Comic Relief Amongst the Passion

Leave it to the Nurse to play things up. As scene five starts (Act II), Juliet is pacing, impatiently waiting for the Nurse to return with news of Romeo and the pending wedding. When the Nurse returns at last, she teases Juliet, so instead of coming out with her good news right away, she moans and groans about her aches and pains, and acts oblivious to Juliet's anxiety over waiting to hear if Romeo is sincere and still wants to marry her. Don't you know people like that? They enjoy the center stage attention they get while teasing other people, making them wait for the news that they have? Well, this is all in fun, but Juliet isn't enjoying it so much. Her impatience with the Nurse seems to put her in agony.

Scene six is short: the two lovers get married. Again, Romeo and the Friar both speak of Juliet with references to "light" imagery. This time it is another use of the word light...she is light of foot...as in she seems to glide in she is so light!

I'm looking forward to your poetry compositions which are due tomorrow. I want you to bring in the conference notes your team gave you on Monday, along with your first draft. The second draft can be your final draft and should be neatly written in ink or typed. It's OK if it is entirely different from the one you started out with. I just wanted you to play with words and experiment with style. You should have tried at least to include a poetic device (or devices) and had at least six lines (A poetic line or phrase is like a sentence.)

We'll use the laptops tomorrow so that you can fill our your blogging log and track the blogs you've posted this quarter. You may have some extra time to read, so bring your independent reading with you so you can enjoy some reading and blogging time.

Until tomorrow...parting is such sweet sorrow that I should say good night until it be morrow...or something like that.

Wedding Plans Are On...

As you continue to read, remember that even though so much has happened very quickly in the play, it is really only the second day of action. The opening street brawl happened on Sunday morning, the Capulet ball was that same night, and now it is Monday, and the plans for a wedding are set! Read on! Act II, scenes three and four are tonight. Friar Laurence's long speech at the beginning of scene three details the goodness derived from the earth, herbs, medicinal cures, and so forth, but he goes on to warn that these same cures can also do harm if misused. Earth can bring goodness or harm, just as man can. This, of course, is a forshadowing of what's to come. It seems like Friar makes an abrupt change at the end of this scene when he agrees to marry Romeo and Juliet, which he explains might be a way to end the feud. Still, he warns that moving too fast can cause one to stumble.

As you look at scene four, you'll see that Romeo's friends are still at it, or at least Mercutio is still joking around and teasing Romeo about Rosaline and love. When they run into the Nurse, Mercutio really gives her a time, teasing her about looking as big as a barge (ship) and procuring a love for her lady. The Nurse's servant Peter is no help defending her. Stage directions don't say, but we can imagine that he is enjoying watching the guys giving the Nurse a hard time. The Nurse and Romeo, nevertheless, set up the wedding plans and Romeo asks her to wait for his man (Balthasar, his servant) to come back with a rope ladder (tackle stair) for him to climb for the honeymoon.

We'll read over these lines tomorrow and watch more of the film version. Our readers have done a wonderful job. Meantime, keep experimenting with your poetry. I'll set a few minutes aside for you to share with groups, those of you who may still want conferencing. Plan on having a finished, final copy of a poem for Wednesday!

What's in a Name?

I've been reading your posts, and I see that many of you have been studying Act II, scenes one and two. You will notice as Act II begins, that it is just like Act I: the chorus comes out and tells the audience about Act II. It is a sonnet, and it sums up the story as it unfolds in Act II. Scene one is very brief, and it serves the purpose of letting the audience know that Romeo's friends don't know about Juliet. They think he still wants to be left alone to mope around alone about Rosaline.

Scene two is such an accident...or are there accidents in this play? Romeo seems to be drawn to the area where Juliet's balcony is, only he doesn't know where her room would be since he's a Montague and this is all strange to him. He is just lingering around, thinking about Juliet, and he isn't ready to go home yet since he is so love struck by her since the party. So... he's just hanging around, and he happens to hear her above, talking about HIM! So...what would you do if you accidently heard someone talking about you, and they didn't know that you were nearby listening? Would you speak up, or would you keep on listening? What does Romeo do? You're right if you are thinking that curiosity must get the best of him. He must hear what she says, and that is, of course, those famous lines about his name. As he is eavesdropping, he realizes that she is talking about him, and he can't contain himself any longer, so he speaks up.

The night lingers on, and they stay up talking out on the balcony, long enough to promise their eternal love to each other. Romeo says he'll make the wedding arrangements, and that's that. Hard to imagine, isn't it? We'll read these lines tomorrow and identify the imagery. These truly are beautiful lines, even if you don't believe in love at first sight!

We will also conference our poetry we wrote on Friday (and added to over the weekend) for Mr. Wolff. He encouraged you to have at least six poetic lines, and we will start from there! Adieu!