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I thought tonight I would share tomorrow's lesson plan with you. We have just started reading Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet in my Freshman Honors English class.
As many of you know, Shakespeare opens the play with a prologue in the form of a 14-line sonnet. The prologue sums up the plot, the setting, the characters, and the theme. Here it is if you're unfamiliar with it:
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-cross'd lovers take their life;
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows
Do with their death bury their parents' strife.
The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,
And the continuance of their parents' rage,
Which, but their children's end, nought 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.
So here's the assignment for the freshpeople:
On the back of this sheet is a copy of Shakespeare's prologue to Romeo and Juliet, which is a 14-line Shakespearean sonnet. You and your partner should work together to create a sonnet that would serve as a prologue to To Kill a Mockingbird or to The Odyssey [works we have already studied]. Like Shakespeare's prologue to the play, your prologue should be a summary of the work, including the plot, setting, characters, and theme. Your last two lines should sum up your summary.
You must follow Shakespeare's rhyme scheme: abab cdcd efef gg. You do not have to write in iambic pentameter, but if you do you will earn extra credit. Do your work on notebook paper and then copy onto this sheet when you are done. You must turn this in at the end of the period, finished or not. If you do not finish, attach your notebook paper draft. If you need more time, we will discuss it on Monday.
(Post-It Note™ to Daily Kos: Because I have to attend an all day workshop, I won't be in class and they're on their own. Friday is a teacher workday, so I won't see them again till Monday.)
I was curious if it could be done, so I set out to write my own prologues for both works in the 50 minutes they have to do one prologue.
Here are my results (I don't think Shakespeare has anything to worry about even though I tried to do them in iambic pentameter):
Odyssey Prologue
Acheans knew him as Odysseus;
Ulysses was his name in ancient Rome.
Ten years he sailed to reach Telemachus
And fair Penelope who stayed at home.
Poseidon steered his ships and men off course.
He fought the sea and monsters by the score
And tricked the cyclops. Using wits as force,
He overcame witch Circe and much more.
For prophecy he sailed among the dead,
Then past Charybdis swirling like a top
And deadly Scylla looming overhead.
At home his bow made ev'ry suitor drop.
Odysseus the king came home to stay,
And Greeks still tell his story to this day.
To Kill a Mockingbird Prologue
Jem Finch's arm was broken at thirteen,
And Scout tells you how that cast came to be.
In Maycomb County where Lee lays our scene,
The people suffered from blind bigotry.
The world was new to Scout and Jem and Dill;
Of hatred they just didn't have a clue.
They knew that Ms. Dubose was quite a pill
But wondered what became of crazy Boo.
Mayella Ewell swore and told a lie,
And Atticus showed racism is wrong.
While innocent Tom Robinson did die,
Boo saved the kids by proving to be strong.
To kill a mockingbird is just a sin.
You need to walk around inside his skin.
I like the second one better, but, face it, they're both drivel. I suspect the kids will do better.
Feel free to write a prologue of your own about your favorite book. I promise not to get out my red pen.
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TOP MOJO
October 18, 2011
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Due to a glitch beyond my ken (there's a Shakespearean word), Top Mojo is unavailable at this time.
I guess we don't "Got mik!"
However, as soon as mik rescues us, I will remove this crap and insert Top Mojo.
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