Passage Analysis Model
Your Name
Date
PA# ___ , Act, scene, lines
Speaker(s): ____________
Part I: Translation
Juliet:
1 It's only your name that is my enemy
2 Even if you aren't a Montague, you are yourself. You are who you are.
3 What is a Montague? It's not your hand or your foot.
4 It's not your arm or face or any part of you.
5 belonging to you. Change your name.
6 Does your name make you anything? Even if a rose was called
7 something else, it would still smell good.
8 Romeo would still be as perfect as he is even if he isn't
9 called Romeo.
10 Romeo, get rid of your name. If you get rid of your name,
11 which isn't really you, I would be all yours.
Romeo:
12 I believe you
13 Just call me Love and I will get a new name.
14 From now on I will never be Romeo again.
Part II: Reflection
This passage shows that it is really hard to escape your family prejudices. Even though Romeo
and Juliet think that their family prejudices are meaningless, I think they will have trouble later. They think
that it doesn't matter where you come from or what your name is. All that matters is that you love each other.
Romeo and Juliet are so excited by their new love that they are not thinking practically; they have absolutely
no worries about the future.
It isn't as easy to escape your family prejudices as this passage makes it seem. You can't just
change your name and forget about your family and your past. Today people have the same
problems with cultural and racial backgrounds, not just family feuds. Now a days it's a lot easier just to
move away from your families and start a new life. Even if Romeo says "I will never be Romeo again."
He will always be Romeo and he won't be able to escape that identity and his family.
Further along in the play, I think that Romeo and Juliet's relationship just won't work because of
their families. They were meant for each other, but their families are breaking it up and they just won't
let them be. Later in the play, I think that their parents are going to pay a price for what they are doing.
Use this model from Romeo & Juliet as an example of how to write a Passage Analysis. Please choose a passage (or dialogue section) that is more than 10 lines long. Choose a passage that is interesting and thought-provoking. In the first section, translate each line into your own words. In the reflection section: reflect on the meaning of the passage, explain what it shows about a character, identify and explain any puns, metaphors, personification, or irony in the passage, analyze how the passage connects to another point in the play or to another piece of literature, explain how the passage connects to real life today, discuss a particular issue in the passage, give your personal opinion about the passage, or make predictions.