THEME TEACHING LESSON TWO - SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION

The students were actually much less overwhelmed by the reading than they’d anticipated that they would be (this anticipating was based on the horrified reactions when I assigned the first homework). I am pleased with the students’ grasp of the puns and other Shakespearean niceties. I am encouraged by the fact that they seem to really pick on the nuances in the relationships between the characters. We read Act I, Scene I dialog; the students are enthusiastic and clamor for roles. We discuss the meanings of the Romeo/Benvolio heart-to-heart and the Nurse’s bawdy speech. We discuss bawdy, mercurial, and benevolent (the assignment having been to research these words). We discuss the relationships between Juliet, the Nurse, and Lady Capulet. We talk about loyalty among the three. I ask the students to predict to whom each woman be loyal, if forced to choose. I ask the students to predict if the Nurse would ever betray Juliet (“Oh, no!” is the universal response). Judging from the students’ first reaction to the assigning of the first reading, I thought they’d trudge in, puzzled and unenthused, but they seem to have understood the bulk of last night’s reading, and enthusiastically contribute to class discussion and activities. It is truly collaboration, and the students discuss and teach each other and well as with me. I am on a “teaching high.” :)