FRESHMAN ENGLISH 213
LITERATURE AND WORLD HISTORY
Name:
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William Shakespeare’s
READING ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS
Remember the common reading strategies among strong readers:
QUESTION
ASK QUESTIONS WHILE YOU READ—to check your understanding, or to further it.
CONNECT
CONNECT TO WHAT YOU ALREADY KNOW—about yourself, other books, the world.
VISUALIZE
Imagine the scenes you’re reading about;
SUMMARIZE
Check that you can
MAKE MOVIES IN YOUR MIND.
RESTATE WHAT YOU’RE READING IN YOUR OWN WORDS.
INFER
DRAW A CONCLUSION about the story based on what you read—EVEN IF IT’S NOT SPECIFIED.
REPAIR
Don’t be afraid to
STOP IF YOU DON’T GET SOMETHING
and try to figure out why you don’t.
TYPES OF QUESTIONS:
a. COMPREHENSION: Do you understand what is being communicated at a basic level?
These are common plot/literal-level questions—What’s going on in the story? (Question,
Summarize, Visualize)
b. ANALYSIS: What is the author’s intention in a given passage or scene? What does she
want to the reader to understand? (Summarize, Infer)
c. SYNTHESIS: What is the effect on the audience of a given passage or scene? What
does he want the reader to experience? (Summarize, Infer, Connect)
A NOTE ON THE ITALICIZED BULLETED QUESTIONS: Please review the questions in italics and
bullets and at least make a note to yourself of the correct response—but you are only required
to write down the answers to numbered questions. Note that the content of these optional
bulleted questions may show up on upcoming quizzes or tests.
William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet
Reading #1: Act 1, Scene 1
•
Which four words are used for creating a pun in the opening lines of the play. Give the definition of each of the
words.
•
What does it mean to “bite your thumb” (1.1.43-52)? Which gesture today might be similar?
•
Restate Tybalt’s lines of 1.1.71-72 (“What, drawn, and talk of peace?…”) into your own words. What adjective
would you use to describe your first impression of Tybalt?
•
Paraphrase Benvolio’s comment on love (1.1.174-175):
Alas that love, so gentle in his view,
Should be so tyrannous and rough in proof!
•
Look up the word oxymoron if you are not sure of its meaning and write down five oxymorons appearing in
Romeo’s speech in 1.1.176-188 (“Alas that love, whose view is muffled still…”)
1.
On the opening crude sex talk and innuendo between, Sampson and Gregory, why would Shakespeare put such
characters and language into a play that is about love, not sex?
2.
Find the line(s) in the Prince’s speech that clearly states the punishment for the next Montague or Capulet who fights
again in public.
3.
In lines 134 to 145 (“Many a morning hath he there been seen…”), Montague describes the recent behavior of his son
Romeo. How is Romeo acting?
4.
In line 180, Romeo, noticing the fallout from the fight in the square, says, “Here’s much to do with hate, but more with
love.” How could the feud between the families be associated “more with love”?
5.
In lines 226-232, Romeo confesses his problem to Benvolio. What is it? And what is Benvolio’s advice in line 233?
Passage of Interest
Look back at the questions and choose ONE question that you think represents the most interesting or significant moment of
the reading. Explain your reasoning.
OR choose ONE phrase or sentence from the reading that interests you for ANY reason and that you want to discuss with a
classmate, the teacher, or the entire class. Maybe it’s a line that you don’t understand. Write it down, along with the page
number and the explanation for your choosing it. FILL THE GIVEN LINES BELOW.
Reading #2: Act 1, Scenes 2-3 (1.2-1.3)
1.2
•
Find the line in the opening lines of conversation between Capulet and Paris in which Juliet’s age is mentioned.
1.
What does Capulet say to Paris to postpone the young man’s suit of Juliet? Then briefly explain how in lines 12 and 13
Paris defends his pursuit and Capulet defends his decision.
2.
Restate Capulet’s lines 1.2.17-18 into your own words—and then explain what this suggests about Capulet’s character.
