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To Kill A Mockingbird

Maureen Nicholson

Unit Plan Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet: Love Never Dies

Grade Level: 10

Duration: 4 weeks. Twelve 75-minute lessons.

Global Rationale

My rationale in teaching this unit is for students to lose their automatic dislike, rejection, and fear of all things Shakespearean, as well as to learn a little more about themselves. Because of the era of his works and the evolution of the English language, Shakespeare has gone from being perceived as the voice of the every day person to the gatekeeper of a fortress of the elite. In my unit on Romeo and Juliet, I hope to dispel this misconception by teaching about the notion of cultural capital, by giving students tools for approaching the text, and by highlighting the relevancy of the play’s themes to those of their own lives. The young protagonists are about the same age as the students I will study the play with; what teenager has not, on some level, experienced love, hate, or tragedy? I am teaching Romeo and Juliet because I want to make Shakespeare come alive for my students, as it has for so many people over the centuries, and because I want to help them explore their own thoughts, feelings, experiences, and creativity in a safe and exciting environment.