EMPATHIC

RESPONSE/DRAMATI
C PERFORMANCE
Year 9
DATES

Empathic response Performance

Draft – Friday Week 7 Monday - Week 10

Final copy – Friday Week 8

Romeo and Juliet, like all
Shakespearean plays, is meant to
be performed. In groups you will
dramatise a scene of the play, and
perform a self-written character
empathic response, delivered at an
appropriate point within the scene
as a ‘step out’.
 THE TASKS
 This week, you will be put into a small group of 2 – 4 by your teacher and you will need to work together over the coming
weeks to perform a scene of your choice (from a list of suggestions) with your group in Week 10 from the play.
 This task is just like last year’s dramatic performance of a scene, however with one main difference.

 Each person will be required to (as a character in the scene) write an empathic response (soliloquy) for their character
during a point in their given scene.
 Your empathic response must be 500 words in total and will be marked with your dramatic performance.

 You will then perform your empathic response as your character in the scene as a step out. You will ‘step out’ of the scene
while the rest of your characters are ‘frozen’ and deliver your soliloquy as part of your dramatic performance.
 You will receive one mark for this task – your written work will be weighed more heavily than your performance, but you
must still take this seriously.
 CHECKLIST today
1. Decide on your Act and Scene for
your performance. Choose which
characters you will embody.
2. Copy and paste your chosen scene into
a word document (from Spark Notes)
and edit out any unnecessary lines
(show this to me for final approval in
week 7).
3. Assign someone to print the scripts for
each group member this week.
4. Decide on where you would like to
place your step out/empathic response.
Ensure there is ‘balance’ in your
scene.
IN YOUR PAIRS/GROUPS I WOULD
LIKE YOU TO ACHIEVE THE
FOLLOWING IN THE NEXT 20
MINUTES:
For 2 characters For 3 characters For 4 characters
-Benvolio and Romeo discuss -Lady Capulet, Juliet and nurse -Capulet party (Act 1, Scene 5)
Rosaline (Act 1, Scene 1 – lines 130 discuss Paris (Act 1, Scene 3) -Fight scene (Act 3, Scene 1)
onwards) -Paris, Juliet and Friar Lawrence
-The Balcony scene (Act 2, Scene (Act 4, Scene 1)
2)
-Friar Lawrence and Romeo (Act 2,
Scene 3)
-Juliet and nurse discuss her new
love (Act 2, Scene 5)
-Juliet and nurse discuss Romeo’s
banishment (Act 3, Scene 2)
THE EMPATHIC
RESPONSE
EMPATHIC
MEANS
EMPATHY
 Empathy means being able ‘to put
yourself in someone else’s shoes.’ To be
able to understand what they are thinking,
feeling and experiencing.
 In a sense, empathic writing asks you to
‘be them’, to write as though you are that
character/person.
 Empathic writing means that you have to
put yourself in the position of a character
and write in their voice, while
showcasing your knowledge of the text in
your own words.
WHAT DOES THE STEP
OUT/EMPATHIC RESPONSE
INVOLVE?
 Involves one solitary speaker

 Definition: A speech that one gives to oneself – in a play, a character

delivering a soliloquy talks to herself/himself – thinking out loud, so
the audience better understands what is happening to the character
internally.
 It simply means a character speaking all by himself/herself, to
himself/herself.
 E.g. THE BALCONY SCENE (ACT 2, SCENE 2): Romeo’s
soliloquy when he is watching Juliet on the balcony – he is
expressing his thoughts of Juliet, though Juliet cannot hear him/is
unaware.
WHAT ARE EMPATHIC
RESPONSES?
 They are creative or empathetic pieces of writing that explore a
specific moment/s through the eyes of a particular character.
 They share knowledge of the incident or awareness of the situation.

 You do not retell the story.

 Present tense - write your current thoughts (Immediately after the

event).
 Refer to previous events that have contributed to your current state
of mind.
 You share your personal thoughts as you interpret them for the
character.
  You must write an Empathic Response
(soliloquy) that reflects your characters thoughts
and feelings in the specific moment that the
scene freezes as your character.
 It is a moment of reflection for the character, in
which they reveal their doubts, desires, fears,
regrets, reactions to what is currently happening
YOUR etc. They can also refer to any part of the play
EMPATHIC which precedes this moment.
RESPONSE  Be specific in your word choices and use the
type of language that is authentic to your
character (e.g. Romeo’s religious imagery,
Mercutio’s bawdy language)
 This is to be written and performed in modern
English.
 500 words.
Get into the mind of the character.

