INTRODUCTION

Subplots in Shakespeare are very important, often intersecting with the main action to spur its unfolding. Romeo and Juliet is rare among the plays of Shakespeare in that it has no subplot. Every event contributes to the main action of the story. How can we help students enter imaginatively into the role of playwright to craft the "missing" subplot? How can the use of storyboarding tools free students to build a concrete understanding of the play's characters and story?

PROJECT OVERVIEW

In this project, students learn about plots and subplots and analyze the plot and characters of Romeo and Juliet using AppleWorks and Inspiration. They then invent subplots for the play, select single scenes from these subplots, script them, and produce the scenes as iMovies published on the Internet.

Phase 1: Finding the subplots of daily life

Ask students to begin reading Romeo and Juliet in traditional print form, using their journals to keep a summary of the main events of the story.

When students have read a significant portion of the play, discuss with the whole class the concept of plot as a particular telling of events, using Romeo and Juliet as an example (see Facilitation Tips). Then invite students to think about their lives as stories, with many threads running through each day and each week. In this context, introduce the concept of subplot. Which thread of students' lives, from their point of view, is the main plot? Achieving in school? Sports? Music? Romance? With the main plot known, what other events become subplots? After the discussion, ask students to write short answers to these questions in their journals.

Phase 2: Plotting the play and the characters

While students finish reading the play outside of class, small groups meet in class to create outlines of the action of the story, using the AppleWorks Events Chart template. For each event in the story, groups describe the participating characters, the setting, and the consequences of the event. Each group also uses the Inspiration Character Relationships Map template to create a diagram that shows direct and indirect relationships between characters.

Meanwhile, groups take turns using the Romeo and Juliet CD to clarify their understanding of the play and to refine their Events Charts. Focusing on parts of the play about which they are least confident, each group reviews the script, checks the meaning of unfamiliar words, reads the paraphrases of each scene, and watches videos of scenes being performed.

Phase 3: Building a subplot

Groups compare their completed Events Chart with their Character Maps, looking for character-to-character relationships. They then brainstorm ideas for subplots to add to the play. Will they add a character? Will they make changes to the main plot?

Each group selects one subplot idea and discusses how it will fit into the play. The group then outlines its subplot by modifying its Events Chart, adding events to the existing play that together constitute new scenes, and altering Shakespeare's events as necessary.

Phase 4: Presenting Romeo and Juliet Plus!

Groups select one of their new subplot scenes to script and act out. Using the modified Events Chart as a guide, the group writes (in AppleWorks) the action and dialogue of the scene (using as a model the script in Romeo and Juliet). Group members choose roles and rehearse their scenes, revising the script if necessary.

Next, groups produce their scenes as desktop movies, using a digital camcorder and iMovie. Each movie begins with a "chorus" (as in Romeo and Juliet) explaining the whole subplot, the location in the play in which the scene fits, and how the scene works in the subplot. The completed iMovies are published on the Internet for easy viewing by students, family members, and members of the school community.