But woo her, gentle Paris, get her heart;
My will to her consent is but a part.
3.
In lines 92-94 (“Go thither, and with unattainted eye…”), what is Benvolio’s plan for Romeo?
1.3
•
4.
What words describe your first impression of the Nurse?
Explain the extended metaphor is used for Paris in Lady Capulet’s speech of 1.3.85-94? (To what is he being
compared?)
5.
Paraphrase Juliet’s response to her mother in lines 103-105 (“I’ll look to like…”)—and what does this suggest about
Juliet’s character?
Passage of Interest
Look back at the questions and choose ONE question that you think represents the most interesting or significant moment of
the reading. Explain your reasoning.
OR choose ONE phrase or sentence from the reading that interests you for ANY reason and that you want to discuss with a
classmate, the teacher, or the entire class. Maybe it’s a line that you don’t understand. Write it down, along with the page
number and the explanation for your choosing it. FILL THE GIVEN LINES BELOW.
Reading #3: Act 1, Scene 4 (1.4)
1.
•
List five examples of people who Mercutio mentions are visited by Queen Mab.
•
Find two important words from Romeo’s final speech were seen also in the Prologue?
In lines 19-22 (from “I am too sore enpierced with his shaft…), why is Romeo trying to get out of going to the ball?
Whose shaft is he talking about?
2.
a.
Explain the pun in lines 56-57, with Mercutio and Romeo:
ROMEO
I dreamt a dream tonight.
MERCUTIO
And so did I.
ROMEO
Well, what was yours?
MERCUTIO
That dreamers often lie.
ROMEO
In bed asleep while they do dream things true.
b.
3.
56
57
What does the exchange say about the way Mercutio and Romeo differ in their attitude toward dreams.
Sketch Queen Mab and her chariot. In lines 59 through 71, in the first part of this famous speech from the play,
Mercutio describes the fairy Queen Mab, who gives people fanciful dreams. Gather the details of the description and
sketch a picture of Queen Mab in her chariot while she’s on some sleeping person’s nose. In class, compare your
sketch with sketches of other classmates.
4.
Write down the line in Mercutio’s last speech of the scene where he most clearly expresses his opinion of dreams.
5.
Restate in one sentence the general idea expressed by Romeo in his last speech of the scene (just before Benvolio says,
“Strike, drum”). How does Romeo feel about dreams?
Passage of Interest
Look back at the questions and choose ONE question that you think represents the most interesting or significant moment of
the reading. Explain your reasoning.
OR choose ONE phrase or sentence from the reading that interests you for ANY reason and that you want to discuss with a
classmate, the teacher, or the entire class. Maybe it’s a line that you don’t understand. Write it down, along with the page
number and the explanation for your choosing it. FILL THE GIVEN LINES BELOW.
Reading #4: Act 1, Scene 5 (1.5)
1.
•
What is Tybalt’s initial plan for Romeo when he notices (lines 61 [“This, by his voice, should be a Montague”]
through 67) the Montague at the party?
•
How does Capulet respond to Tybalt? In which two lines does Capulet mention Romeo’s reputation in the town?
In lines 51-60 (“O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright”), Romeo’s first lines upon seeing Juliet,
a. find an example of alliteration, personification, and simile.
b.
Look up hyperbole and briefly explain why line 51 is an example.
c.
What is the rhyme pattern of the ten lines?
2.
Which speech (and spoken by whom) earlier in the play is recalled by line 55, “So shows a snowy dove trooping with
crows”? What is the meaning of line 55?
3.
Lines 104-117 (“If I profane with my unworthiest hand…”). What poetic form is represented in these fourteen lines?
Briefly explain the extended metaphor employed in these lines?
4.
When the Nurse explains to Juliet who it is that Juliet has just fallen for, Juliet responds, “My only love sprung…”
(1.5.153-56).
a. Paraphrase Juliet’s words.
b.
Why is this four-line response an example of foreshadowing?
Passage of Interest
Look back at the questions and choose ONE question that you think represents the most interesting or significant moment of
the reading. Explain your reasoning.
