Romeo and Juliet Essay Prompt A
English I, PreAP, Mrs. Puente
I.
Planning the Paper
PROMPT A: Write a persuasive essay in which you argue that one of the three main causes of Romeo’s and Juliet’s
deaths is the most important. Write your thesis here:
In ____________________________’s ______________, ___________________________ ,
Name of the author
Name of the genre
Name of the literary work, underlined
_______________________________________________ is the primary cause of Romeo’s and Juliet’s deaths
Cause of death
because____________________________________________________________________________________.
Now write topic sentences that address the three possible causes of Romeo’s and Juliet’s deaths. Put the causes in order
from least important to most important. You need a minimum of two pieces of evidence per body paragraph.
Cause 1 (least important):
Evidence:
Evidence:
Evidence:
Cause 2 (important):
Evidence:
Evidence:
Evidence:
Cause 3 (most important):
Evidence:
Evidence:
Evidence:
II.
Writing the Paper
Introduction -Lead or hook to grab the reader’s attention
-TAG (Title, Author, Genre) and minimal plot summary. Please note that the genre is a play.
Plays should be underlined (i.e.,Romeo and Juliet). Please spell the author’s name correctly
(William Shakespeare).
-Thesis
Body Paragraphs (you will essentially use the CEC format here)
-Topic sentences (Claim) in each body paragraph that express ideas in support of your thesis.
-Evidence from the text that supports your topic sentence
-Commentary or explanations of the significance of your evidence
Conclusion
-Summary of your main points
-Expression of your own thoughts
-Brief considerations of related questions, such as:
How does a major theme of the play relate to the causes of the characters’ deaths?
What lesson can be learned from the character’s fates?
What was Shakespeare trying to tell us about life through this story?
Other Parameters:
1. Introduce each quote by providing a context (speaker and situation).
2. Cite each quote. (See reverse for details.)
3. Provide transitions between sentences and paragraphs.
4. Give your essay a title that fits the unique ideas expressed in your paper.
5. Proofread for spelling, punctuation, and other grammatical errors.
Romeo and Juliet Essay Prompt A
English I, PreAP, Mrs. Puente
1 Remember that any exact wording from the play must be properly formatted as a quote and cited. Failing to
adequately quote and cite material is a form of plagiarism and can have dire consequences, depending on the
guidelines of your instructor and school.
2 Compose a lead-in for all quotations. A lead-in is a short explanation of the quote and who is saying it. For
example: When she saw the car crash, Jane turned to Steve and said, "Look what happened." A "floating"
quotation with no setup or lead-in is not as effective as one with context.
3 Cite all quotations from a play using the author's last name and the act number, scene number and line
number. Some plays do not have scene numbers; if this is the case, simply omit it. Place everything in
parentheses at the end of the sentence that contains the quotation. Follow this construction if you want to cite
a quote from Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman" that comes from Act 2 and speech 15 -- this play does not
have scenes: (Miller 2.15).
4 Quote a monologue -- one character's speech -- or one side of a piece of dialogue by simply including a lead-in,
enclosing the exact wording in quotation marks and adding a citation. Add a comma before the quotation. For
example: To impress the successful Bernard, Willy exaggerates his son Biff's success, "Well, he's been doing very
big things in the West. But he decided to establish himself here" (Miller 2.281).
5 Quote a long monologue -- four or more lines -- delivered by a character by setting it off in block format. This
means that, instead of enclosing it in quotation marks, you put the quotation on a separate line from the lead-in
and indent it 10 spaces. For block quotes, end the lead-in with a colon. Don't forget to cite it. For example:
Willy continues his delusional discussion with the nonexistent Ben:
Without a penny to his name, three great universities are begging for him, and from there the sky's the limit,
because it's not what you do, Ben. It's who you know and the smile on your face! It's contacts, Ben, contacts!
The whole wealth of Alaska passes over the lunch table at the Commodore Hotel, and that's the wonder, the
wonder of this country, that a man can end with diamonds here on the basis of being liked! (Miller 2.202)
6 Quote sets of dialogue between two or more characters by also using block format and putting the characters'
names in all capital letters. Don't forget a lead-in and a citation that includes all speeches being quoted. For
instance:
Willy's delusions consistently show how much Happy and Bernard idolized Biff, especially when they argue over
who will carry his football gear:
BERNARD. Biff, I'm carrying your helmet, ain't I?
HAPPY. No, I'm carrying the helmet.
BERNARD. Oh, Biff, you promised me.
HAPPY. I'm carrying the helmet. (Miller 2.213-216)
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