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Year 6

Debating a question raised by Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet'

I can generate philosophical questions that relate to 'Romeo and Juliet' and I can participate in a class discussion about one of these questions.

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Year 6

Debating a question raised by Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet'

I can generate philosophical questions that relate to 'Romeo and Juliet' and I can participate in a class discussion about one of these questions.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. 'Romeo and Juliet' is a tragedy that raises themes around family, social obligations, love and conflict.
  2. We can use a piece of art like a play as a stimulus for a discussion.
  3. We can consider factual questions, discussion questions and philosophical questions raised by the play.
  4. Philosophical questions are questions that are not context-linked - they could be discussed without knowing the play.
  5. When debating, we build on others' answers and we disagree respectfully.

Keywords

  • Debate - a formal discussion about a question or subject held in public

  • Theme - a central idea of a text that the writer intends the audience to engage deeply with

  • Discussion question - a question about a text that can be discussed

  • Philosophical question - a question that is raised by a text that can be discussed without referring to it

Common misconception

Pupils may find the distinction between discussion and philosophical questions challenging.

Encourage them to imagine asking the question to their parent or headteacher - if the person could answer without having read 'Romeo and Juliet', then it's a philosophical question. Model this process.


To help you plan your year 6 english lesson on: Debating a question raised by Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Take an active role in the debate by pausing occasionally to make suggestions, pose dilemmas or suggest counter-arguments - but don't monopolise the discussion! Don't worry if the debate is fairly short - the process of generating the question is equally important!
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Teacher tip
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Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of serious crime
  • Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering
supervision-level

Supervision

Adult supervision required

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Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which of these are true of 'Romeo and Juliet'?
It was designed to be read like a book.
Correct answer: It was designed to be performed live.
Correct answer: It was written by William Shakespeare.
Correct answer: It was written in Early Modern English.
Q2.
Which of these are true about the plot in 'Romeo and Juliet'?
The two main characters are killed in a duel.
Correct answer: The two main characters kill themselves.
Correct answer: It is a tragedy.
It is a comedy.
Q3.
True or false? The Montagues and Capulets are still fighting at the end of 'Romeo and Juliet'.
Correct Answer: false, False
Q4.
Which characters help Romeo and Juliet to be together?
Lord Capulet
Correct answer: Nurse
Tybalt
Correct answer: Friar Laurence
Q5.
Put these events from 'Romeo and Juliet' in order.
1 - Romeo and Juliet marry in secret.
2 - Romeo is banished for killing Tybalt.
3 - Juliet is told she must marry Paris.
4 - To escape marrying Paris, Juliet takes a potion that makes her seem dead.
5 - Believing she is really dead, Romeo poisons himself.
6 - Juliet wakes up and, finding Romeo dead, stabs herself.
Q6.
Why do you think Juliet didn't just tell her parents she couldn't marry Paris because she was married to Romeo?
Correct answer: In those days, families had a lot of control over who children married.
She was embarrassed to tell them that she was in love.
Correct answer: Because of the feud, her family would never have allowed this to happen.
She knew they'd make her divorce him and marry Paris instead.

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
What is a theme?
a plot point in a text
something a character says in a text
Correct answer: an idea the author wants us to engage with in a text
a secret message in a text
Q2.
What kind of question is the following? 'Who is Romeo's cousin in the play?'
Correct answer: a factual question
a discussion question
a philosophical question
Q3.
Which of these are discussion questions?
Correct answer: Was Romeo right to go to the ball?
What was Friar Laurence's plan?
Whose ball did Romeo attend?
Correct answer: Should Juliet have followed Friar Laurence's plan?
Q4.
Why is the following question not a philosophical question? 'Was it right for Lord Capulet to try and force Juliet to marry Paris?'
because it is not interesting to discuss
Correct answer: because you need to understand the play to answer it
Correct answer: because it isn't about a 'big idea'
because it doesn't start with 'Why'
Q5.
True or false? You should be able to answer a philosophical question even if you haven't read the text that raised the question.
Correct Answer: true, True
Q6.
Which of these are philosophical questions?
Should the prince have done more to control the feud?
Correct answer: What is the best way to deal with grief?
Correct answer: Should the government do more to stop crime?
Should Romeo have tried to deal with Juliet’s ‘death’ differently?