In these activities, students will conduct a close linguistic exploration of the Romeo and Juliet text, which considers the central and deadly role that words play in the lovers' fate. They will also engage in broader tasks that contextualize the play in terms of its relationship to its main source, Brooke's Romeus and Juliet, and the fashion for sonnet writing in the 1590s. Included are discussion questions, primary sources, a compare/contrast chart, and activities.