OR choose ONE phrase or sentence from the reading that interests you for ANY reason and that you want to discuss with a
classmate, the teacher, or the entire class. Maybe it’s a line that you don’t understand. Write it down, along with the page
number and the explanation for your choosing it. FILL THE GIVEN LINES BELOW.
Reading #5: Act 2, Prologue, Scenes 1 and 2
The Prologue
1. The Prologue
a.
What noun is personified in the first line of the Prologue?
b.
c.
2.1
•
Find and write down two examples of alliteration (mark them in the text, too).
What or who are the references for “old desire” and “young affection”?
What are the literal and inferential meanings of Benvolio’s comments about Romeo, in lines 45-6:
Go, then, for ‘tis in vain
To seek him here that means not to be found.
2.
In Mercutio’s speech that begins at line 8 (“Nay, I’ll conjure too.”), which line convinces the audience that Mercutio is
unaware of Romeo’s change of heart?
2.2
3.
•
What is the metaphor Romeo uses for Juliet in the opening speech of Scene 2?
•
What is Juliet concerned about in lines 99-102 (“If thou dost love…”)?
•
What is the lovers’ plan for the following day? (See lines 149-155)
•
Translate/Paraphrase Romeo’s lines: “Love goes toward love as schoolboys from their books, / But love from love,
toward school with heavy looks.” (2.2.166-167)
•
What two figures of speech are represented in Juliet’s famous line, “Good night, Good night. Parting is such sweet
sorrow”? (2.2.199)
•
Explain the simile he then uses in lines 19-21 (“The brightness…”)
Translate/Paraphrase:
a.
“O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?” (2.2.36)
b.
“That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet.” (2.2.46-47)
c.
“My life were better ended by their hate / Than death prorogued, wanting of thy love.” (2.2.82-83)
4.
How does Romeo’s overhearing and then responding to Juliet’s private confession of love (she does not know that
he is there, hence listening to her) affect the development of their relationship? That is, how would things
progress if Romeo had never heard Juliet say she loves him?
5.
What is Juliet’s concern in
a. lines 114-116 (“O, swear not by the moon, th’ inconstant moon…”)
b.
line 125 (“It is too…”)
Passage of Interest
Look back at the questions and choose ONE question that you think represents the most interesting or significant moment of
the reading. Explain your reasoning.
OR choose ONE phrase or sentence from the reading that interests you for ANY reason and that you want to discuss with a
classmate, the teacher, or the entire class. Maybe it’s a line that you don’t understand. Write it down, along with the page
number and the explanation for your choosing it. FILL THE GIVEN LINES BELOW.
Reading #6: Act 2, Scene 3 (2.3)
1.
2.
•
Paraphrase in one sentence Friar Lawrence’s chiding response to Romeo in lines 69-85 (“Holy Saint Francis…there’s
no strength in men”).
•
Restate “Women may fall when there’s no strength in men” (2.3.85).
•
Look at the final word in each line of the entire scene. What do you notice about the way in which the entire scene
is written?
•
What is Romeo’s request of Friar Lawrence in lines 65-68 (…When and where and how…”)
For Friar Lawrence’s opening speech (lines 1-31), answer the following:
a. What figure of speech is represented in line 1? Line 3? Line 5?
b.
Paraphrase/Restate lines 9 and 10, “The earth that’s nature’s mother is her tomb; / What is her burying grave,
that is her womb.”
c.
Also paraphrase the message in lines 17-20, “For naught so vile…stumbling on abuse.”
d.
Lines 28-29 (“Two such opposed kings…”) introduce the important metaphor of the speech. Explain.
Friar Lawrence abruptly changes from chiding to supporting in lines 97-99 (“In one respect I’ll thy assistant be…”).
What is his reasoning?
3.
Paraphrase the famous line that ends the scene, “Wisely and slow. They stumble that run fast,” and explain why it’s
ironic for the friar, at this moment, to be saying it.
