The Romeo and Juliet Paper -- Round #2

Your assignment is to write another five-paragraph essay on part of a scene from Romeo and Juliet, this time comparing two presentations of Act III, scene 1, lines 1 through line 106 (up to ROMEO:  "I thought all for the best.") -- one in print; one on YouTube.  As you will see, the YouTube version comes from the same movie we've viewed all along:  the 1968 film by Italian director Franco Zeffirelli.

Here's a link to the film version:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgnKk8HNvXg.

Regrettably, the YouTube stops in the middle of the scene!  Still, this leaves you with less text to study and discuss, which isn't all bad.  (One hundred ten lines is actually four lines shorter than the Maskers' scene.)   Watch the dueling scene as many times as you need to.

When it comes time to write your essay, use the same instructions I gave you for the Round #1 papers.  For those who need to consult it, I'm posting the original Assignment on my ClassJump page tonight.

To improve your paper over your Round #1 paper, be sure to check out the Student Target Papers I posted on ClassJump.  See the two 8s, the two 6s, the 4, and the 2, along with the comments on each paper.  These, along with the 8-6-4-2 Scoring Rubric on the original Assignment, should serve as guides.

Above all, don't forget to cite good examples as you make your case.  This was the biggest gap in many of the Round #1 papers.  For example, you'll see that there are some interesting and significant cuts in the Zeffirelli film.  By citing a few of the "lost" lines in your paper, you might better explain your response to Zeffirelli's treatment -- good? bad? indifferent? -- of Shakespeare.

Remember, too, that it's fine -- even preferred -- to cite lines of text you find to be especially effective, funny, sad, or memorable.  It's a fencing scene, so 'poignant' might even be a good descriptive word for some of the lines!

These papers are due this Tuesday, February 26, at class time.  Timely submittal is part of the grade.  We'll take class time on Monday for Questions and (hopefully!) Answers about the assignment.  For the best results, make a decent start this weekend and bring a draft to class on Monday.

Go to ClassJump and Read the Six Student Essays

You can use this link to reach ClassJump.

These essays were chosen by 9th Grade English teachers as examples of papers scoring 8 (two examples), 6 (two examples), 4 (one example), and 2 (one example). Please read all six - including the teacher's commentary - and then award an estimated score to your own essay. Bring your scored essay to class on Friday, 2/22.