You must place yourself in their frame of reference and see the action
through their eyes – at that moment are they fearful, anxious, excited, a
combination of feelings?
WHAT YOU
It is a moment of reflection for the character, in which they reveal their
doubts, desires, fears, regrets, reactions to what is currently happening
etc. They can also refer to any part of the play which precedes this
NEED TO
moment.
DO
What you deliver must be clearly motivated and the emotional energy
must seem apt and logical in terms of what has preceded it as well as
what follows

It should advance the story along, by clarifying the speaker’s intentions or

beliefs
  Consider the character in that moment – are they calm, rational? The character
would deliver a well-structured soliloquy that moves from one topic to the
next in an orderly fashion. A more erratic character, or one experiencing
extreme emotions would deliver a much more disjointed and chaotic soliloquy.
 Use first person (I, we, our, us, etc)

 Remember the character has a goal

 Write in present tense – your speech may include some retelling of past events,
but using present, active words to make your monologue stronger

TIPS  Incorporate figurative language techniques – e.g. similes, metaphors,

hyperboles, personification, alliteration, rhetorical questions, etc. Try to
incorporate imagery that is relevant to the character –e.g. religious, night/day,
celestial
 Refer to what other characters have said in the scene and reflect on them – e.g.
In Act 1, Scene 5, Lord Capulet says to Tybalt “He shall be endured/You will
tolerate him” – this could be a good springboard for reflection on behalf of
Tybalt.
 End: Reveal future intentions – much like foreshadowing: hint to events
that you know will happen in the future.
 STARTER TASK
Pretend you are your pet or an everyday object. Write a first-person
response through the eyes of your pet about a moment in the life of your
pet.
Try to make your pet come alive – what would they be thinking and
feeling when you leave for the day? Try to convey their ‘easily distracted’
state of mind.

Example:
Has she left me already? I wonder, if I eat my breakfast really quickly, will I be able to
catch her by the time she leaves? She beats me every – single – morning! This time I’ll
eat as fast as anything and catch her right before she leaves! Then I’ll bat my big brown
eyes (my secret weapon), wag my tail as fast as I can, and she will just have to stay with
me today. But oh this kangaroo is so delicious this morning…

Day in day out, BANG…BANG…BANG. The violence of these monsters is

incomprehensible. Like foul, festering, foolish fiends they arrive everyday to dump their
lunches on my unwashed shelves. Will the agony ever end? Is this to be my destiny? And
yesterday the worst…2.45pm hits and that awful child Finula forgets to shut my door. A
night of terror ensued – humidity, clawing at my insides. The lingering sweat of vile
teenagers hung in the air and harassed me all night long! Oh the humiliation! I was
made for better places, better experiences…better people! And after all I do for them…
cooling their delicious lunches, bringing, just to the point of freezing, their drinks to a
loving chill. To satisfy their parched tongues….and all I get in return is ignorance! That
and rotting half eaten sandwiches, smashed and decaying fruit decaying and defacing my
beautiful interior…
CONSIDER COMPLEX EMOTIONS
Stereotypical assumptions Complexity of emotions – unexpected thoughts
 Desperation  Sorrow  Guilt
 Sadness  Confusion  Shame
 Anguish  Lost  Survival instinct –
 Hopelessness
fighter response
 Anger
 Fear/Anxiety

 Emotionally
Unstable
 It can be difficult to incorporate However, you should ‘echo’ the
quotations, although it is text or closely refer to quotations.
sometimes appropriate.
TO QUOTE
OR NOT TO
QUOTE?

Do not use quotation marks For example: He shall be endured?

What nonsense is this! I refuse to
endure this foul being, this
Romeo, this Montague…

Copyright © 2009 englishteaching.co.uk

INJECTING YOUR RESPONSE
WITH EMOTION
Aim to try and explore
different types of
emotion your character
is experiencing. Can
you demonstrate
contrast?
Can you demonstrate
insight by considering
the complexity of
thought they might be
experiencing.

Copyright © 2009 englishteaching.co.uk

ROMEO AND JULIET TIPS

 Find and highlight 5-6 really vivid quotations from the text you are studying which have to
do with important character traits or important ideas.
 If you are struggling to expand on what you have already written, take these quotations and
write some sentences in relation to them. You may have already addressed them somewhere
in your answer but if they are important quotes then perhaps not enough.
 Proofread your work carefully. Check you have used a range of appropriate vocabulary, as
well as different sentence types (complex, compound and simple) and that your writing is
organised into paragraphs.
Create your own
Quote Search for
the character you
are embodying in
your assignment.

