Romeo & Juliet - Primary and Secondary Discourse Activity

In response to the play Romeo and Juliet, I will assign my students an open-ended project that will allow them to connect their primary discourse to a Shakespearean text. The assignment will ask them to creatively express a certain scene or a theme of the play and turn it in into a modern discourse. I will model an example of a Facebook page that I developed for the play to the class and describe why I chose the posts and the profile information. The email address for this site is Jjulietcapulet83@gmail.com. The model includes a modernized version of a "profile" that Juliet might write in a modern language. The postings and comments reflect a more student-accessible reaction towards the play and allows for the implementation of technology that students will need to be familiar with. I will also give the students other examples for their work, suggesting that they can create a "scrapbook" of one of the scenes in the play, or asking them to compile artifacts that somehow reflect the play's theme. Students who are more traditional learners will be encouraged to write a paper on the play, and students who are kinesthetic learners will be asked to act out a scene that will convert some of the play's antiquated language into modern English or slang. Before the students set out on creating their projects, I will have a conference with each student (or group of students) to tell them individual expectations and goals I have for their specific chosen assignment.

After the completion and presentation of this assignment which will take place in the final days of the unit, students will be asked to complete a short reflection form titled, "Why I Deserve an A". This learning reflection activity will prompt students to reevaluate their work and the connection that it makes to the secondary discourse material of the scene or themes they enacted in their work. This project will allow students to make their own connections to the text, allow them to embrace both secondary and primary discourses, will allow them to develop voice in their work, and to create something they care about. This activity will embrace their special cultural viewpoints in the classroom, not placing them within the hierarchy that can many times suppress differing and unique discourse styles. Students will be required to take courageous learning risks that will be rewarded and valued; the justification students will have to present for including certain objects, acting styles, text-talk, slang, and other ways of expression in their presentations will display understanding of Shakespeare's world in the context of their own experience and language.