Unit 4: Chapter 8 Chapter Literary Focus

Unit 4: Chapter 8

Chapter Literary Focus

ELEMENTS OF DRAMA Write T or F on the line to tell whether it is true or false.

_____ 1. A story is prose narrative, while a play consists entirely of the characters’ words and actions.

_____ 2. The script of a play includes only the words that actors will speak.

_____ 3. Actors, directors, and designers regard stage directions as suggestions from the writer, not strict demands that must be followed.

_____ 4. If you were to see two different productions of the same play, there would be very few differences between the two.

_____ 5. As in dramas, central characters in comedies are always noble.

Match the definition on the right with the vocabulary word on the left. On the line provided, write the letter of the phrase that best defines each vocabulary word.

_____ 6. dialogue _____ 7. monologue _____ 8. soliloquy _____ 9. aside _____ 10. staging _____ 11. set

A) process of presenting a play on stage, includes designing the stage and other physical elements B) long speech by one character to one or more other

characters onstage

C) a comment that only one other character or the audience is allowed to hear

D) transforms a bare stage into a particular place and time

E) conversation between characters in a play

F) speech by a character alone onstage to himself or herself or to the audience

Match each word in the word bank to its definition. Write each word on the line.

______________________ 12. character who is used to contrast another character ______________________ 13. a play with serious and important actions that ends

unhappily

______________________ 14. personal failing that leads to hero’s downfall ______________________ 15. a play that ends happily

______________________ 16. story acted out live and onstage

Unit 4: Chapter 8

Chapter Reading Focus

Activity 1: Making Inferences

Read the passage below, and answer the following questions.

1. What is Roxane saying?

___________________________________________________________________ 2. Draw a connection between how Roxane and others judge appearances.

___________________________________________________________________ 3. What can you infer about Roxane’s personality and her mood at this point in the

play?

___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________

Activity 2: Analyzing Cause and Effect

4. Why were the letters special to Roxane?

___________________________________________________________________ 5. What effect did the letters have on Roxane?

___________________________________________________________________ Roxane

I came here to say

“Forgive me”—(It is time to be forgiven Now, when we may die presently)—forgive me For being light and vain and loving you

Only because you were beautiful.

Edmond Rostand, from Cyrano de Bergerac

Roxane

I read them

Over and over. I grew faint reading them. I belonged to you. Every page of them Was like a petal fallen from your soul— Like the light and the fire of a great love, Sweet and strong and true—

Unit 4: Chapter 8

Literary and Academic Vocabulary

Activity 1: Literary Vocabulary

Circle the letter of the best answer to each of the following items.

1. A play can be a ______, a presentation of serious events that does not end happily, or a/an ______, which ends happily.

A) dialogue; soliloquy B) tragedy; comedy C) conflict; exposition

2. A conversation between characters in a play is called a ______; a long speech by one character to other characters in the play is a ______.

A) dialogue; monologue B) dramatic irony; soliloquy C) conflict; foil

3. A speech by a character who is alone onstage and talking to himself or herself or the audience is a/an ______; a character speaking to another character or the audience and not intending for the other characters onstage to hear is known as a/an ______. A) soliloquy; aside

B) exposition; foil C) dialogue; monologue

4. ______ is a situation in which the audience or reader knows something important that the main characters do not.

A) Turning point B) Conflict C) Dramatic irony

Activity 2: Academic Vocabulary

Match the definition on the right with the vocabulary word on the left. On the line provided, write the letter of the phrase that best defines each vocabulary word.

_____ 5. production _____ 6. interpretation _____ 7. embody _____ 8. convention

A) give form to something abstract B) standard technique

C) portrayal that conveys a particular understanding of a work

Unit 4: Chapter 8

Selection Reading Focus

The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, Prologue and

Act I

READING DRAMA When you read a full-length play, it helps to use a variety of strategies. In the chart below, record the causes that led Romeo to the party where he meets Juliet.

AFTER YOU READ What is the effect of Romeo and Juliet meeting? What do you predict will happen: Will they marry, run off together, or break up? Write your response on the lines below.

_______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________

Unit 4: Chapter 8

Selection Reading Focus

The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, Act II

READING DRAMA In the chart below, take notes on your inferences about the play’s main and subordinate characters. For example, what inference can you make about the friar’s motives, or reasons, for marrying Romeo and Juliet?

Unit 4: Chapter 8

Selection Reading Focus

The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, Act III

READING DRAMA As each scene unfolds, every cause and its effect seems to make things worse. The friar has a plan that may help the lovers, but Capulet wants Juliet to marry Paris. In the chart below, predict how Capulet’s plan may affect the friar’s plan.

Unit 4: Chapter 8

Selection Reading Focus

The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, Act IV

READING DRAMA Capulet’s rush to have Paris marry Juliet forces the friar to make a new plan. In the chart below, record your predictions for what could go wrong now that Juliet appears to be dead and Romeo is waiting to hear from the friar.

Unit 4: Chapter 8

Selection Reading Focus

The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, Act V

READING DRAMA What do you think caused the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet? Was it fate or a series of human errors? In the web organizer below, show the people or forces that might be responsible.

AFTER YOU READ Now that you have finished reading the play, look at the causes and effects you listed earlier. Did any relationships or events seem improbable, or did they all seem logical? Explain on the lines below.

__________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________