Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

30 minutes

Tune In: Shakespeare mini-Lesson

30 minutes

Find Out: Shakespeare on the screen

30 minutes

Take Action: Contrasting with the modern day

30 minutes

Reflection

Tune In: Shakespeare mini-lesson

Step 1

Explain to students that today’s lesson will be about conflict, and comparing and contrasting different representations of conflict in different texts. Direct students to the first text on their worksheets, which is the Prologue to Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. You might like to read it through with them prior to the following activity.

Two households, both alike in dignity
(In fair Verona, where we lay our scene),
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life,
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows
Doth with their death bury their parents' strife.
The fearful passage of their death-marked love
And the continuance of their parents' rage,
Which, but their children’s end, naught could remove,
Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage—
The which, if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.

Step 2

Invite students to highlight or circle the nouns (highlighted in pink above). What do they notice?

Students may notice that:

There are many very negative nouns - grudge, mutiny, blood, foes, death, strife, rage, end and toil.
Love/lovers are repeated - why do they think this is so?
Most lines have two nouns.

Note: Any interpretation here is valuable as they engage with Shakespeare’s ideas.

Step 3

In a different colour, have them highlight or circle the adjectives (highlighted in green above). What do they notice?

Students may notice that:

the adjectives are similarly negative - fatal, misadventured piteous, fearful, death-marked
but, there are some more positive elements - civil, patient
almost all nouns have adjectives to describe them.

Step 4

Have students work with a partner to interpret this prologue and write it out in their own words.

Note: Student responses will vary - the goal is for them to understand that the violence in Verona has been going on for some time and that it has recently escalated. Also, it will take the deaths of children for the adults in the community to end the feud.

Step 5

Ask students:

What message is Shakespeare trying to present in the Prologue?

Students responses will vary - they may feel that the message is that Romeo and Juliet are fated to die, that their death was inevitable. Or that the only way for violence to be challenged is through the deaths of the innocent.

Note: When you are discussing this answer with students, make it clear that Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy because many individuals, including innocent individuals, had to die for the lesson of the story to be learned. In literature, a tragedy traditionally follows the experiences of a character whose own flaws lead to their downfall. While it is true Romeo has flaws, the society he and Juliet exist in are similarly problematic.

Find Out: Shakespeare on the screen

Step 1

Once students have a working understanding of the Prologue, direct students to the See, Think, Wonder table on their Student Worksheet.

Step 2

As a class, watch the opening to Baz Lurhman’s Romeo + Juliet:

Romeo + Juliet Opening (https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1kkig)

Note: You could watch the first 2:35 minutes, which is just the Prologue, or the whole 9:35 clip, which is Act One, Scene 1.

As students are watching, have them note down three things they ‘see’ into the table on their Student Worksheet.

Learning extension: Students could consider how Shakespeare uses the structure of a sonnet in the construction of the Prologue - a text type traditionally reserved for love poems. They could consider what this adds to an interpretation of Shakespeare’s message to the audience.

Step 3

When the clip finishes, give students 3-5 minutes to reflect on what they saw in the clip, considering what it made them ‘think’ and then ‘wonder’ in the second column.

Step 4

Group students into threes or fours and have them each share one of their ‘see, think, wonder’ progressions. Each group can select their favourite one to share with the class.

Take Action: Contrasting with the modern day

Step 1

Ask students whether they think the sort of violent behaviour seen in Verona (either Shakespeare’s or Luhrmann’s) is still prevalent in today’s society - with a show of hands, they could indicate yes or no. If students want to share their thinking, facilitate a brief discussion about the types of violence they may already know is problematic today.

Step 2

Show students the 2017 advertisement referenced in the article in their Student Worksheets: Man to Man - Stop the Coward's Punch. Ask students:

Who knows what a coward punch is?
Do you know who the men in the advertisement are?
How does this clip make you feel?

Step 3

Read through How do We Stop the Tragedy of the Coward’s Punch? As you read, encourage students to highlight and annotate any connections between this article and the Prologue to Romeo and Juliet.

Step 4

Have students swap their worksheets with the person next to them. Students should see where their partner has highlighted and annotated the article and add one more highlight and annotation themselves before handing it back.

Step 5

Facilitate a discussion with students about the connections they can see between the article and Romeo and Juliet. It may be helpful to project a copy of the Student Worksheet up onto the board to take students through, showing the connections.

Reflection

Explain to students that they will be reworking Shakespeare’s Prologue to be a modern-day warning, based on what they have learned about the repercussions of the coward punch. Students are welcome to use as much of the original Prologue as they would like, as long as it represents their message. Students may adopt a different rhythm/meter/rhyme scheme to better reflect a modern message.

Learning extension: You could choose to restrict students to using the same structural elements Shakespeare used:

iambic pentameter
ABAB CDCD EFEF GG rhyme scheme
ABAB CDCD EFEF GG rhyme scheme

Coward Punch - It's a Tragedy

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