Ms. CrandellName ______

English 9Period ___

Romeo and Juliet Literary Analysis Essay Assignment

This essay should be approximately 3 pages and must include MLA-style in-text citations, along with a Works Cited page at the end.

Option 1: Consider the concepts of identity, relationships, and truth as related to Romeo and Juliet. Create an argument using two of the concepts that can proven to be true when analyzing Romeo and Juliet.

Or, answer the following question: How does personal identity impact the relationships in Romeo and Juliet?

Option 2: English 9 Honors Synthesis Essay: Consider the concepts of identity, relationships, and truth as related to Romeo and Juliet and A Separate Peace. Create an argument using at least two of the concepts that can proven to be true when analyzing Romeo and Juliet and A Separate Peace.

Or, answer the following question: How does personal identity impact the relationships in Romeo and Juliet and A Separate Peace?

Option 3: English 9 Honors

1. Compare/Contrast Essay: Read Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations and write a compare/contrast essay on one of the following topics:

  • The nature of true love as portrayed in both Great Expectations and Romeo and Juliet
  • The role of dreams for the future in both Great Expectations and Romeo and Juliet
  • Lies and deceit in both Great Expectations and Romeo and Juliet
  • In both works, examine symbolism and motifs portraying the natural world and connect them to at least two of the unit’s concepts
  • How personal identity impacts the relationships in both Great Expectations and Romeo and Juliet

Or, choose your own concepts to write about, comparing and contrasting the two works of literature.

Option 1 Template

Thesis statement:

______’s (fill in a character’s name) personal identity as a ______(fill in a description) contributes to the tragedy.

(Examples: Friar Lawrence’s personal identity as a wise counselor contributes to the tragedy.

OR The Nurse’s personal identity as a mother-figure contributes to the tragedy.)

Body paragraph 1:

1st example of this character showing their personal identity:

How this contributes to the tragedy:

Body paragraph 2:

2nd example of this character showing their personal identity:

How this contributes to the tragedy:

Body paragraph 3:

3rd example of this character showing their personal identity:

How this contributes to the tragedy:

Conclusion

Ms. Crandell

English 9 Argument Writing Rubric

Exceeds Standards (Exemplary)Meets Standards Approaching Standards

Introduction / Opening skillfully and engagingly orients reader to topic; title of work, author of work, and thesis are fluidly presented. / Opening clearly orients reader to topic; mentions title of work and author of work. Contains thesis. / Opening vaguely orients reader to topic; missing title of work and author; thesis may be missing.
Thesis / Thesis is compelling. Thesis is strong, specific, and arguable, and may be stated in a complex sentence. / Thesis is strong, specific, and arguable. Thesis can be proven with evidence from the text. / Thesis is less precise, unclear, or is developing.
Development (Evidence and Analysis) / Writer gives ample context to guide reader; uses convincing and relevant quotes from the text. Analysis is lengthy, precise, and insightful, connecting clearly to the thesis. / Writer gives enough context to guide reader; uses relevant quotes from the text. Analysis is sufficient in length and connects clearly to the thesis. / Writer may simply drop quotes into the paper, with little relevance apparent. Analysis may be less precise or may not clearly connect to the thesis.
Conclusion / Skillfully sums up the claim and the evidence presented. / Conclusion clearly sums up the claim and the evidence presented. / Conclusion only vaguely mentions the claim or the evidence, or conclusion may be too short.
Style / Uses literary present tense; third person POV; Sentences are varied in length and may frequently use complex or compound structure; sophisticated diction; MLA format throughout; heading is correct and title serves to compel the reader from the beginning. / Uses literary present tense; third person POV; Sentences are varied in length; formal diction; MLA format throughout; heading is correct and title adds information and interest. / Lack of literary present tense; may not be in third person POV; sentences are short and/or choppy; diction is unsophisticated; MLA format may be missing; heading and/or title may be missing.
Mechanics and Usage / Mastery of formal academic mechanics and usage. / Command of formal academic mechanics and usage (no systematic errors; no errors that keep reader from understanding) / May show systematic misuse of mechanics and usage; errors may keep reader from understanding what is intended.

Checklist:

_____ Complete all pre-writing assignments

_____ Choose a topic and write a thesis statement

_____ Write opening paragraph with title, author, and thesis statement

_____ Write three body paragraphs, each with a topic sentence and at least one quote

_____ Within each body paragraph, comment on and explain the quotes used

_____ Write concluding paragraph

_____ Proofread for errors and uneven tone

_____ Write a title

_____ Give your paper a heading

_____ Format your paper with double spacing and 12-point font

_____ Type and print it out

Ms. CrandellName______

English 9

PIE Graphic Organizer (Point, Illustration, Explanation) for essay pre-writing

Your Essay’s Title: ______

Introduction
Thesis (main claim)
Point (topic sentence for body paragraph 1)
Illustration (quoted evidence not just dropped in, but introduced within your own sentence)
Explanation (your analysis and commentary for this evidence)
Point (topic sentence for body paragraph 2)
Illustration (quoted evidence not just dropped in, but introduced within your own sentence)
Explanation (your analysis and commentary for this evidence)
Point (topic sentence for body paragraph 3)
Illustration (quoted evidence not just dropped in, but introduced within your own sentence)
Explanation (your analysis and commentary for this evidence)
Conclusion

Model Student Paper (Honors Level)

M B

Ms. Crandell

English 9

Period 5

Romeo and Juliet/Silas MarnerEssay

17 November, 2015 (Revised 1 December, 2015)

Romeo and Juliet and Silas Marner: The Role of Emotional Exile

George Eliot’s novel Silas Marnerand Shakespeare’s tragedy Romeo and Juliet each examine how emotional exile can affect one’s life. Throughout both of the literary works, the characters Romeo, Juliet, and Silas at one time or another experience this difficulty. Through figurative language and the actions of their characters, Eliot and Shakespeare examine how the lonely, isolating experience of emotional exile can lead to a heightened sense of human connection and love.