Passage of Interest
Look back at the questions and choose ONE question that you think represents the most interesting or significant moment of
the reading. Explain your reasoning.
OR choose ONE phrase or sentence from the reading that interests you for ANY reason and that you want to discuss with a
classmate, the teacher, or the entire class. Maybe it’s a line that you don’t understand. Write it down, along with the page
number and the explanation for your choosing it. FILL THE GIVEN LINES BELOW.
Reading #7: Act 2, Scenes 4-6 (end of Act 2)
2.4
•
Give some examples of alliteration from Mercutio’s speech (around lines 14-23).
•
What word is played with in Mercutio’s taunting song to the Nurse in lines 136-141)?
•
In lines 183-186 (“Bid her devise…”), Romeo clarifies the plot. Explain.
be used for?
Also, what are “these cords” (line 192) to
1.
What is apparently in the letter that Tybalt has sent to Romeo? (lines 7-8)
2.
After the playfulness of Mercutio, Benvolio, and Romeo, the Nurse finds Romeo. What does Romeo tell her about
Mercutio in lines 149-151 (“A gentleman, Nurse, that loves…”)?
3.
What warning does the Nurse give to Romeo in lines 168-170 (“Bur first let me tell you…”)?
2.5
•
4.
At which line does the Nurse finally give the Juliet the news that she’s been waiting for? Write it down.
What is Juliet waiting for (and complaining about) as the scene opens? Who is “lame”? What glides faster than “the
sun’s beams”?
2.6
5. How is foreshadowing expressed in Friar Lawrence’s lines from 9-15?
Passage of Interest
Look back at the questions and choose ONE question that you think represents the most interesting or significant moment of
the reading. Explain your reasoning.
OR choose ONE phrase or sentence from the reading that interests you for ANY reason and that you want to discuss with a
classmate, the teacher, or the entire class. Maybe it’s a line that you don’t understand. Write it down, along with the page
number and the explanation for your choosing it. FILL THE GIVEN LINES BELOW.
Reading #8: Act 3, Scene 1
1.
•
Note at which line in the scene the form of speech changes from prose to poetry?
•
Mercutio criticizes Benvolio for being “as hot a jack in thy mood as any in Italy” (12-13). Give one example
Mercutio uses in lines 16-31 that shows Benvolio to have a hot temper (being not as nice a guy as he appears to be
till now).
•
In lines 46-47 (“Mercutio, thou consortest with Romeo”), explain the pun Mercutio uses to tease Tybalt.
•
What does Benvolio mean in line 54, “Here all eyes gaze on us”?
•
Romeo’s lines 70-71: “But love thee better than thou canst devise / Till thou shalt know the reason of my love.”
Why does Romeo suddenly love Tybalt?
•
Write the line of Benvolio’s that shows his concern that something bad is about to happen.
Mercutio’s moment.
a. Find and write down the famous line that Mercutio repeats three times after being stabbed by Tybalt.
b.
2.
Romeo’s response.
a. Paraphrase Romeo’s words in lines 118-120 (“O sweet Juliet,…”)
b.
3.
Also, explain his pun, “And you shall find me a grave man.”
Find Romeo’s rhyming couplet on page 123 (between lines 109 and 134) that foreshadows the grim
future.
Romeo: “O, I am Fortune’s fool!” (3.1.142) Why?
4.
Pleading before the Prince
a.
Paraphrase how Lady Capulet reasons that Romeo should be killed for his action.
b.
Paraphrase how Lord Montague reasons that Romeo’s life should be spared.
c.
Line 199: “My blood for your rude brawls doth lie a-bleeding.” About whom is the Prince speaking?
d.
Write down the lines that reveal the Prince’s decision?
Passage of Interest
Look back at the questions and choose ONE question that you think represents the most interesting or significant moment of
the reading. Explain your reasoning.
OR choose ONE phrase or sentence from the reading that interests you for ANY reason and that you want to discuss with a
classmate, the teacher, or the entire class. Maybe it’s a line that you don’t understand. Write it down, along with the page
number and the explanation for your choosing it. FILL THE GIVEN LINES BELOW.
