Research Tasks
Prepare a research report on one of the following topics. Focus on the relevance of your topic to the play. You should consider an interesting and engaging format for your report/findings (e.g. multimedia, web page, graphic booklet, slide show).
Each of these tasks are worth 3 points each
1 Find written commentaries on the play. Read at least two commentaries then choose one to write an essay on . How do they feel about the play?
2 Locate Arthur Brooke's The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet. Compare it to Shakespeare's play. What changes did Shakespeare make? Why?
3 Search for feuds in other literary works. Examine the effects of the feuds.
4 Research Elizabethan attitudes to love and marriage and compare them to today's attitudes.
5 Research one of the modern themes of the play: suicide, teenage sexuality, parent/child relationships. How have attitudes changed since Shakespeare's time? Write about your findings.
6 Research one of the literary themes of the play: family hostility and its effect on the innocent, the use of deception and its consequences, or the effects of faulty decision making. Locate modern examples of this literary theme.
7 Research a theme of classical tragedy: the role of fate and fortune, the inevitable nature of tragedy, or the isolation of the tragic hero. Find an example of the exploration of this theme in a modern short story, novel, or play. Compare in writing the modern author's treatment of the theme to Shakespeare's treatment.
8 Research famous productions of the play and the ways they were interpreted and staged.
9 Research West Side Story (originally a Broadway musical) and compare similarities and/or differences in character, plot, and theme and setting.
Each of these tasks are worth 3 points each
1 Find written commentaries on the play. Read at least two commentaries then choose one to write an essay on . How do they feel about the play?
2 Locate Arthur Brooke's The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet. Compare it to Shakespeare's play. What changes did Shakespeare make? Why?
3 Search for feuds in other literary works. Examine the effects of the feuds.
4 Research Elizabethan attitudes to love and marriage and compare them to today's attitudes.
5 Research one of the modern themes of the play: suicide, teenage sexuality, parent/child relationships. How have attitudes changed since Shakespeare's time? Write about your findings.
6 Research one of the literary themes of the play: family hostility and its effect on the innocent, the use of deception and its consequences, or the effects of faulty decision making. Locate modern examples of this literary theme.
7 Research a theme of classical tragedy: the role of fate and fortune, the inevitable nature of tragedy, or the isolation of the tragic hero. Find an example of the exploration of this theme in a modern short story, novel, or play. Compare in writing the modern author's treatment of the theme to Shakespeare's treatment.
8 Research famous productions of the play and the ways they were interpreted and staged.
9 Research West Side Story (originally a Broadway musical) and compare similarities and/or differences in character, plot, and theme and setting.