Introduction – William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet tells the story of two young lovers from two feuding families who die tragically. At the end of the play, Prince Escalus declares, “Some shall be pardon’d, and some punished…” Who is ultimately to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet? Was it their feuding families? Was it Friar Laurence? Was it Fate? Someone else? Assignment – Write an essay in which you take a position on who is ultimately responsible for the deaths of the young lovers. Use the information presented in the passages to prove your claim. Make sure to use evidence from at least three of the sources, and make sure you cite the source when you use it, even if you are paraphrasing or summarizing. Manage your time carefully so that you can: Plan your essay Write your essay Revise and edit your essay Be sure to: Include a claim Address counterclaims Use evidence from multiple sources Do not over rely on one source Cite the source when you use it Political Cartoons Works Cited Aristotle. Poetics. Ed. S. H. Butcher. New York: Cosimo Classics, 2008. Print. Bouchard, Jennifer. “Literary Contexts in Drama: William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.” Literary Contexts in Plays: William Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo& Juliet’ (2008): 1. Literary Reference Center. EBSCO. Web. 13 March 2010. Shakespeare, William. The Most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. The Norton Shakespeare, Based on the Oxford Edition. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt, Walter Cohen, Jean E. Howard, Katharine Eisaman Maus, and Andrew Gurr. 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 2008. 897-972. Print. Tillyard, Eustace Mandeville Wetenhall. The Elizabethan World Picture. New York: Vintage, 2000. Print.