Reading #9: Act 3, Scenes 2 and 3
3.2
•
News from the Nurse
o Line 42: “Ah weraday, he’s dead, he’s dead, he’s dead!” About whom is the Nurse speaking?
o
In lines 46-57 (“Romeo can / Though heaven cannot…”), there is a misunderstanding. Explain it.
o
What does Juliet mean in line 70, “What storm is this that blows so contrary?”
1.
To whom is Juliet speaking in line 1, “Gallop apace, you fiery-footed steeds”? (That is, explain the classical allusion
here.) For what is she waiting to arrive? What is the dramatic irony of this moment?
2.
Juliet’s Response
•
Line 119: “Some word there was, worser than Tybalt’s death, / That murdered me.” What is the word
Juliet means?
•
In her next speech, beginning on line 100 (“Blistered by thy tongue…”), what is the change in her tone?
Explain what she is saying.
a.
Which figure of speech is best represented in lines 79-91 (“O serpent heart hid…”)? Paraphrase Juliet’s
response.
b.
Explain what Juliet means in “Back, foolish tears” (3.2.112) and “All this is comfort” (3.2.118)
3.3
•
Line 118: “Hold thy desperate hand!” What is Romeo just about to do?
•
Paraphrase Friar Lawrence’s criticism of Romeo beginning with line 118 (“Art thou a man?…”).
•
In lines 156-168 (“Go, get thee to thy love…”), paraphrase the friar’s plan for Romeo.
•
What is Romeo’s response to finding out he has been banished? Write down a line that best represents
his response.
3.
Line 67: “Thou canst not speak of that thou dost not feel.” What is Romeo saying to Friar Lawrence?
4.
In lines 145-151, what are the “pack of blessings” Friar Lawrence lists?
Passage of Interest
Look back at the questions and choose ONE question that you think represents the most interesting or significant moment of
the reading. Explain your reasoning.
OR choose ONE phrase or sentence from the reading that interests you for ANY reason and that you want to discuss with a
classmate, the teacher, or the entire class. Maybe it’s a line that you don’t understand. Write it down, along with the page
number and the explanation for your choosing it. FILL THE GIVEN LINES BELOW.
Reading #10: Act 3, Scenes 4 and 5
3.4
•
1.
Paraphrase line 8 from Paris: “These times of woe afford no times to woo.” What is it to woo?
What is the “desperate tender” that Capulet plans to make to Juliet, to take place on Thursday (since Wednesday is too
soon)? And why will there be such a small gathering?
3.5
2.
•
What is Romeo’s point in lines 17 (“let me be put to death”) and 24 (“Come death and welcome”)?
•
In lines 35-36 (“O, now begone..,”), why are things darker as the day gets lighter? What does Juliet mean?
•
In lines 71-76, how does Lady Capulet misunderstand Juliet’s grief?
•
Write down the foreshadowing lines within lines 51 (“O, thinK’st thou we shall ever meet again?”) and 59
(“…Adieu, adieu”).
•
Backing up to lines 112-115 (“Well, well, thou hast a careful father, child…”), why, according to Lady Capulet, has
her husband arranged the marriage so quickly for Juliet?
•
Note Lady Capulet’s rejection of her daughter in line 145, “I would the fool were married to her grave.” This is
called dramatic irony (it is also foreshadowing). Why is the line ironic?
•
In lines 166-175 (“Hang thee, young baggage…”) and 203-207 (“An you be mine…”), Capulet gives Juliet a clear
choice. What is it? What threat (promise?) does Juliet then make to her mother after her father leaves?
•
In lines 225-236, (“Faith, here it is…”), what is the Nurse’s advice to Juliet?
As the scene opens,
a. why does Juliet prefer the nightingale to the lark? According to Romeo, in line 6 (“It was the lark…”), what is
the role of the lark?
b.
3.
Lines 9 and 10: “Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day / Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain-tops.”
Explain which figures of speech are represented here.
