The first paragraph of a paper can often decide the manner and argument of the whole. Here are some first paragraphs that all try to do certain things: establish the topic of the paper, announce its thesis, and, implicitly, predict its overall structure. What grade would you say each paragraph has earned?
1. More important than a character's ability or inability to communicate are the attitudes they have towards the use and purpose of words. Shakespeare uses this idea in his works to provide an insight to the problems and concerns of the characters. Romeo and Juliet exemplify the differing attitudes' affect on communication. In Act II, scene ii, Romeo and Juliet express opposing views on the matter. Romeo's use of ornate, poetic verse and dialogue detracts from his expression while Juliet's use of light verse shows her appreciation for the effectiveness of spoken language. This scene takes their respective ideas about language and contraposes them giving us a better light to study the characters.
2. In William Shakespeare's play, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare establishes in the first few lines of the play that there is more to his words than the reader first sees and that there is a deeper more complex meaning to those words. In Scene II of Act II, Shakespeare's opinion of the use of words is more clearly established. The two main characters, Romeo and Juliet, each have strikingly different viewpoints as to the application oof words in speech.; Romeo is more verbos and poetical while Juliet is more practical and direct. Juliet's practicality and Romeo's romanticism clash as the scene opens and through the use of her words, Juliet transforms Romeo's speech from that of romantic language to that of practical language. In Scene II of Act II, there are certain unmistakable attitudes expressed by Romeo and Juliet towards language and it is exemplified by the very use of the words that they utter.
3. In Act II, Scene ii of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, the way in which Romeo and Juliet use language illustrates their respective stages of maturity. Throughout the scene, Juliet is far more sophisticated than Romeo in her use of language. She not only has excellent control of speech and poetry, but also demonstrates an especially advanced recognition of the limits of language. Romeo, on the other hand, is exceedingly immature in his use of language at the beginning of II,ii; he also lacks Juliet's understanding of the function of language. Juliet, however, is able to educate him. She teaches him the use of speech and the concept of its transcendence. Romeo gains much maturity of language in this scene.