9th Grade English Honors – Mr. Dreeson
Reading Syllabus and Vocabulary List for Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare
***All quiz and test dates (including vocabulary quizzes) will be announced in class and on the weekly syllabi.
***Note: It is in your best interest to read and thoroughly annotate each assignment by the day it is due. Be on the lookout for reading checks at any time!
Some suggestions for annotating:
Underline or highlight your text whenever a new character appears in the play; doing so will help you keep track of who’s who.
Annotate difficult or confusing passages, or ones which you would like to discuss in class. In particular, try to keep track of Shakespeare’s use of imagery and figurative language, as these devices are constantly used to develop the main themes of the play. Often, it is helpful to try and paraphrase the more difficult passages on your own before asking for help.
Whenever we discuss a certain scene in class, make sure you take notes in your text. We will have more than one quote I.D. quiz on the play, and the passages I use are almost always ones we’ve covered in class.
Some themes and ideas to track while you read:
The interplay of opposites (i.e. young and old, dark and light, reason and passion, “grace and rude will”)
The futility and tragedy of human conflict
The relationship of parents to children
Society’s ideals and expectations of women
Society’s ideals and expectations of men
The interrelationship of fate, chance, and individual will
Use of crude humor and sexual innuendo in the play
The intense and fickle (ever-changing, undependable) nature of young love— and Shakespeare’s tone of sarcasm and irony in describing the effects of this love
Assignment 1 DUE ON: Tuesday, 10/15
Prologue - p.7 (940)
Act I. Scene I - pp.9-25 (942-950)***Pages in parenthesis are from textbook
Vocabulary words:
1. grudge - page 7, line 3
2. pernicious - page 15, line 86
Assignment 2 DUE ON: Wednesday, 10/16
Act I. Scenes II and III - pp.27-41 (950-957)
Vocabulary words:
1. portentous - page 19, line 144
2. fortnight (meaning only) - page 35, line 17
Assignment 3 DUE ON: Thursday, 10/17
Act I. Scenes IV and V - pp.41-61 (957-966)
Vocabulary words:
1. meddle - page 29, line 41
2. scathe - page 57, line 95
Assignment 4 DUE ON: Friday, 10/18
Act II. Scenes I and II - pp.65-83 (968-977)
Vocabulary words:
1. extremities - page 65, line 13 (review extremity)
2. discourses - page, 69, line 13
Assignment 5 DUE ON: Monday, 10/21
Act II. Scenes III and IV - pp.83-103 (977-987)
Vocabulary words:
1. rancor - page 89, line 99
2. warrant - page 37 (twice), lines 50;57, p.197, lines 1;7
Assignment 6 DUE ON: Tuesday, 10/22
Act II. Scenes V and VI - pp.103-111. (987-990)
Vocabulary words:
1. loathsome - page 111, line 12
2. encounter - page 111, line 29
Test on Acts I and II on Wednesday, 10/23
Assignment 7 DUE ON: Friday, 10/25
Act III. Scene I - pp.115-129 (992-999)
Vocabulary words:
1. martial - page 127, line 169 2. dexterity – page 127, line 171
Assignment 8DUE ON: Monday, 10/28
Act III. Scenes II and III - pp.129-153 (999-1007)
Vocabulary words:
1. eloquence - page 131, line 36
2. contrary - page 133, line 70
Assignment 9 DUE ON: Tuesday, 10/29
Act III. Scenes IV and V - pp.153-173 (1007-1016)
Vocabulary words:
1. abhors - page 163, line 104
2. discords - page 157, line 28
Assignment 10 DUE ON: Wednesday, 10/30
Act IV. Scenes I and II - pp.177-189 (1018-1024)
Vocabulary words:
1. immoderately - page 177, line 6
2. pensive - page 181, line 40
Assignment 11 DUE ON: Thursday, 10/31
Act IV. Scenes III and IV and V - pp.191-207 (1024-1032)
Vocabulary words: (see next page)
1. distraught - page 193, line 50
2. lamentable - page 199, line 21 (and many more times)
Test on Acts III and IV on Friday, 11/1
Assignment 12 DUE ON: Tuesday, 11/5
Act V. Scenes I and II - pp.211-219 (1034-1038)
Vocabulary words:
1. presage - page 211, line 2
2. inauspicious - page 227, line 111
3. sepulcher (meaning only) - page 229, line 146
Assignment 13 DUE ON: Wednesday, 11/6
Act V. Scene III to end - pp.219-243 (1038-1049)
Vocabulary word:
1. ambiguities - page 237, line 225
Test on Act V on Thursday, 11/07