Juliet experiences emotional exile because her parents have allowed her very little interaction with the outside world. As a result, Juliet is emotionally exiled from the everyday happenings of society. She has never been in love, the Nurse is her only friend, and she is overly trusting of people. Because she doesn’t know much about love, she is more likely to act without thinking when she feels even the slightest attraction, and therefore allows herself to be fully immersed in whatever she feels. Most people would proceed with more caution and would not show the depth of their love until more time had passed, whereas Juliet falls in love with Romeo the first time she meets him. When Paris asks to marry Juliet, Lord Capulet responds, “My child [Juliet] is yet a stranger in the world./She hath not yet seen the change of fourteen years” (1.2.8-9). In this passage, Shakespeare is showing his audience how young Juliet is and how little of the world she has seen. He is implying because of those facts, she could be easily susceptible to strong emotions such as love. Giving this backstory explains why Juliet makes hasty and rash decisions.

It is apparent that Juliet feels a heightened sense of love toward Romeo when she says, “My bounty is as boundless as the sea/My love as deep; the more I give to thee/The more I have, for both are infinite” (2.2.133-135). Shakespeare uses strong figurative language to illustrate the intensity of Juliet’s love. He tells his audience how deep her love runs, which conveys the message that because Juliet has never been in love before, what she feels is extremely passionate and possibly more that what she could have felt had she been exposed to the world at an earlier age.

Romeo experiences emotional exile after he is banished from Verona. When he is exiled, he is also subjected to social ostracization. Being banished is embarrassing and isolating. Banishment takes a huge toll on him, making his already emotional character more easily affected by emotions such as love. When talking to Romeo, Friar Lawrence says, “Thou fond mad man, hear me a little speak” (3.3.55). Friar Lawrence tells Romeo that he is talking too much about Juliet, is being foolish, and is mad in love. Through this statement, Shakespeare describes how Romeo’s banishment escalates his dramatic tendencies. Shakespeare gives his audience a sense of how being exiled can affect one’s emotional health. Romeo’s sense of love is heightened toward Juliet because he is unable to see and communicate with her. Just before he learns of Juliet’s “death,” he says, “Ah me, how sweet is love itself possessed/When but love’s shadows are so rich in joy!” (5.1.11-12), and “For nothing can be ill if she [Juliet] be well” (5.1.17). The first passage is Romeo saying that since he loves Juliet so much in her absence, being in her company has to be the best thing ever. Romeo has immersed himself completely into his love for Juliet and his exile makes him appreciate and think even more intensely about her. The second passage is Romeo saying that if Juliet is well, everything is great. Romeo would not have said this before he had been exiled, and so Shakespeare is illuminating his audience about how Romeo’s separation from Juliet has heightened his love for her.

Silas Marner experiences emotional exile in a hard, lonely way. First, he is accused of murdering the senior deacon in his town of Lantern Yard-- but he didn’t actually do it. Because of the cold, distant way people treat him, he is forced to leave his town. When he arrives in the town in which Silas Marnertakes place, Raveloe, he has become so distrusting of other people that they ignore him and send him further into his emotional exile. Silas turns to weaving and his wealth to fill the hole for the human connection that is necessary for human life. Until Silas loses his money, he has been emotionally exiled from feeling love and almost all emotions, and therefore, like Juliet, he does not know what he is missing. In her book, Eliot writes, “for it was pleasant to him to feel them [Silas’s money] in his palm, and look at their bright faces, which were all his own; it was another element of life, like the weaving and the satisfaction of hunger, subsisting quite aloof from his life of belief and love from which he had been cut off” (Eliot). Eliot depicts to her readers how much Silas has been excluded from society, and sets up a backstory. She reveals how much Silas needs some love in his life. He has to let someone in-- his sense of love and need for human connection increased greatly because of his emotional exile. It’s evident that Silas’ sense of love is heightened when Eliot writes, “His [Silas’] mind was growing into memory: as her life unfolded, his soul, long stupefied in a cold narrow prison, was unfolding too, and trembling gradually into full consciousness” (Eliot). Through eloquently written language, Eliot shows her readers how large Silas’ emotional transformation after he met Eppie was. Eliot suggests that had it not been for Silas’ emotional exile, he would not have been able to feel such great love at the end of the story.

Romeo and Juliet and Silas Marner explain through figurative language and the actions of their characters how the experience of emotional exile can lead to a heightened sense of human connection and love. Shakespeare describes how Juliet’s experiences of being emotionally exiled from society cause her to fall in love with with a vigor and intensity that might not have been possible if she had been more socially exposed. He also shows through the effects of banishment on Romeo how being emotionally exiled can elevate one’s experience of love. Finally, in Silas Marner, Eliot shows how Silas’ emotional exile makes experience of meeting Eppie a deep emotional benefit, and therefore leads to a heightened sense of connection.

Works Cited

Eliot, George. Silas Marner. 1861.

Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. Simon and Schuster, 1992.