Romeo and Juliet

Use these activities to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity. 

ACTIVITY 1: “Rap Shakespeare”

Iambic pentameter is a poetry meter that closely mimics the natural cadence or pattern of everyday speech.

Watch this 5-minute TED-Ed animation that sums up meter, line stress, and iambic pentameter for review.

Then hear from the Hip Hop Shakespeare Company for a 2-minute how-to on rapping the Bard.

Part A: Find two lines of dialogue in the play that represent pure or close-to-pure iambic pentameter by reading them aloud.

• Write the lines with gaps between each syllable.
• Analyze the meter of these lines and provide scansion marks over each syllable. Do this by drawing a / over each syllable that gets vocal emphasis (stress) and a U over each syllable that is not emphasized. You should see this pattern evolve:

U  /  U  /  U  /  U  /  U  /

Now, consider the use of emphasis in modern, everyday speech. Read the following line aloud to hear the natural stress pattern:

Today for lunch we’re having taco bowls.

With scansion marks, it looks like this:

U    /    U     /       U     /      U   /   U      /

To day for lunch we’re hav ing ta co bowls.

• Try switching the syntax (order) of the words slightly. Read aloud, then rewrite with scansion marks:

For lunch today we’re having taco bowls.