Julius Caesar - Mrs. Pierson's English Coursespiersonenglishbrps.weebly.com/uploads/2/2/9/0/2290521… · Web viewWhy doesn’t Brutus want Caesar to become king despite their friendship?

Plot Questions

1. Why doesn’t Brutus want Caesar to become king despite their friendship?

2. What is the first direct warning Caesar receives that his future may be in danger?

3. What to Cassius and Caesar think about each other?

4. Describe Caesar’s physical impairments.

5. How does Cassius scheme to convince Brutus to join those who plan to murder Caesar?

6. Why do Casca and Cassius believe it is essential for Brutus to be a part of the scheme?

Discussion Questions

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1. What do you think are the motives of Caesar, Cassius, Brutus, and Casca?

2. What is the difference between a republic and an empire? From what you know so far, do you think Caesar might indeed be a threat to the Roman republic’s system of government?

3. Do you think it is truly possible for a person to evoke such opposite feelings from both friends and enemies as Caesar’s character has done? Who can you think of in contemporary public life who elicits such polarized feelings?

Quotations

1. “O you hard-hearted people, you cruel men of Rome,Didn’t you know Pompey the Great?

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2. “Beware the Ides of March”


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3. “I fear that the people choose CaesarFor their king”


4. “I was born as free as Caesar and so were you.We both have eaten as well, and we can bothSuffer the winter’s cold as well as Caesar”


5. “O, he has a high place in the hearts of the Roman people,And what would appear offensive if we did it,His approval, like precious alchemy,Will transform it to something virtuous and worthy”


Literary Devices

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1. Pun: A pun is a word that is used in an unconventional, often humorous way, so as to suggest multiple meanings. What examples do you see so far?

2. Metaphor: A metaphor is a figure of speech in which there is a suggested or implied comparison between two unlike objects. For example:

“These growing feathers plucked from Caesar’s wingWill make him fly an ordinary pitch,Who else would soar above the view of men…” (I.i.3)

What is being compared? What is this a good comparison?

3. Simile: A simile is a figure of speech in which two unlike objects are compared using the words “like” or “as.” For example:

“…he doth bestride the narrow worldLike a colossus, and we petty menWalk under his huge legs…” (I.ii.7)

What is being compared? What is the purpose of this comparison?

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4. Dramatic Irony: Dramatic irony is a device in which one character is unaware of the information that is shared with the other characters or the audience. For example:

“Fear him not, Caesar, he’s not dangerous.He is a noble Roman, and well given” (I.ii.9)

What is the dramatic irony in this statement?

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Plot Questions

1. Why and how does Cassius urge Brutus to have a better opinion of himself?

2. Why do the conspirators give up their plan to enlist Cicero’s help in the plot against Caesar?

3. Why does Cassius want to kill Mark Antony as well as Caesar?

4. What are the ploys that Decius uses to convince Caesar to go to the Senate?

5. What is the one remaining hope that Caesar may yet be saved?


1. What are some of the ways that Brutus shows himself to be a poor judge of character as well as an inexperienced politician? What mistakes does he make? What do you think he should have done?

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2. Compare and contrast the two domestic scenes that occur in this act: Brutus and Portia vs. Caesar and Calpurnia. What do we learn about each of the characters? What do you think is the purpose of presenting characters in these settings?

Quotations

1. “The abuse of greatness is when it disjoinsRemorse from power”


2. “What need we any spur but our own causeTo prick us to redress?”


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3. “Let us be sacrificers, but not butchers”


4. “Cowards die many times before their deaths;The valiant never taste of death but once”


5. “If Caesar hide himself, shall they not whisper‘Lo, Caesar is afraid’?”


6. “And so near will I be,That your best friends shall wish I had been further.”

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Literary Devices1.Simile:

“And therefore, think him as a serpent’s egg,Which, hatched, would as his kind grow mischievousAnd kill him in the shell” (II.i.19)

What is being compared in this passage? What is the effect of the comparison?

2. Dramatic Irony:

“Good friends, go in and taste some wine with me,And we, like friends, will straight way go together”

(II.ii.32)

What is the dramatic irony in these words?

