Hi there, I'm Mr. Buckingham and I'm so glad you've decided to join me for today's lesson.

Today, we're going to continue looking at the duel in act three, scene one of "Romeo and Juliet" and we'll use drama to explore lots of exciting vocabulary we'll be able to use when we come to write about this scene.

I think you're going to enjoy this one, so let's make a start.

Today's lesson is called exploring vocabulary relating to the duel scene and it comes from our unit called Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" diary and narrative writing.

By the end of today's lesson, you'll have explored a wide range of rich vocabulary that can be used to add descriptive detail to our retelling of the duel scene from act three, scene one in "Romeo and Juliet" and for this lesson, you'll want to have access to the extracts from act three, scene one, which you can find in the additional materials for this lesson.

If you're ready, let's begin.

Here are our key words for today's lesson.

A duel is a contest with deadly weapons between two people, used to settle an argument.

Vocabulary is words and phrases we choose to communicate details to the reader.

The atmosphere is the feeling of mood created in a section or whole of a text.

And emotions are strong feelings that result from a person's circumstances, mood, or relationships with others.

Here's our lesson outline.

We're going to start off by looking at the atmosphere of the duel scene.

Then we'll look at exploring rich vocabulary that relates to a duel.

And finally, we'll look at some rich vocabulary that helps us to show emotions.

Now, as you know, we have explored the duel scene in act three, scene one of "Romeo and Juliet" and we've used drama and careful reading of the text to really understand it.

Now, "Romeo and Juliet" is of course a play and a play is a type of narrative and it follows a narrative structure, which might look like this.

We have an opening, a buildup, a climax, and a resolution.

So where does the duel fall into this narrative structure? Pause the video and have a chat to the person next to you.

Well done.

Good thinking.

So hopefully, you spotted that the duel is part of the climax in "Romeo and Juliet" and that's because the climax is the high point of drama and action in the narrative and the duel scene is one of the most violent, dramatic scenes in the whole play and it's where this conflict between the Montagues and the Capulets really comes to the centre and really bursts out into the open.

So why isn't the duel part of the resolution of the narrative and what is the resolution in "Romeo and Juliet"? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done.

Good thinking.

So here's what Sophia says.

She says, "Well, the resolution is where the problems in the story are resolved.

That's why it's called the resolution." Now, the duel scene doesn't resolve any problems. In fact, it creates more of them, because Romeo has now been exiled.

So Sophia says, "I think the resolution is when Romeo and Juliet kill themselves, because it's a tragic ending, but technically it does solve the problem of Juliet having to marry Paris." So we've got a very sad resolution in "Romeo and Juliet".

Resolutions aren't unfortunately always happy endings, but it's a resolution nonetheless, because it solves that really important problem in the story.

Well done for your thoughts there.

Now, because we're going to be doing a narrative retelling of this duel scene, we need to think hard about the atmosphere in the scene before we begin to write it.

Let's begin by rewatching the Shakespeare Animated Tales version of the duel.

<v ->Peace be with you, sir.

Here comes my man.

</v> Romeo, the love I bear thee can afford no better term than this.

Thou art a villain.

<v ->Tybalt, the reason that I have to love thee</v> doth much excuse the appertaining rage to such a greeting.

<v ->Turn and draw.

</v> <v ->I do protest, I never injured thee,</v> but love thee better than thou canst devise.

<v ->Oh, calm, dishonourable, vile submission.

</v> <v ->Tybalt, you rat catcher, will you walk?</v> <v ->I am for you.

</v> (tense music) (swords clatter) (Tybalt grunts) <v ->Gentlemen, for shame, forbear this outrage.

</v> Hold Tybalt, good Mercutio.

(Tybalt shrieks) (Mercutio groans) <v ->Away, Tybalt.

</v> <v ->Art thou hurt?</v> <v ->I am hurt.

A plague on both your houses.

</v> I was hurt under your arm.

Ah, they have made worms' meat of me.

(Mercutio groans) <v ->Now, Tybalt.

</v> <v ->Thou wretched boy.

</v> (Romeo and Tybalt grunt) <v ->Romeo, away, be gone.

</v> The prince will doom thee death.

