Much Ado About Nothing - Journals
DIRECTIONS:​ As we read Shakespeare’s M
​ uch Ado About Nothing​, you will keep a journal log.
This log will allow you to analyze specific passages as well as answer guiding questions that
will help contribute to your understanding of the text. You may also include, for extra credit,
up to five passages from your outside reading choice (total possible extra credit points: 20).
Please complete these journal entries digitally on this document and submit it on Schoology
for each due date. D
​ O NOT EMAIL ME JOURNAL ENTRIES - they will NOT be graded​. Be
sure to include evidence from the text to support your claims along with correctly formatted
citations (act, scene, line #s). N
​ O EVIDENCE/CITATIONS = NO CREDIT. ​Grading will be
weekly (homework grade) and the whole journal will be taken as a project grade (at the end
of the unit).
Journal #1:​ Choose one of the states from the “Marriage - Elizabethan Style!” discussion board and
expand on your opinion. Journal length - 250-350 words D
​ UE: 04/6/20
Journal #2: C
​ hoose one of the characters from Act I. Discuss your first impression of the character
you chose. Describe their personality - would you be friends with this person? Do you notice
similarities between their personality and yours? Explain. Journal length - 300-350 words. D
​ UE:
04/13/20
Journal #3: A
​ nalyze​ one​ of the following passages from Act I for characterization, theme, figurative
language: ​DUE 04/13/20
I.1. lines 58-61
I.1.lines 233-37
I.3.29-30
Journal #4: U
​ sing the Shakespearean insult chart, create FIVE Shakespearean insults and write them
here. Then, post your top TWO and trade your other three insults with THREE other classmates on
the Discussion Post on Schoology! ​DUE: 04/17/20
Journal #5: ​Consider all of this deception in Act II. What do you think the purpose of this deception
is? Why don’t they just come out and say they like each other? Why use masks and stand-ins for
wooing? (Length: 300-400 words) D
​ UE: 04/20/20
Journal #6: ​What qualities do you look for in someone to fall in love with? Give examples and
explain. LENGTH: 250-300 words. ​DUE: 04/24/20
Journal #7: ​Look at Paul Laurence Dunbar’s “We Wear The Mask”. In what way(s) do you “wear a
mask” every day? LENGTH: 250-300 words. ​DUE 04/24/20
Journal #8: L
​ ook at this quote from Hero regarding Beatrice. Is Hero being honest about how she
sees Beatrice with regards to falling in love? Or is she simply trying to ensnare her cousin? How do
you know? Explain your answer using the quote above. LENGTH: 450-500 words ​DUE: 04/27/20
“It’s true. Whenever she meets a man—no matter how wise, noble, young, handsome—she rearranges
all his good qualities so they end up looking bad. If he has a fair complexion, she’ll say the pretty man
should be her sister, not her husband. If he’s dark-skinned, Nature must have spilled some ink while
drawing his foolish face. If he’s tall, she’ll say he’s a spear topped by an odd head; if he’s short, she
says he looks like a badly carved miniature. If he’s talkative, he’s a weathervane, moving in all
directions at once; if he’s silent, he’s a block that can’t be moved at all. And so she turns men inside
out and never acknowledges the integrity and merit that a man has.” (Act 3, Scene 1, Lines 61-72)
Journal #9: ​Does Claudio deserve Hero’s forgiveness? Why? LENGTH: 450-500 words D
​ UE:
05/04/20
Required Passage Analysis - ​Much Ado About Nothing
Journals 10-15 will cover ONE passage from EACH act that you feel is MOST significant. You will then
analyze that passage for ONE of the following:
● Characterization
● Theme
● Figurative language
● Diction
● Author’s Style
Analysis will be between 450-500 words per entry. All entries must include the full passage you are
analyzing along with the correct MLA citation for that passage. D
​ UE: 05/11/20