Study Guide for 9th Grade Romeo and JulietFinal Unit Exam

Part I: Essay (150pts.)

Students may come into the exam with this portion already written. Students also may bring their books and use them while writing the essay. All students will have the opportunity to complete their essay up to, but not past, one hour beyond the allotted exam time.

Contextualized Essay Prompt:

Love— it is the most famous four-letter word in the English language. Since the beginning of time, singers, poets and lovers everywhere have attempted to capture that elusive feeling through music, lyrics and letters, through touch, shouts and whispers. Love, the saying goes, conquers all. But it is equally true that love—especially romantic love—brings with it deep wells of pain, confusion and even tragedy. No story illustrates this more than Shakespeare’s famous adaptation of The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. While it was written more than 400 years ago, the Prince’s lines at the end of the play, “For never was a story of more woe/Than this of Juliet and her Romeo” still ring true. This is a story of love torn apart by hatred, a story of that hatred being dissolved as a result of the tragedy it caused. Even though it is true that the lovers had to die in order to bury their parents’ “strife,” that long-standing feud between the Montagues and Capulets that opens the play, this truth does not make it any easier to accept. Indeed, one is left to wonder: what could have been done to prevent these two youngsters from taking their lives? Some blame fate, the couple’s parents, other characters and, even, Romeo and Juliet for the suicides.

Your task: Using the Toulmin Model as structured below, write an essay arguing your position on the Essential Question: Who is most to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet?

Use your 9th grade essay rubric to guide you as you write. Outlines will also be made available online.

**If students bring in type,they must be typed with a proper MLA heading, inMLA formatting (Times New Roman, 12-point font, double-spaced with 1” margins all around)

See a rough outline of your essay paragraphs on the next page.

Outline of paragraphs (Be certain to INDENT each new paragraph!)

I. Introduction

  • Hook (question, general statement, or quote)
  • Discussion of the issue (see prompt to help you)
  • Name the title of the work and author
  • Claim/Clarification
  • Use the Essential Question to shape your claim
  • Use the clarification to “map out” your essay; explain how your choice of claim (parents, Fate, Prince, etc) is truly the most to blame for the young lovers’ deaths.

III. Body Paragraph 1

  • Topic sentence
  • Context
  • Evidence (cite properly!)
  • Analysis/Warrant

IV. Body Paragraph 2

  • Topic sentence
  • Context
  • Evidence (cite properly!)
  • Analysis/Warrant

V. Body Paragraph 3 (HONORS)

  • Topic sentence
  • Context
  • Evidence (cite properly!)
  • Analysis/Warrant

V/VI. Conclusion

  • Restate the claim in a new way
  • Summarize main points of the essay
  • Connect the significance of the work and our thoughts to the real world

*** Make sure you consult your writing rubric for more specific writing guidelines.

Part II: Multiple Choice 30 questions (60 points)

This portion will consist of passages and quotes and passages fromRomeo and Juliet, and will also require knowledge of Shakespearean sonnets. Select passages will be of those, which we have discussed in class and should therefore be familiar to you. In this section, you will analyze these quotes, often through interpreting Shakespearean text, determining theme, and both identifying and interpreting figurative language.

Literary Terms to study:

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Theme

Conflict

Setting

Metaphor

Personification

Characterization

Dramatic Irony

Soliloquy

Monologue

Aside

Foil

Pun

Dilemma

Sonnet

Rhyme Scheme

Imagery

Symbol/symbolism

Simile

Tragedy

Tragic Flaw

Foreshadowing

Prologue

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You should also be prepared to answer:

Who is the tragic hero? How do you now?

What is Romeo’s tragic flaw(s)?

Who is Romeo’s foil?

How would you describe the relationship between Tybalt and Benvolio?

Why does Friar Lawrence help the children get married?

Why does the Nurse advise Juliet to give up on Romeo and marry County Paris? What effect does this have on Juliet?

How does Capulet’s reaction to Juliet’s disinterest in marrying Paris contrast with how he spoke to Paris in I.ii?

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