In lines 60-64 (“O Fortune, Fortune, all men call thee fickle”), what is Juliet asking of Fortune? Why? What figures of
speech are represented here?
4.
5.
Juliet Plays with Language:
o Explain her pun in line 88: “And yet no man like he doth grieve my heart.”
a.
Explain the possible double readings of lines 98-100: “Indeed, I never shall be satisfied / With Romeo till I
behold him—dead— / Is my poor heart, so for a kinsman vexed.”
b.
In lines 125-128, what is ironic about her plans to marry?
Line 253: “Thou and my bosom henceforth shall be twain.” What does Juliet mean?
Passage of Interest
Look back at the questions and choose ONE question that you think represents the most interesting or significant moment of
the reading. Explain your reasoning.
OR choose ONE phrase or sentence from the reading that interests you for ANY reason and that you want to discuss with a
classmate, the teacher, or the entire class. Maybe it’s a line that you don’t understand. Write it down, along with the page
number and the explanation for your choosing it. FILL THE GIVEN LINES BELOW.
Reading #11: Act 4, Scenes 1 and 2
4.1
•
Why does Paris not “know the lady’s mind”? Explain the allusion to Venus: “For Venus smiles not in a house of
tears” (4.1.8)
•
What is “the reason of this haste” (4.1.15), as Paris explains in lines 11-14?
•
For lines 61-66, explain the metaphor used for “this bloody knife.”
1.
Juliet is playful with language in lines 19-37 with Paris. Explain the possible double reading of line 26: “I will confess to
you that I do love him.”
2.
In lines 51-55, what does Juliet want prevented? And what is her solution if there is no help?
3.
For lines 78-90, list at least three things that Juliet would prefer “rather than marry Paris” (78).
4.
In lines 91-122, Friar Lawrence presents the plan. List briefly the details of the plan.
4.2
•
5.
What act does Juliet play when she returns that makes her father so happy?
What is the sin that Juliet repents in lines 18-19? Paraphrase her comments to her father.
Passage of Interest
Look back at the questions and choose ONE question that you think represents the most interesting or significant moment of
the reading. Explain your reasoning.
OR choose ONE phrase or sentence from the reading that interests you for ANY reason and that you want to discuss with a
classmate, the teacher, or the entire class. Maybe it’s a line that you don’t understand. Write it down, along with the page
number and the explanation for your choosing it. FILL THE GIVEN LINES BELOW.
Reading #12: Act 4, Scenes 3-5
4.3
•
1.
Juliet’s decision to drink.
a. Line 24: “No, no, this shall forbid it. Lie thou there.” What does this refer to? What does it refer to?
4.4
2.
Knowing what you know of the plot, why does Juliet ask the Nurse to “leave me by myself tonight” (4.3.2)?
b.
Line 29: “I fear it is.” What is her fear, just mentioned in the above lines?
c.
In lines 31-36 (“How if, when I am laid into the tomb…”), what is the fear that Juliet expresses here?
•
What time in the morning does the scene take place?
•
Explain the value of comedy (the nutty servingmen) in this scene?
By the end of the short scene, Capulet tells the Nurse to wake up Juliet. What is Capulet’s plan for the day? What is
Juliet’s?
4.5
•
Paraphrase/Restate Friar Lawrence’s comment in lines 83-84, “She’s not well married…”
3.
In lines 30-38, Capulet responds to Juliet’s apparent death first by using a simile and then personification. Find them
and write them below.
4.
Line 43: “…deflowred by him.” What/Who does him refer to? Briefly explain the extended metaphor of lines 40-46.
Passage of Interest
Look back at the questions and choose ONE question that you think represents the most interesting or significant moment of
the reading. Explain your reasoning.
OR choose ONE phrase or sentence from the reading that interests you for ANY reason and that you want to discuss with a
classmate, the teacher, or the entire class. Maybe it’s a line that you don’t understand. Write it down, along with the page
number and the explanation for your choosing it. FILL THE GIVEN LINES BELOW.
