Romeo and Juliet, Tragedies and Tabloids
- camij1998
- Jul 1, 2021
- 3 min read
What would PEOPLE magazine have to say about Romeo and Juliet? Certainly a lot if the tabloid had existed then. After concluding our reading of Romeo and Juliet, our class will write their own take on Shakespeare's most famous romantic tragedy.
Overview Star-crossed lovers, feuding families, and relationship turmoil. A few phrases to describe Romeo and Juliet, but also phrases we often see on the cover of cheesy tabloids we see in the grocery store check-out line. Imagine you are a journalist tasked with reporting the nitty-gritty details of #Ruliet’sRomanceGoneWrong. You will be writing a juicy expose giving the who, what, where, when, but most importantly the WHY of this love turned loss. As a reporter, you will want a strong case for this why. You are writing a hard-hitting news story, you will need to provide evidence and concrete explanations. This isn’t merely a gossip column, but a thoughtfully developed exploration. What you want to write about is up to you. Do you want to focus on how love can make people do unthinkable things? The concept of forbidden love? Why do we want what we can’t have? You may freely choose the direction you will take with your piece, but you must have it be written from the perspective of a journalist who is capturing Romeo and Juliet’s story as well. After drafting and revising this exposé, you will then use canva.com or a similar digital medium to create a magazine spread for this story. Include creative titles and subhead titles.
Requirements This exposé should...
Be 750-1000 words
Be typed and be both professional yet creative, you have freedom with how you design your magazine spread
Introduce and integrate all quotations utilizing proper MLA citation. All outside sources will require a bibliography.
Standards ELAGSE9-10W2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content. a. Introduce a topic; organize complex ideas, concepts, and information to make important connections and distinctions; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., figures, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension. b. Develop the topic with well-chosen, relevant, and sufficient facts, extended definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples appropriate to the audience’s knowledge of the topic. c. Use appropriate and varied transitions to link the major sections of the text, create cohesion, and clarify the relationships among complex ideas and concepts. ELAGSE9-10W6: Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products, taking advantage of technology’s capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and dynamically.
Guidelines This assignment asks you to do the following…
Develop, research, and compose a story that captures and explains your why of Romeo and Juliet
Write from the perspective of a journalist that is tasked with reporting the rise and fall of Romeo and Juliet’s love
Utilize a strong narrative voice: how will you hook your audience? How will you keep their attention? Will you give them all the answers or leave them hanging?
Introduce and integrate quotes in a smooth and succinct way and include proper MLA citations
Create an aesthetically pleasing magazine spread for your story, this includes an attention-grabbing headline, photos, and subheadings
Produce a story and spread that is free of grammatical/mechanical errors
Additional Guidance/Features (optional/as needed): Include physical examples of tabloids, as well as digital articles, introduce features of compelling journalistic pieces during drafting/pre-writing stage, have students do a brief quick-write talking about a modern example of Romeo and Juliet, how has is the concept of forbidden love different in our world today?
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