Romeo and Juliet by Erica Berry, like Shakespeare's original play, is a classic narrative of tragic love shared by two young people. Feelings are so powerful at this age that they may invade and alter every part of a young person's life. This lesson plan focuses on how to express these emotions using evocative language. In the fall of 1960, Erica Berry wrote a letter to her teacher, asking for help with her poetry. She had just turned thirteen and was in sixth grade at Paul Laurence Dunbar Elementary School in Baltimore. That same year, her school adopted "The Bard" as its motto. Mrs. Berry thought this would be a good opportunity to learn more about Shakespeare's work and experience it firsthand. The two soon became friends and continued their correspondence after school ended for the year. Erica told Mrs. Berry that she wanted to write a poem about Romeo and Juliet because they were two young people who loved each other but knew they could never be together. Their families were too different: Romeo was from a wealthy family, while Juliet was poor. Also, they lived in different cities: Romeo was living in Verona, Italy, when he wrote his famous sonnet sequence, while Juliet was living in Paris. Erica said she was thinking of writing a poem about someone being forced into marriage. She didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings, so she decided not to write about actual people.