RJ Character Study

Romeo and Juliet: A Character Study

What To Do

1. Fold a piece of unlined paper into quarters to create four squares.

2. Choose your favorite or least favorite character and write that character's name in the center of the paper.

3. At the top of each of the four squares, write a different personality trait for the chosen character. Be exact in your wording.

4. Under each trait listed, note three to five scenes in which the trait is demonstrated. Do not list the same scene more than once.

5. Locate a quotation from the play to support each trait. A quotation may be something the chosen character says or something others say about him or her; it can be long or short.

How to cite a quotation: Act 1, Scene 1, Line 154 should be listed as 1.1.154.

6. Flip the paper over to the back and describe the appearance of the character in the first square. Cite quotations from the play that support the descriptions. For example, if you state that Juliet is blonde, you might list, "O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright! / It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night / As a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear" (1.5.51-53).7.

7. In the second square, write the name of the person closest to the character, explaining the relationship and anything it indicates about the character's personality.

8. Fill the third square with any other facts about the character that you can glean from the play.

9. Finally, in the last square, write one sentence to sum up what makes the character unique.