<v ->Oh, I am fortune's fool.

</v> <v ->Now, I'd like to have a go at rereading the extracts</v> from act three, scene one that we discussed in the last lesson.

Pause the video and have a go at that now and you can find those extracts in the additional materials.

Well done.

Now you've done both those things, see if you can quickly retell the events of the duel to your partner.

Pause the video and have a go.

Well done.

Great job.

Now let's have a go at putting these events in the duel in order from one to four.

Pause the video and have a try.

Great work.

So hopefully, you started with this one.

Mercutio and Tybalt duel using their rapiers.

And then Mercutio is killed by Tybalt and curses the two houses before he dies.

Then Romeo is now very angry and vengeful.

He wants revenge.

And then Romeo kills Tybalt in a second duel, and then he runs away.

And we know that ultimately, later on, Romeo is exiled by the prince to Mantua.

Really well done for getting those in the right order.

So how would you describe the atmosphere in the duel scene? Is the atmosphere the same throughout or does it change as we go through those different steps we just talked about? Pause the video and have a careful think.

Good thinking.

Here's what Jun says.

He says, "I think the scene starts with an anxious atmosphere, because we can see Tybalt is looking for a fight and Romeo isn't." So there's that tension between them.

Then, "The atmosphere becomes panicked and aggressive as Tybalt and Mercutio fight." And, "Then, it's very sad when Mercutio dies." Then, "The atmosphere becomes very angry and tense when Tybalt is duelling Romeo." So we've got these changing emotions, all quite negative emotions, but going from kind of anxious to panicked to sad to angry as we progress through these steps of the scene.

So we'll have to try and show that in our narrative writing.

So when we write this section of the climax as a narrative, we want to create this tense, angry, aggressive mood that we've just discussed and we can do this by thinking carefully about the vocabulary we choose to use.

So we want our readers to feel anxious and tense and we want them to be worried about which characters will survive the duel.

And we also want our writing to be very pacy, because the events of the duel come thick and fast and we want our readers to feel that pace as well.

So in this session, we're going to explore vocabulary we can use to show the speed of the fight and the tense emotions of the characters that take part in it.

So let's think again about those moods.

When in the duel scene do you think the atmosphere is most positive and when is it most negative? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done.

Great ideas.

So Alex says, "I think it's most positive at the very start because we as the reader still believe there's a chance that Romeo could persuade Tybalt not to fight; he's trying to keep things calm." And then Sam says, "I think the most negative is when Mercutio is dying." So, "Mercutio is angry and Romeo is both sad and guilty," and "the duel with Tybalt then adds another layer of tension on top of that." So we need to try and think about how we're going to show these different atmospheres using different vocabulary choices as we go through the scene in our writing.

So let's do our first task this lesson.

We're going to try and practise really quickly setting this tense atmosphere for our duel scene.

So I'm going to show you some sentences and I want you to rephrase them so that they have that tense atmosphere.

Here's an example of what I mean.

I've got this sentence here which doesn't have the tense atmosphere.

As Tybalt approached, Romeo strolled over towards him.

That sounds very relaxed.

So I could rewrite this like this.

As Tybalt slunk towards Mercutio's bloody corpse, Romeo stormed over towards him with clenched fists.

So I've tried to add that tense mood there.

So here are the sentences I'd like you to have a go with.

So I'd like you to take these three sentences and see if you can do the same thing to really change their atmosphere, to make them really tense, like we would want to see when we're writing about the duel.

Pause the video and have a go.

Well done.

Great first effort.

So the first one says, Tybalt poked at Mercutio with his metal sword.

Well, poked isn't very tense, is it? So I could say Tybalt slashed desperately at his mortal enemy, Mercutio, with his razor-sharp rapier.

I've made it sound much more tense.

Then I've got, Mercutio stepped calmly back and he waved his sword towards Tybalt.

Well, stepped and waved, again, not very tense.

So I could say, Mercutio weaved and danced out of danger as his heart pounded in his chest, thrusting his own silver blade at Tybalt with all his might.

And then finally, the last one says, Mercutio lay calmly on the ground, feeling pain in his side.