Write down at
least 5 quotes
which you believe
are important for
your character –
write questions
you have, and
expand on these
ideas.
Using your own character emotion wheel, fill in
each section with either a character, theme or
emotion that is relevant to your character in this
scene.

Expand on your ideas in the emotion wheel.

  E.g: Friar Lawrence – Act 2, Scene 3

Considers his ability • End the long held grudge – the wonder of religion/ 1. Hopes to
to influence the feud

Motivations
marriage to bring communities together – healing end the feud.
by marrying the imagery? Such a wonderful opportunity to bring peace to
a broken city…spirit revived
couple and the • Dangers of being blamed? Excommunicated?
dangers of getting
into trouble himself.
2. Thinks
Thinks about how about their
• Speed – wildfire – nature imagery
quickly this “love” • Love – unable to be squashed – life and its forcefulness – love. Worries
has overcome them – nature’s power/power of love about Romeo
speed, truth to this
love
3. Reflects on
Romeo as a young • Romeo as overdramatic – show knowledge of their the man
relationship – his knowledge of Romeo’s other girls
man he wants to see (Rosaline) Romeo has
him happy after all • The virtuousness and passion he admires in Romeo – become and
the misery genuine affection for him his hopes for
him
FRIAR LAWRENCE – ACT 2,
SCENE 3
My son’s spirit seems lighter: an inner glow warms his heart and breathes life again into what
was a hollow shell of despair. Could this be true love, or just the next infatuation that has in the
past so easily consumed Romeo’s fragile heart? Still reeling from the heartbreak of Rosaline’s
rejection, he may have been caught up in a whirlwind that threatens to toss and torment him
long after the winds have calmed. But I long to see him happy. My dear son deserves peace and
it is too difficult to say no when his intentions are to commit to something as sanctified as
marriage. I must learn to withhold my judgement and look to guide him on this path, rather than
trying to pull him from it…An honourable marriage may help him to grow into the admirable
man I know he can be. He is a “virtuous youth” and if we could rid the shackles of adolescence
from him, he might be liberated into a life filled with more substance and meaning…
PARAGRAPH 3 – 300 WORDS
My young son, it seems like only yesterday that he was knee-high, running about asking such thought-provoking
questions. His mind has always been strong and his thoughts complex – always considering the opposing forces
of this world, love and hate, good and evil. Such depth of thought has consumed him at times as he has grown.
Unable to disentangle himself from his thoughts he becomes entrapped in the darkness of self doubt and shuts
himself away from us all. But the Romeo of today is a world away from this image. He beams with light, so full of
joy and excitement is he that I can barely contain my own for him. He deserves these rays of sunshine that beam
from heaven onto his beloved head. Marriage will be the making of him, it will give him a platform on which he
will grow to be mature, responsible and an honourable man. I have known him to be rash, this wedding alone is
proof of that – but sometimes that is a flaw we adults have too. Was I being rash to criticise this union? Was I too
rash to jump to the conclusion that their love lacked depth and sincerity? Let he who has sinned cast the first
stone. I was perhaps too quick to judge these (celestial imagery??) lovers for their decision. Love is a gift to us
all from on high. It is a treasure, in this case a budding seed that deserves light, nourishment and support if it is
to blossom…it is my duty to provide such things and honour my vocation by guiding those who may find their
path difficult. This pair are like two wandering souls that were destined to meet and though the journey ahead
might be darkened by the feud that surrounds them I will aim to be their….
EMPATHIC RESPONSE Critique:
evaluate (a theory or practice) in a
detailed and analytical way.

FEEDBACK
Areas for improvement General feedback

 Who? When?  Some were wonderful, very

creative, engaging imagery!!
 Fluency/expression/clarity – your idea is not clear, good but not clear,
the way you’ve phrased something is not good…  Too many were too short.

 Communication: punctuation/ grammar or spelling needs attention.

