Romeo and Juliet Essay Question: Which ONE character is the MOST responsible for the tragic events that occurred in Verona and the deaths of numerous characters? When You turn it in to TURNITIN.COM:
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You must choose one, and only one, character to blame. Choose a character from your blame chart (you cannot choose Prince Escalus). Write a 4-­‐paragraph essay (approximately 600-­‐1000 words) in which you state and prove your THESIS by providing claims, context, evidence and commentary. Your evidence should be references to the text in the form of direct quotations. The essay will be broken down into the following four paragraphs: 1) INTRODUCTION (make sure to include title and author somewhere in the introduction: Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. The date of publication is 1598.) • A hook at the beginning to get the reader interested. • A transition that moves from your hook to thesis and gives some background context. • A very clearly stated THESIS (what are you trying to prove in the essay). • A one-­‐sentence map of the main point of each of your 2/3 body paragraphs. SAMPLE INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPH (essay question: Which character in the play suffers the most? Thesis: Romeo suffers the most) Given the amount of dead bodies piled up by the end, one might think
that William Shakespeare’s 1598 play Romeo and Juliet more closely resembles
a modern horror movie than a tragic play. But one of the things that defines a
great tragedy is that the key characters do not live happily ever after; in fact they
usually experience a tremendous amount of pain and suffering. Romeo and
Juliet is no different in this way, as ALL of the major characters suffer great
losses. One key question raised by the play is, which character suffers the most
out of all of them? By the time all is said and done, it is clear that Romeo is the
character who suffered the most. We know that this is true because Romeo lost
more loved ones than anybody else and because he blames himself for
everything that went wrong.
1) Hook 2) Transition/ Context 3) Thesis 4) Map of 2 key points in body paragraphs 2) BODY PARAGRAPH • A topic sentence that will state the MAIN CLAIM of the paragraph (the specific reason why we should blame…). • Some context to set up your evidence. • EVIDENCE to support the claim (in the form of facts and quotes—properly cited). • Some COMMENTARY to explain HOW your facts and quote support your claim. SAMPLE BODY PARAGRAPH (Essay thesis: Prince Escalus deserves the most blame) claim context Evidence (including
one or two quotes) commentary If Prince Escalus had followed through on the threats that he made, fewer
lives would have been lost. In the very first scene of the play, Prince Escalus
breaks up a fight in the streets of Verona. He angirly tells all the Capulets and
the Montagues that these “civil brawls” have happened three times, and then he
threatens them with a punishment, saying, “If ever you disturb our streets
again, / Your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace” (1.1.87-88). His words
were very clear and very strong, however, the very next day there is a fight
between the families, and two people (Mercutio and Tybalt) wind up dead.
The only survivor of the battle is Romeo, and while we expect Romeo to be
killed for his actions, the Prince only banishes him from Verona with the
following words: “Immediately do we exile him hence” (3.1.187). This
surprising decision from the Prince has terrible consequences. Had he simply
killed Romeo, like he promised he would, he could have prevented more deaths.
Yes, Romeo would have been dead, but it would have saved Paris, and it might
have saved Juliet and Lady Montague. It also would have sent a very clear
message to all the Capulets and the Montagues that they could not get away
with fighting. This simple action might have stopped the bitter feud between
the families BEFORE the deaths of six people finally convince them to make
peace with one another. 3) ANOTHER BODY PARAGRAPH • everything is the same as paragraph 2, except you have A different claim that helps you support your thesis. In other words, you give a DIFFERENT reason why we should blame the same character. Your evidence and commentary will also be different. 4) CONCLUSION (here are SOME things you could do in your conclusion) • You might tie the conclusion back to the hook of your thesis (always a good idea). • You tie up the essay well by reminding the reader of the key points you made (you must do more than just this). • You might briefly examine/dismiss counterarguments. You do not have to, but it is an option. • You might look at big-­‐picture issues that relate to your topic. Based on your essay, what does this play have to say about integrity or love or friendship or responsibility or impulsiveness or family or anger or decision-­‐making or….(insert your own idea here). In other words, you might say something about the literary work, and what lessons can be learned from it. Quoting from Romeo and Juliet:
You do need quotations (one or two) in each of your body paragraphs (not in the introduction or conclusion). Quotations always need to be put into context (what is going on at the time; who is speaking….). HOW TO QUOTE A SINGLE LINE: As Romeo is leaving Juliet’s bed chamber, heading to
Mantua, he says, “Farewell” (3.5.47).
HOW TO QUOTE TWO OR MORE LINES: As Romeo is leaving Juliet’s bed chamber, heading to
Mantua, he says, “Farewell/ I will omit no opportunity/ That may convey my greetings, love, to
thee” (3.5.47-49).
Things to remember:
1) Always quote EXACTLY WORD FOR WORD, and use quotation marks around what you quote.
As Romeo is leaving Juliet’s bed chamber, heading to Mantua, he says, “Farewell” (3.5.47).
2) Always give relevant context. Who is speaking, and what is the situation?
As Romeo is leaving Juliet’s bed chamber, heading to Mantua, he says, “Farewell” (3.5.47).
Even if there is a period at the end of the quote you use, DO NOT put the period there; put it at the
very end of the sentence, after the parentheses.
3) Place a parentheses after each quotation you use. The parentheses will look like this (3.5.47),
containing only numbers which are separated by periods: the numbers represent the quote’s act,
scene, and line numbers. Do not use page numbers. Put the period AFTER the parentheses.
As Romeo is leaving Juliet’s bed chamber, heading to Mantua, he says, “Farewell” (3.5.47).
(3.5.47) means Act 3, scene 5, line 47. This is always the correct order.
4) When you are quoting MORE THAN ONE consecutive line from the play, put a slash between the lines.
If the original lines look like this in your book:
ROMEO:
Farewell.
I will omit no opportunity
That may convey my greetings, love, to thee.
Your quote will look like this:
As Romeo is leaving Juliet’s bed chamber, heading to Mantua, he says, “Farewell / I
will omit no opportunity / That may convey my greetings, love, to thee” (3.5.47-49).