Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Julius Caesar

Activity 1 You will have 2 minutes to write a minimum of 5 sentences in which you respond to the following: A good friend of yours has been elected president of the student council. Soon after your friend is elected, you notice that he or she is actually abusing the position by using it to further his or her social life. What would you do? How would your other friend react? What actions should be done morally?

The Tragedy of Julius Caesar *Play *Consisting of five acts *Brief Synopsis: several men are trying to save the Roman Republic from Caesar having complete control.

Purposes of reading Caesar Learning persuasive techniques…  Persuasion: Technique used by speakers and writers to convince an audience to adopt a particular viewpoint. 

TRAGEDY Tragedy: is a play in which events turn out disastrously for the main character or characters

Tragic Hero a character whose basic goodness and superiority are marred by a tragic flaw a fatal error in judgment that leads to the hero’s downfall. Brutus-is noble, but is a poor judge of character-too rigid in his ethical and political principles Caesar-brings great things to Rome, but proud, arrogant, and ambitious

Dialogue Monologue a conversation between characters. a speech by one character in a play, story or poem. Given to another character.

Soliloquy Aside a speech given by a character alone. short speech delivered by an actor in a play, which expresses the character’s thoughts. Traditionally, the aside is directed to the audience and is presumed to be inaudible to the other actors.

Dramatic Verbal Irony of Situation

Verbal Irony When the author says one thing, but actually means something else.

Situational irony When what is expected in a situation, does not occur.

Dramatic Irony Audience knows something that a character does not know.

Shakespeare is hard to understand! In Standard English Language, the order of words is important: For example, “The dog bit the boy. vs. “The boy bit the dog.” BUT….Shakespeare rearranges words to create rhythm-it’s poetry! He often places verb before subject Instead of “He Goes”=Goes He. Instead of Does he go?=Go does he?

ACTIVITY 2 –Put these quotes in standard English 1. “Is there not wars?” -Henry IV, Part II 2. “A horse whereon the governor doth ride” -Measure for Measure

Blank verse Wrote plays in blank verse=a poem with no rhyme but does have iambic pentameter. This means it consists of lines of five feet, each foot being iambic, meaning two syllables long, one stressed followed by an unstressed.

Activity 3: Imagery: for each quote, draw the image that these words conjure ‘Tis now the very witching time of night When churchyards yawn, and hell itself breathes out Contagion to this world Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! Rage, blow, You cataracts and hurricanes spout… Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble

Assonance is…the repetition of vowel sounds in words. “Now this looks like a job for me So everybody just follow me Because we need a little controversy Because it feels so empty without me.”

Alliteration Is…the repetition of the same consonant sounds at the beginning of words. “ She sells sea shells by the sea shore.”

Activity 4: Write a 4-8-lined poem about school, sports, or hobbies… You must use 2 of the following: Imagery, rhyme, alliteration, assonance, consonance

Three Ways to Persuade Ethos (credibility) Pathos (emotion) Logos (Logic)

ETHOS Appeal based on the character of the speaker. An ethos-driven document relies on the reputation of the author. Why should I trust you as a speaker? What makes you such an expert?

PATHOS Appeal based on emotion. Advertisements tend to be pathos- driven. How are you going to make me emotionally involved? Humor? Sadness? Fear?

Appeal based on logic or reason. LOGOS Appeal based on logic or reason. Statistics, Cause and effect, examples, quotes from experts

Restatement- Restatement-Rephrasing an idea in different words, in order to more fully explicate the concept, and magnify its importance to listeners. Repetition- Repetition-the reuse of the same words, or nearly identical terms, repeatedly for emphasis, in order to emphasize their importance. “ I have a Dream”-MLK

Parallelism The repeated use of phrases, clauses, or sentences that are similar in structure or meaning. Writers use this technique to emphasize important ideas, create rhythm, and make their writing more forceful and direct.

Rhetorical Question-a statement that is formulated as a question but that is not supposed to be answered.

Diction-word choice Notice the change in tone: “An odor filled the room.” “A Stink filled the room.”

References related:www.cnusd.k12.ca.us/cms/lib/CA01001152/Centricity/Doma in/2658/Shakespeare%20and%20The%20Tragedy%20of%20Julius %20Caesar2012.ppt julius caesar background powerpoint