The last two weeks, I’ve been on Christmas break — one of the great advantages of being a teacher. Teaching a new course (English I Honors), I wasn’t planning on having much time to myself as I was planning to, well, plan. Starting Monday, I’ll be leading the class through Romeo and Juliet, and I’ve never taught that particular selection. I did Macbeth when I was student teaching, but “Double, double toil and trouble; / Fire burn, and caldron bubble.” with twelfth graders is a far cry from “What, art thou drawn among these heartless hinds?” with gifted eighth graders.
I had high hopes for a productive time, especially during the second week, with Christmas behind us. And then L got sick: a moist, lingering cough that kept her out of day care for a week. But one thing you learn having a two year old is that she can imitate anything, including Tata working.
1/5, f/4, 18 mm, slow-sync flash off ceiling
Perhaps my very favorite Shakespeare paragraph comes from Juliet — Gallop apace, you fiery-footed steeds! Oh, the passion of adolescence! I think you’ll do a magnificent job. It’s a beautiful piece of writing to teach.
My favorite passage is the one right after “heartless hinds” — Tybalt is a complete bad-ass to say that: “Look upon thy death!”
And here’s how much I read and studied this play: I can tell you your quote is the opening of Act III, Scene 2 without even thinking about it. Dear Juliet, pacing in the Capulet’s garden…
(I’m already so sick of this play I could scream, but I’m also excited at turning kids onto the beauty of Shakespeare’s mastery.)