Reading #13: Act 5, Scenes 1 and 2
5.1
•
Line 18: “Then she is well and nothing can be ill.” Why does Balthasar tell Romeo Juliet is “well”? How much
does Balthasar know of the Friar’s plan?
•
Balthasar’s words in line 28, “I do beseech you, sir, have patience,” recall which famous lines from Friar Lawrence
in Act 2, Scene 3?
•
Why does Romeo believe that this apothecary will sell him the poison that is forbidden to sell in Mantua? (Look up
the word penury.) What is the penalty to the seller?
•
Paraphrase/Translate lines 38-39: “O mischief, thou art swift / To enter in the thoughts of desperate men.”
1.
Lines 6-12 (“I dreamt my lady came and found me dead…”) show Romeo foreshadowing something true and also not
true. Knowing how the play ends, explain how Mercutio’s interpretation of dreams appears to be correct.
2.
In line 25, “Then I defy you, stars!” Romeo invokes fate once again. What does he mean in this line? How does he
play to defy the stars?
3.
Romeo and the Apothecary.
a. Paraphrase/Translate lines 79-80:
APOTHECARY:
My poverty, but not my will, consents.
ROMEO:
I pay thy poverty and not thy will.
b.
What does Romeo mean to say in line 88, “I sell thee poison; thou hast sold me none”?
5.2
•
Line 21: “Get me an iron crow and bring it straight / Unto my cell.” What is an “iron crow” and why does Friar
Lawrence need it?
4.
According to Friar John in lines 5-12 (“Going to find a barefoot brother out…”), what happened that delayed his journey
to Mantua to deliver the news of Friar Lawrence’s plan to Romeo?
5.
What is Friar Lawrence’s new plan, mentioned at the end of the scene?
Passage of Interest
Look back at the questions and choose ONE question that you think represents the most interesting or significant moment of
the reading. Explain your reasoning.
OR choose ONE phrase or sentence from the reading that interests you for ANY reason and that you want to discuss with a
classmate, the teacher, or the entire class. Maybe it’s a line that you don’t understand. Write it down, along with the page
number and the explanation for your choosing it. FILL THE GIVEN LINES BELOW.
Reading #14 (final reading): Act 5, Scene 3
5.3
•
In lines 22-32 (“Give me that mattock…”), What is likely written in the letter Romeo gives to Balthasar?
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What does Romeo say is his chief task in going into the tomb?
•
In lines 49-53 (“This is that banished haughty Montague…”), why does Paris think that Romeo has come to the
tomb?
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What does Romeo mean in lines 61-62, “I do beseech thee, youth, / Put not another sin upon my head”?
•
What is the Montague’s news of his wife in lines 218 and 219?
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What does the Prince mean in line 304, “winking at your discords”?
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What is Montague’s gift to Verona that will represent the families’ reconciliation?
1.
Why does Paris come into the tomb? What does line 20 seem to say about his feelings? (Look up obsequy.)
2.
Paraphrase/Translate the following:
a. Lines 92-94, “Death, that hath sucked…conquered.”
b.
3.
Lines 102-105, “Shall I believe…paramour.”
In lines 156-164, Friar Lawrence speaks to Juliet before she has noticed Romeo dead beside her. What are the Friar’s
new plans? Why does he leave without her?
4.
Explain “friendly drop” (168) and “happy dagger” (174). What does “this” refer to in line 175, “This is thy sheath”?
5.
After the story is retold to the Prince by Friar Lawrence and Balthasar, the Prince tells Capulet and Montague in line
303, “…heaven finds a means to kill your joys with love”. What does he mean?
Passage of Interest
Look back at the questions and choose ONE question that you think represents the most interesting or significant moment of
the reading. Explain your reasoning.
OR choose ONE phrase or sentence from the reading that interests you for ANY reason and that you want to discuss with a
classmate, the teacher, or the entire class. Maybe it’s a line that you don’t understand. Write it down, along with the page
number and the explanation for your choosing it. FILL THE GIVEN LINES BELOW.