Well, he's not going to feel calm here, is he? So we might write instead, Mercutio writhed on the ground, clutching his bleeding side as he gritted his teeth in agony.

Now, I've used some quite advanced vocabulary there, so don't worry if yours isn't quite there yet.

By the end of the session, you'll have a really good bank of vocabulary you can use when you come to write so that your writing for this section sounds a lot like what I've just shown you.

So we're now going to focus on some rich vocabulary relating to a duel.

So we are aiming, as we know, for this tense atmosphere and a key part of building the atmosphere will be describing the duel really effectively using a range of rich vocabulary.

So we're going to begin by learning some rich vocabulary that shows movement, because characters are going to be moving around during this scene, aren't they? So first of all, if you swagger, you walk in a very confident and arrogant manner.

If you scurry, you move hurriedly with short, quick steps.

If you skulk, you keep out of sight for sinister reasons.

So we often talk about people skulking in the shadows.

And if you stagger, you move unsteadily as if you're about to fall.

So think about those four words.

Which character might move in each of these ways in the scene we've described? Pause the video and have a chat to the person next to you.

Great ideas.

Let's see if we can put that to use.

Can you choose an appropriate word from the list to complete each sentence? Pause the video and have a try.

Well done.

Good job.

So for A, I would say Mercutio swaggered over to Tybalt, raising his rapier.

He's trying to show his confidence.

For B, I'd say Mercutio staggered towards the house, clutching his gaping wound.

He's now very injured.

For C, I'd say, as Mercutio's body hit the floor, Tybalt scurried away into the shadows.

And then Tybalt, who had been skulking in the shadows, stepped out to confront Romeo.

So we're trying to show the characters' emotions and to set the atmosphere by using appropriate words to show their movement.

Really well done for matching those up.

Now, the duel is really key to this scene, isn't it? So we're going to want to use lots of vocabulary that is specific to duelling.

So we know that a duel is a violent, fast-moving situation and we need to show this in the vocabulary we choose.

So let's learn some.

First of all, a rapier is a thin, light, sharp-pointed sword that's used in duelling.

The scabbard is the sheath in which the sword is held.

And we could describe a hit from a sword as a blow or a strike perhaps.

And an injury in a duel might be a gash or a wound.

So Tybalt would certainly receive one of those, as would Mercutio.

A dueler might aim for the opponent's torso, their body, and the swords might clash and clang together, so we could describe their sound as well.

So these words will really help us to help set the scene of this duel to show that it's a fast-moving and violent situation.

So can you match the duelling words to their meanings? Pause the video and have a try.

Well done.

Good thinking.

So a rapier is a thin sword.

An injury might be a wound.

A sheath is a scabbard and the body is the torso.

So we can use all of these words to help make sure our duel sounds very convincing when we write.

Now, there are also many movements that are very specific to duelling and using the words to describe those movements will help make our writing sound very realistic.

So let's learn them.

First of all, there are some attacking moves you might do when you're duelling.

A lunge is where you suddenly move forward with your sword in front.

A thrust is a strong forward movement aiming to stab your opponent.

And a slash is a sweeping or a cutting movement with the sword.

So all of those are attacks.

So what about defensive moves? Well, you parry by deflecting an attack with your own weapon.

You feint by pretending to move one way, and then going another, a lot like people do in football.

And a counter or a riposte is when you strike back after you were hit.

So maybe you're parrying, and then you're riposting.

You're thrusting back at the opposite direction.

And most of these can be used as both verbs or nouns.

So I could say he lunged towards me or he made a huge lunge towards Mercutio.

So we can often use them in both ways.

So as a class, I want you to come up with the action for each movement and practise them when your teacher calls each one out.

So if your teacher says lunge, what action are you going to do? Agree together and then practise as a class.

Pause the video and have a go.

Well done.

Great ideas.

So for a lunge, maybe you moved forward like this.

For a thrust, maybe you went in a kind of stabbing motion.

For a slash, you might go across the body.

For a parry, you might hold your rapier up like this.

For a feint, you go from side to side, and for a counter or a riposte, you might go back slightly, and then forward to show it's a counter-attack.

But we're going to have to use those words really well in order to show how the characters are moving during the duel.

