4th hour Romeo and Juliet project topics

Sign into blogger at the top of this page and, in a comment, post your research topic in a complete sentence.  Much like our independent study projects, we will not have repeats in our topics, so post promptly if you're passionate about a particular topic.  Here are some examples:

a. Why did so many people die in this period—Shakespeare’s children and his siblings, for example?

b.     Why is Shakespeare considered such a famous playwright after 400 plus years have passed?

c.      Some believe Shakespeare didn’t author all of his plays.  Why do they think this?  Does it have any root in fact?

d.     Why are his plays so violent?

e.      Why do so many Shakespearean plays deal with failed love and marriage?

f.       How did the reigns of Queen Elizabeth I and King James affect his writing?

g.     Why weren't women allowed to act during Shakespeare’s day?

h.     Is Romeo and Juliet at all rooted in history or historical figures?

j.       What happened during Shakespeare’s “lost years”?

k.     Why was bear baiting considered a respectable form of entertainment during this day while plays were not?

Notice how specific these topics are.  This project is not a long-term research study like our independent study, but is, rather, a mini-project that we'll use to address research skills and frontload Romeo and Juliet.

1st hour Romeo and Juliet project topics

Sign into blogger at the top of this page and, in a comment, post your research topic in a complete sentence.  Much like our independent study projects, we will not have repeats in our topics, so post promptly if you're passionate about a particular topic.  Here are some examples:

a. Why did so many people die in this period—Shakespeare’s children and his siblings, for example?

b.     Why is Shakespeare considered such a famous playwright after 400 plus years have passed?

c.      Some believe Shakespeare didn’t author all of his plays.  Why do they think this?  Does it have any root in fact?

d.     Why are his plays so violent?

e.      Why do so many Shakespearean plays deal with failed love and marriage?

f.       How did the reigns of Queen Elizabeth I and King James affect his writing?

g.     Why weren't women allowed to act during Shakespeare’s day?

h.     Is Romeo and Juliet at all rooted in history or historical figures?

j.       What happened during Shakespeare’s “lost years”?

k.     Why was bear baiting considered a respectable form of entertainment during this day while plays were not?

Notice how specific these topics are.  This project is not a long-term research study like our independent study, but is, rather, a mini-project that we'll use to address research skills and frontload Romeo and Juliet.

Flashing Back to Your Past

A flashback is a break in a narrative sequence that takes the reader back to a prior event to provide background on a character or a conflict. Book IX, the first book of The Odyssey that we'll read, starts with a flashback where Odysseus shares his life since the Trojan War. Record this definition and example on your reading guide.

Now, in a comment on this post, flash back to an event or a series of events from your past you feel define(s) you. If you met a stranger and he asked you to tell a story that captured who you are, what would you say?

Here's what I would say. Use my example below as a model to your flashback story in terms of its length and tone.

Several years ago, I sat at my kitchen table reading Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher" on a Saturday evening. As a twenty-something, I should have been out with my friends or then-boyfriend (now husband); instead, I delighted in Poe's every word, thinking I could reach into my kitchen drawer for a fork and knife, carving out words your "ephemeral" and "epiphany" and eating them they were so delicious. In this moment, like Roderick, I had an epiphany of my own: I wanted to go back to graduate school. So began an adventure that came to include many hours or studying, much of it subjects I wasn't interested in and material I found inconsequential, but I continued to apply myself, seeing that end goal in my mind's eye. After toiling for months, I received a letter saying I wasn't accepted. The university to which I'd applied was overwhelmed with applicants and underwhelmed with funding, limiting the acceptancies to a mere twelve of its over 100 applicants. I wasn't one of those twelve. Then, I contemplated my hours of study, tearing up at what felt like wasted effort. Now, I still see that goal in my mind's eye, and slowly the energy toward that goal rekindles. You see, I love to learn and I'm willing to work hard. I'm resilient and unwavering in my understanding that if I reach out long enough for long enough, that I'll reach that goal.

That's my flashback. Now you go.