1. Act II, scene ii Close Reading “The Balcony Scene”
Romeo and Juliet
Act II, scene ii
Close Reading
“The Balcony Scene”

2. Discussion Groups Form discussion groups of 2-3 people.
These should be people with whom you do not normally work.
When your group has been organized, send one person up to get the materials necessary for this lesson.
In addition to the material I provide, your group will need a separate sheet of paper for its written responses.

3. Standards Addressed
Analyze how an author's choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks) create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise.
Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone).

4. Key Vocabulary Vestal livery (n) = virginal appearance
Doff (v) = cast off; get rid of; remove
Aloft (adv) = high above
Baptized (v) = gave a name to

5. Professional Reading
Follow along in your copy of the text while listening to the professional reading of Act II, scene ii, lines 1-51.

6. Romeo’s Soliloquy Choose someone to read aloud lines 1-34.
As a group, respond to the following questions about lines I should see multiple forms of handwriting.
To whom is Romeo talking? How do you know?
What phrase(s) or word(s) in lines can help you make meaning of the word discourses?
What can you infer about Juliet’s physical actions from the way Romeo describes her in these lines?

7. Juliet’s Soliloquy Choose someone to read aloud lines 36-51.
As a group, respond to the following questions about lines I should see multiple forms of handwriting.
To whom is Juliet speaking? How do you know? You may want to look at Romeo’s lines again to help your answer.
What does the audience know about this scene that Juliet does not?

8. Closer Reading Reread lines 35-38. Reread lines 40-44.
What does Juliet want Romeo to do? Why?
Reread lines
What relationship is Juliet establishing between the name of a thing and the thing itself?
Reread lines
How does Juliet’s claim about the nature of a rose apply to Romeo?

9. Reading Closer Still
Consider lines in your discussion/written response of the following question:
How might Juliet’s soliloquy have been different if she had known Romeo was listening? Hint: Consider the length of this soliloquy in comparison to the length of other things she has said previously.

10. Quick Write Independent Formative Assessment:
Why do you think Shakespeare crafted this scene so that the audience is aware of Romeo’s presence before Juliet is aware of it?
Remember to use evidence from the text to support your answer.
Set your Quick Write on the front of the Document Camera when you are done.