Romeo & Juliet
элективный курс (7, 8, 9 класс)

Shakespeare and «Romeo and Juliet».

Before watching.

Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet in the middle of the 1590s. Elizabeth the first was Queen of England. During her reign, the country had made great progress in many different areas- travelling by sea, exploration, war, music, architecture, drama and poetry.  England had become a major power in Europe and had defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588 when Philip the Second had attempted to invade the country.

In all the arts, there was great influence from Italy. The Renaissance had begun in Italy and the English were very enthusiastic about Italian culture. Chaucer, the first important English poet, respected Dante as the greatest European poet. The most popular form of love poetry, the sonnet, was borrowed from Italian writers. Many of Shakespeare’s plays are located in Italy and based on Italian stories. For the English, Italy was the country of passion, vendettas, murder, suicide and deep emotion; When Shakespeare wanted to write a tragedy of love and death, he chose an Italian story.

The legend of Romeo and Juliet had been very popular in England for a long time. Shakespeare took the story, changed some of the details and made it into a great play with characters which live in the memory. He changed the age of Juliet; in his play, she is only thirteen years old. It was possible to get married at twelve or thirteen but most people in Elizabethan society waited until later Arranged marriages” were normal. In other words, the family decided who their sons and daughters should marry; there are many stories about the conflict between the wishes of the parents and the romantic feelings of their children.

«Romeo and Juliet» has the reputation of being the perfect love story. But it is not only about love; it is also about the hate between the Montagues and the Capulets. It ends, not in marriage, but in death. The lovers are very young. Romeo changes his mind easily; at the beginning of the play, he loves Rosaline, not Juliet. He often acts without thinking and he kills two people. Juliet also changes her mind. He thinks she is too young to get married but when she sees Romeo!!!!

The story of Romeo has lived until the present day. Other writers and musical composers have produced their old interpretations of the old, old story. But Shakespeare was the first one to make a great work of dramatic art from the story of the “star-crossed lovers” who lived in renaissance Verona.

Instructions: Tell if these statements are right or wrong. Correct the wrong ones. /7

Romeo and Juliet was written in the 1950s.

________________________________________________________________________

In the arts, there was great influence from Italy.

________________________________________________________________________

Dante respected Chaucer as the greatest European poet.

________________________________________________________________________

All of Shakespeare’s plays are located in Italy.

________________________________________________________________________

In his play, Juliet is only seventeen years old.

________________________________________________________________________

Romeo and Juliet is about hate and love.

__________________________________________________________________________

The story ends happily.

__________________________________________________________________________

Romeo        tragedy

masquerade Juliet

suicide        romance

feud        passion

forbidden        exile

friendship        poison

inauspicious Montague

duels        dagger

sword        marriage

statue        Capulet

Instructions: Match the word to its correct definition. /18

1. Capulet
2. dagger

3. duels

4. exile

5. feud
6. forbidden

7. friendship

8. inauspicious

9. Juliet

10. marriage

11. masquerade
12. Montague

13. passion

14. romance

15. Romeo

16. statue
17. suicide

18. tragedy

____ Romeo’s last name

____ Kills himself with poison

____ Kills herself with a dagger

____ Juliet’s last name

____ A small, two-edged knife

____ A 3D piece of art made of stone or metal

____ A serious play with an unhappy ending

____ A party where the guest wear costumes and masks

____ Formal, prearranged fights with deadly weapons

____ Forced living away from ones country

____ Not allowed

____ Unlucky

____ State of being friends

____ To kill oneself

____ A close union

____ Strong desire

____ A love affair

____ A deadly quarrel between clans or families

After watching.

The Verona Times.

Instructions:Read the newspaper article below and choose the correct word for each space. And write it.  /10

                                         Tragic death of young lovers.

 In the middle_0________the night, three deaths occurred at the Tomb of the Capulets; The watchman discovered the body of count Paris outside__1_______Capulets’tomb. There was an even_2_______sight inside. Juliet of the Capulets and Romeo of the Montagues_3________dead._4____understood what had happened until Friar Laurence_5___his story. We now know that the teenagers were in love but had__6__________the truth_7______their families had been enemies for centuries. They had got married_8_______each other secretly. But when her parents ordered her to marry Paris, Juliet didn’t know__9_________to do. Read more about this tragedy in _10_______newspaper.

0-a-of                b-at                   c-in                       d-by

1-a-of                b-the                  c-a                       d-from

2-a-worst           b-baddest           c-worser             d-worse

3-a-laid              b-lying               c-lay                   d- lied

4-a-everybody     b-all                 c-nobody            d-none

5-a-said               b- discussed     c-telled                d-told

6-a-hided            b-hidden            c-hid                     d-hiding

7-a-although       b-because             c-when                d-after

8-a-for                b-with                   c-by                    d-to

9-a-how              b-which                c-what                 d-why

10-a-tomorrow’s     b-next              c-following             d-later

WRITING

Instructions: Compare the Shakesperian story about Romeo& Juliet and the movie. Write a paragraph about differences and similarities in the plot, characters, places and so on. (120-150 words).