Starter quiz
- Put these events from 'Romeo and Juliet' in order.
- 1⇔Juliet meets a masked man at her father's ball.
- 2⇔The man kisses her; they do not know each other's names.
- 3⇔Juliet is called away to talk to her mother.
- 4⇔Juliet sends her nurse to find out who the man she kissed was.
- 5⇔Juliet finds out that it was Romeo Montague.
- Which word below means 'capturing all your attention'?
- chiselled
- impeccable
- mesmerising ✓
- flawless
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- Which of these groups of words might you find in a thesaurus next to the word 'handsome'?
- kind, generous, friendly
- disagreeable, unattractive, plain
- striking, good-looking, dishy ✓
- contented, cheery, jovial
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- Which synonyms for 'man' are most appropriate for a diary entry written by Juliet, describing Romeo?
- fella
- fellow ✓
- bloke
- gentleman ✓
- geezer
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- Which of these words describe positive emotions?
- ecstatic ✓
- inconsolable
- desolate
- exhilarated ✓
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- Why might Juliet feel 'yearning' when she writes her diary after the ball?
- She wants to see Romeo again. ✓
- She wants to go back to the ball.
- She wants to be part of the Montague family.
- She wants to go onto the balcony.
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Exit quiz
- Put these sections of our diary plan for Juliet in order.
- 1⇔reflecting on how you feel after the ball
- 2⇔describing meeting Romeo for the first time
- 3⇔describing how you felt when you discovered he was a Montague
- 4⇔an update to include what happened on the balcony
- When Juliet first writes in her diary after the ball, which events will she cover?
- meeting Romeo ✓
- kissing Romeo ✓
- learning he is a Montague ✓
- agreeing to marry him
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- When Juliet is first writing in her diary, what might she be feeling?
- yearning to see Romeo again ✓
- excited that she will see Romeo soon
- frustrated that he is a Montague ✓
- thrilled to be marrying Romeo soon
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- When Juliet writes in her diary the second time, after the balcony scene, what is she likely to be feeling?
- upset that Romeo is a Montague
- exhilarated at the thought of being married ✓
- ecstatic that she has been able to see Romeo again ✓
- melancholy because she won't get to see Romeo again
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- Which of the following are common features of a diary entry?
- describing events that have happened to you ✓
- making requests to the person reading
- describing emotions you feel ✓
- describing thoughts you have ✓
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- Which of these examples uses 'show-not-tell' to indicate Juliet's emotions?
- I'm just ecstatic!
- I feel so melancholy.
- As I write, the words in this diary are being smudged by my tears. ✓
- I wonder what Romeo is doing now?
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Worksheet
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Presentation
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Lesson Details
Key learning points
- Writing is most successful when its content is planned.
- A diary entry is most often written retrospectively, but it may contain both present and past tense sections.
- Juliet's diary is written as two entries - one on her return from the ball and one after the balcony scene.
- A diary entry should include both descriptions of the event(s) and details about the emotions that a character feels.
- We can use rich vocabulary and show-not-tell to describe events and emotions.
Common misconception
Pupils may struggle with the idea of jumping between past and present tense.
Explain that this is a common way of writing a diary: the person writing begins by saying how they feel right now before going back to explain the events that led up to them feeling this way.
Keywords
Past tense - used to tell the reader that action happened before now
Present tense - tells the reader that action is happening now
Events - things that happen to a person or a character
Emotions - strong feelings experienced by a character in response to their experiences
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