So can you choose an appropriate word to complete each of these sentences to show those duelling movements and the attacks and defences the characters might be using? Pause video and see which ones make sense in each gap.

Well done.

Great job.

So for A, I could say Tybalt lunged at Mercutio with his rapier glinting in the sunlight.

For B, Mercutio feinted, stepping nimbly out of the way of the sharp sword.

For C, Mercutio's riposte aimed straight for Tybalt's chest, but it was too slow.

And for D, Tybalt parried the blow and he thrust his rapier once more at Mercutio's torso.

So you can see how we can use those words to create really good sentences that help our reader have a realistic understanding of what the characters are doing as they duel.

It would be boring, wouldn't it, to just say Romeo and Tybalt fought? By breaking it down into these movements, we can build a much clearer picture for our reader.

So let's do our second task.

As you might know, in films, every fight scene that we see recorded is actually carefully choreographed.

That means the actors are told exactly what moves to perform and they practise them a lot.

So they practise a lot so it's gonna be realistic without being dangerous.

So we are going to do the same thing.

Working in pairs, I'd like you to try and choreograph the fight between Mercutio and Tybalt.

So I want you to plan, noting down a short sequence of duelling movements you'll use.

So you must use the right duelling terms, like lunge, thrust, slash, parry, feint, counter, or riposte.

Once you've agreed on the sequence and only then can you start practising acting out the duel using imaginary rapiers.

We don't want anyone to get hurt.

So think about how the duel also will start and end.

How will Mercutio approach Tybalt and how does he get hit? So you might want to use some of those vocabulary words for movement that we discussed earlier.

So pause the video, plan out your moves, and then have a go at acting out with imaginary rapiers your fight scene between Mercutio and Tybalt.

Pause the video and have a go.

Well done.

Great job.

So here's how Laura and Jacob planned out their duel.

They had, first of all, Mercutio swaggers towards Tybalt and their rapiers are up.

Then, Tybalt lunges towards Mercutio.

Mercutio parries the blow and makes a riposte, a counter-attack.

Then, Tybalt feints to sidestep the rapier and Mercutio slashes at Tybalt again, but Tybalt parries again.

Then, Tybalt makes a thrust towards Mercutio's chest and Mercutio is hit.

He staggers to the ground, clutching the wound.

So notice how I've used all of those duelling terms to show a logical set of events that might happen in the duel, but I've also got those movement words.

I've got Mercutio swaggers forwards and Mercutio staggering to the ground when he's hit at the end.

So I hope you enjoyed that and I hope you've managed to get a really good understanding of those duelling terms now.

Great job.

So in the final part of our lesson, we're going to focus on the characters' emotions and some rich vocabulary we can use to describe them.

So another key part of building this tense atmosphere will be showing the characters' emotions and we want to show a range of emotions in this scene.

We want to show the characters being tired and maybe desperate as they duel, because duelling would be a very exhausting experience.

We know that Mercutio will be in a great deal of pain when he's stabbed by Tybalt, and we need to show that, and both Tybalt and Romeo are going to be very angry at different points in this scene.

So we can use a range of rich vocabulary to show these emotions and we're going to use our acting skills in this task to deepen our understanding.

So how can we use rich vocabulary to show characters' tiredness and desperation as they duel? Well, we could start off by using some rich synonyms for tired, words that mean a similar thing or the same thing to tired.

So for instance, you might feel weary or you might feel fatigued.

So those are great synonyms for tired.

We could also describe things that happen when you're tired.

We're doing show not tell.

We're showing we're tired without saying the word tired or a synonym of tired.

For instance, you might be drenched in sweat, you might be gasping for air, you might be panting, or you might be flailing wildly.

So you're so exhausted, your body's not really under control anymore.

Let's put them in a sentence.

I could say Tybalt, who was already fatigued from his duel with Mercutio, gasped for air as he parried Romeo's blows.

I'd like you now to have a go at acting out that sentence in role as Tybalt.

What is he doing as he's fighting Mercutio here? Pause the video and have a go at acting that out.

Great stuff.

So hopefully, you showed the tiredness that Tybalt might be feeling, but also his gasping for air as he fights with Mercutio.

Great job.