 Voice: authentic/not appropriate? Likely to say…

 Use paragraphs to your advantage…

 Creativity – reference to quotes has been good – add to the creativity by

being inspired by the lines coming up with something similar yet
new…
 Struggling with creativity? How can you improve this? READ. GET
TO KNOW THE CHARACTER IN GREATER DETAIL.
THE DRAMATIC
PERFORMANCE
(and step out)
FOR THE DRAMATIC
PERFORMANCE
 You will not be graded as a group – you will be graded independently on aspects
like your gestures, tone, voice, and interactions with other characters. Essentially
we are looking for how well you embody the character chosen in this scene – so
choose wisely!
 While performing your soliloquy you are allowed to have a copy of it in hand to
refer to, however to add to the authenticity of your performance you should not
depend too heavily on the sheet!
 Your ‘step out’ needs to demonstrate that you understand the thoughts, motivations
and feelings of the character you are portraying – this includes your actions and
gestures in the scene through performance.
 Soliloquy that are read as opposed to performed will not grade highly.

 However Shakespearean lines should be learnt off – alter and edit so that this is
manageable.
 You will need to
You are being assessed effectively interpret the
on ‘Knowledge and scene to demonstrate
Understanding’, your understanding of
‘Application’, and the characters and
‘Communication’. themes being presented
DRAMATIC (K&U)

PERFORMAN
CE -
You will also need to
GRADING effectively portray your Your ‘step out’ must
character through your reflect upon your
body language, voice, character’s likely
expression and feelings, thoughts,
interaction with other motivations, etc.
characters (Application)
(Communication)
MARKING • You will be assigned groups.
 Facial expressions • This is partly an individual
assignment and partly a group task.
 Tone of voice
• The group part consists of
 Body language
contributing by performing in the
 Gestures scene with your peers, learning lines
 Eye contact
and embodying a character.
• The individual part consists of
 Pacing
independently writing a monologue
 Volume for your character which you will
 Emotion deliver at a certain point when the
scene “freezes”.
 You will need to decide who is going to play each character, and edit
the scene so that you can learn a reasonable amount of lines over the
course of 4-5 weeks.

Performances will take place in Week 10 of this term– please let your
THE GROUP group and teacher know in advance if you will be absent for any day
that week.

Your participation in your group will be highly considered in the grade

you receive for this task. If you are not participating effectively in your
weekly lessons you will be pulled out of the practice time, and will
need to arrange time with your group to practice. This is not ideal.
Anyone not taking practice seriously will likely (and have in the past)
failed the unit.
9C
2 3 4
Sandhya, Sania Sara, Jialing, Taylha Darcey, Lisa, Nic, Alan

Beth/Rachelle Ethan, Mitchell, hamish, Kushal,

James/ Ava Tianyu, Tom, Aaron, Brendan, josh

Lara, dani, tash, riley

For 2 characters For 3 characters For 4 characters

-Benvolio and Romeo discuss Rosaline -Lady Capulet, Juliet and nurse discuss -Capulet party (Act 1, Scene 5)
(Act 1, Scene 1 – lines 130 onwards) Paris (Act 1, Scene 3) -Fight scene (Act 3, Scene 1)
-Romeo and Mercutio (Act 1, Scene 4) -Juliet must marry Paris (Act 3, Scene 5)
-The Balcony scene (Act 2, Scene 2) -Paris, Juliet and Friar Lawrence (Act 4,
-Friar Lawrence and Romeo (Act 2, Scene 1)
Scene 3)
-Juliet and nurse discuss her new love
(Act 2, Scene 5)
-Juliet and nurse discuss Romeo’s
banishment (Act 3, Scene 2)
 9D
2 3 4
Grace, Gabriel Rishita, Manu, Izzy Zak, Amath, Brandon, Kishi
Laudey, Jess Caitlyn, Damini, Cailen, Ayu
Niamh, Emily Aidan, Mason, Chase, Anish
Spencer, Flynn

For 2 characters For 3 characters For 4 characters

-Benvolio and Romeo discuss Rosaline -Lady Capulet, Juliet and nurse discuss -Capulet party (Act 1, Scene 5)
(Act 1, Scene 1 – lines 130 onwards) Paris (Act 1, Scene 3) -Fight scene (Act 3, Scene 1)
-Romeo and Mercutio (Act 1, Scene 4) -Juliet must marry Paris (Act 3, Scene 5)
-The Balcony scene (Act 2, Scene 2) -Paris, Juliet and Friar Lawrence (Act 4,
-Friar Lawrence and Romeo (Act 2, Scene 1)
Scene 3)
-Juliet and nurse discuss her new love
(Act 2, Scene 5)
-Juliet and nurse discuss Romeo’s
banishment (Act 3, Scene 2)