English I Honors began Romeo and Juliet in earnest today. We looked at the first thirty lines of the poem to see the effect on the play of the simple fact that Shakespeare was writing to two distinct audiences: highly educated upper-class and illiterate lower-class individuals. In short, we discovered the bawdiness the Bard is capable of in order to capture the illiterate audience of his plays.

Annotations from class

English Studies (fifth period) completed scene two with their initial acting project. We debriefed as a class and as individuals, and we’ll begin shortly the actual project.

English Strategies (fourth period) completed reading scene two and annotating it. We’ll be working on it for a couple of more days.

Homework

• English 8: read your portion of the assigned play.
• English I Honors: continue working on sonnet.