse thy
name” and “deny thy father” and become
her lover (“be but sworn my love”). Juliet
wants Romeo to deny his name so he
won’t be her enemy (“tis but thy name
that is my enemy”).
Direct students to reread lines 43–44 aloud
in their groups.
6. In these lines, what relationship is Juliet
establishing between the name of a thing
and the thing itself?
6. Juliet says a rose would smell the same
if it had a different name (“a rose by any
other word would smell as sweet”). Juliet
is saying that a living thing—in this case
Romeo—exists independently from its
name.
Direct students to reread lines 38–49 aloud
in their groups.
7. How does Juliet’s claim about the nature
of a rose apply to Romeo? Students should
consider their answer to the previous
question.
7. Juliet’s example of the rose applies to
Romeo because if Romeo changed his
name, he would still be the same person
whom she loves (“Romeo would, were he
not Romeo called, retain that dear
perfection”).
Students may struggle with the
figurative phrase “deny thy father
and refuse thy name.”
Circulate and observe student discussions,
assisting only as needed.
After students have had time to discuss in
groups, have them share their responses
with the class.
Ask students to consider lines 33–49 in
context of their discussion. Then have
8. Juliet probably shared more than she
might have revealed if she had known
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Remind students that character
development happens over time, so
NYS Common Core ELA & Literacy Curriculum
students discuss the following questions in
their groups:
8. How might Juliet’s soliloquy have been
different if she had known Romeo was
listening? Hint: Count the number of lines
Juliet has in this scene. How does this
compare to her earlier speeches?
Grade 9 • Module 1 • Unit 3 • Lesson 7
DRAFT
Romeo was there. Juliet’s soliloquy is
sixteen lines long. This is the most lines
Juliet has spoken so far in the play.
often comparing past behavior or
speech patterns with current ones
can offer insight into characters.
If students have not yet encountered
the word soliloquy offer the following
definition: soliloquy (n.) the act of
talking to oneself; a dramatic
monologue that reveals the inner
thoughts and feelings of a character.
Circulate and observe student discussions,
assisting only as needed.
Encourage students to find examples
of both dialogue and monologue in
their text.
After students have had time to discuss in
groups, have them share their responses
with the class.
Students could benefit from
deconstructing the words monologue
and dialogue. The suffix -logue
means “words” or “speech.” The
prefix mono- means “one” or “alone”
(monochrome means “a single color,”
monotone means “one level of
speaking,” so monologue means “one
person talking”). Dia- is the same in
meaning as the prefix bi-, which
means “two.” (Diameter means “a
line that splits a circle into two equal
halves”, so a dialogue is two people
talking to one another.)
Have students finish reading lines 49–51 in
their groups.
9. What course of action has Romeo just
9. Romeo reveals his presence to Juliet
and addresses her directly, saying “I take
thee at thy word” This resolves the
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Additional scaffolding TDQs:
•
Offer students a definition for
baptized as meaning “to give a
NYS Common Core ELA & Literacy Curriculum
taken? How does this affect the scene?
Circulate and observe student discussions,
assisting only as needed.
DRAFT
suspense built to this point in the scene.
Quick Write
Have students respond to the following
Quick Write prompt:
Why do you think Shakespeare crafted the
scene so that the audience is aware of
Romeo’s presence before Juliet is aware?
Remember to use evidence from the text to
support your answer.
Students complete a Quick Write. See
High Performance Response at the
beginning of this lesson.
Ask students to hand in their Quick Write at
the end of class.
5%
name to.” What new name does
Romeo say he will take?
Romeo says he will take love as
his new name; he will no longer
be known as Romeo.
After students have had time to discuss in
groups, have them share their responses
with the class.
5%
Grade 9 • Module 1 • Unit 3 • Lesson 7
Closing
For homework students will re-read the text Students re-read the text from this lesson
from this lesson and respond in writing to
and respond to a task that asks them to
the following task: Reread the text from this reflect on their understanding.
lesson (Act 2.2, lines 1–51) and choose a
specific line from both Romeo and Juliet
that demonstrates the emotion Shakespeare
is crafting in this scene. Use evidence from
the text to support your choice.
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9
Use the Quick Write to assess
students' understanding of this
lesson's section of Romeo and Juliet.
NYS Common Core ELA & Literacy Curriculum
DRAFT
Grade 9 • Module 1 • Unit 3 • Lesson 7
Homework
Reread the text from this lesson (Act 2.2, lines 1–51) and choose a specific line from both Romeo and Juliet that demonstrates the emotion
Shakespeare is crafting in this scene. Use evidence from the text to support your choice.
File: 9.1.3 Lesson 7 Date: 8/31/13 Classroom Use: Starting 9/2013
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