Now let's think about rich vocabulary to show Mercutio's pain when he's stabbed and here we're going to focus on things that happen when you're in pain.

So we could be writhing in agony, where your body's moving in a contorted way.

You might scream in anguish.

You might grit your teeth because of the pain.

You might groan softly.

Your face might be contorted, twisted out of shape, and you might grimace to show the pain in your expression.

So here's a sentence using some of those words.

Mercutio staggered as he grit his teeth against the pain, groaning softly.

So have a go acting that one out.

Pause the video and have a go.

Well done.

Good job.

So hopefully, you showed gritting the teeth and maybe you showed a groan to show the pain that Mercutio is experiencing.

Good work.

And finally, what about rich vocabulary to show characters' anger as they duel? Well, we could use the synonyms for angry.

We could say, you might be incensed, you might be full of rage, or you might be seething.

Three great synonyms for angry there.

And of course, let's look at some things that happen when you are angry.

Maybe you might clench your fists.

You might flush scarlet, you might go red, and you might narrow your eyes to show your anger in your face again.

Here's some of those words in a sentence.

Romeo, who was incensed by the death of his friend, clenched his fists as he strode towards Tybalt.

Have a go at acting out Romeo striding towards Tybalt in that moment.

Pause the video and try it.

Well done.

Great job.

Hopefully, you showed there Romeo's anger as you paced over towards Tybalt.

Great work.

So does each of these descriptions show me tiredness, anger, or pain using some of that rich vocabulary? Pause the video and see if you can work it out.

Well done.

Great job.

So for A, we've got tiredness.

He's panting, isn't he? For B, we've got pain.

His face is contorted and he's writhing in agony.

For C, we've got anger.

We've got seething with rage.

And for D, we've got anger again.

We've got that synonym, incensed, and we've got him narrowing his eyes.

Well done for getting those.

So let's do our final task for this lesson.

In the last task, you are the choreographer, but this time you're going to be the director, the person who tells the actors what to do.

So I want you to work in a pair and use the rich vocabulary which I'm going to show you to give a description to your partner of one of the characters and their emotions.

So you might say, you're Tybalt and you're angry at Romeo, and then your partner has to act out this description as we practised.

So here are our rich vocabulary words.

If you're in role as a director, you're going to say to your partner a character and some of these rich vocabulary words.

So you might say to them, you're Romeo and you're weary and gasping for air, and then your partner's going to act it out, and then you should switch roles.

So your partner might then say, you're Mercutio and you're writhing in agony and your face is contorted and they're going to act it out.

So I want you to keep switching backwards and forwards, choosing different characters, different moments from the scene, and different rich vocabulary words, acting those out to really show these emotions the characters are experiencing, which help to set the atmosphere we're aiming for.

So pause the video and keep swapping between being the director and the actor as you try out using those rich vocabulary words to show the emotions.

Have a go.

Fantastic job.

Well done.

So Laura and Jacob gave each other these instructions.

Laura said, "You're Tybalt being stabbed by Romeo.

I want you to grimace and then let out a scream of anguish." And then Jacob did that one and Jacob said to Laura, "You're Mercutio in the middle of the duel with Tybalt.

I want you to show that you're drenched in sweat and that you are fatigued, but you're continuing to fight." And Laura had a go at acting that one out too.

I hope you enjoyed that task.

Really well done for giving such clear instructions to your partner to help them to act in role and help set this atmosphere.

So when we come to plan our writing, we can use this rich vocabulary to show the characters' emotions and to show the tense atmosphere of the duel.

Let's summarise our learning in this lesson.

We know that we were writing a narrative version of the duel scene.

This should have a tense, pacy atmosphere and it should show the characters' strong emotions.

We know that we can use rich vocabulary relating to duels to add to this atmosphere and, by describing the duel detail, we'll build the tension in our narrative.

We know that we can also use rich vocabulary relating to emotions, such as fear, pain, and tiredness to show the characters' struggles in our narrative.

Really well done for your effort in this lesson.

You've done a great job using acting to explore this vocabulary and that vocabulary is going to come in so useful when we come to plan our narratives.

I'd love to see you again in the next lesson.

Goodbye.