Prologue

1. Prologue Romeo & Juliet

2. Poetry • Rhythm & Rhyme • Meter: a set pattern of rhythm • /: stressed syllable • U: unstressed syllable • u/: iamb (two syllables) • Pentameter: five • Iambic pentameter: 10 syllables • U/ U/ U/ U/ U/

3. SONNET: 14 lines • Shakespearean / English Sonnet • 3 quatrains • ababcdcdefef • 1 couplet • gg ababcdcdefefgg

4. PROLOGUE (rhyme scheme?) • Two households, both alike in dignity,aIn fair Verona, where we lay our scene,bFrom ancient grudge break to new mutiny,aWhere civil blood makes civil hands unclean.bFrom forth the fatal loins of these two foescA pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;dWhose misadventured piteous overthrowscDo with their death bury their parents' strife.dThe fearful passage of their death-mark'dlove,eAnd the continuance of their parents' rage,fWhich, but their children's end, nought could remove,eIs now the two hours' traffic of our stage;fThe which if you with patient ears attend,gWhat here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.g

5. prologue • Sonnet-popular way to express love in conflict • Unrequited • dignity: social class • Verona- Veneto, Northern Italy • Britain saw Italians as hot-blooded • grudge: unspoken dislike to • mutiny: out and out fighting • civil— civilians, civilized

6. more • fatal loins (children)----fated to die? • star-crossed---ill-fated by the stars • misadventured piteous overthrows—unlucky and pity-worthy • missing parts of the two-hour play….if this play isn’t clear be patient and we will put forth more effort