3.Personification: Personification is a literary device in which an author grants lifelike characteristics to inanimate objects. For example:

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“…Danger knows full wellThat Caesar is more dangerous than he.We are two lions littered in a day,And I the elder and more terrible” (II.ii.30)

What is being personified? What does this reveal about Caesar’s resolve to go to the Senate?

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Plot Questions

1. How is Artemidorus thwarted (stopped) in his attempt to warn Caesar of the plot against him?

2. How do the murderers rationalize the death of Caesar?

3. Why is Mark Antony allowed to approach the conspirators after Caesar’s death?

4. How does Brutus defend his participation in Caesar’s death?

5. How does Mark Antony manage to turn the crowd against the conspirators?


1. In your opinion, is there sufficient evidence to support the conspirators’ reasons for killing Caesar? Does this amount of evidence gain sympathy or disrespect for the conspirators?

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2. What do you think Caesar was trying to say in his final moments?

3. Do you think Mark Antony is justified in flattering the conspirators shortly after Caesar’s murder?

4. Why does Brutus promise to kill himself for his country? Describe Brutus’s personality and moral character. Do you think he will actually kill himself?

5. What do the reactions of the crowd after each of the orations at Caesar’s funeral tell you about crowd psychology?

Quotations

1. “But I am constant as the northern star”


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2. “Et tu, Brute? Then fall, Caesar!”


3. “Do not consentThat Antony speak in his funeral:Know you how much the people may be movedBy that which he will utter?”


4. “Had you rather Caesar were living, and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free men?


5. “Tear him to pieces; he’s a conspirator”


Literary Devices

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4. Dramatic Irony: Find one example in this act and explain how it is dramatic irony.

5.Irony: Irony is the contrast between appearance and reality, between expectation and fulfillment.

What is ironic about Caesar’s confidence in his own indestructibility? What is ironic about the statements that Brutus makes first to Mark Antony, and then to the crowd?

6. Foreshadowing: Foreshadowing refers to the clues an author provides to suggest what will happen next in the story. What did Act II, scene iii foreshadow?

7. Soliloquy: A soliloquy is an extended speech in which a character is alone on stage and expresses his or her thoughts. It is a device often used by Shakespeare to show the audience the inner thoughts and true feelings of a character.

There are several important soliloquies that have been delivered up to this point in the play. Choose one and explain how it reveals the thoughts of a character or helps to move the action forward.

8. Iambic Pentameter: Shakespeare is able to achieve a wide range of effects by manipulating words, and relies heavily on the use of iambic pentameter. An iamb is a metered foot of verse in which an unstressed syllable is followed by a

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stressed syllable. Pentameter simply means there are five meters per line. For example:

“So often shall the knot of us be calledThe men that gave their country liberty” (III.i.39)

When Shakespeare deviates, it is usually to focus the audience’s attention on the dramatic importance of what is being said. Iambic pentameter is usually spoken by noblemen or to convey noble thoughts. Speech that is not written in verse is usually used for less exalted ideas or spoken by ordinary citizens.

In what form is Brutus’s funeral speech delivered? In what form is Mark Antony’s funeral speech delivered? What does this reveal about these orations?

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Plot Questions

1. What is the first act performed by the ruling triumvirate of Antony, Octavius, and Lepidus?

2.What internal and external conflicts threaten to divide the new triumvirate?

3.Why does Brutus chastise Cassius when they meet in the tent? Why does Cassius chastise Brutus?

4.Why does Cassius suggest that their army adopt a defense posture with the troops at Philippi? Why does Brutus suggest that they go on the offensive instead?


1. What do you think the triumvirate reveals about its members when it decided to kill those who might be opponents?

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2. Do you think Cassius’s threat to kill himself in response to Brutus’s criticism is to be taken seriously? What does this response suggest about Cassius’s character?

3. What do you think Caesar’s ghost appeared to Brutus on the eve of his army’s advance to Philippi?

Quotations

6. “Most noble brother, you have done me wrong”


7. “I had rather be a dog and bay the moonThan such a Roman”


8. “To tell thee thou shalt see me at Philippi”

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Literary Devices

9.Irony:

What is ironic about Mark Antony’s use of Caesar’s will?

What is ironic about the appearance of Caesar’s ghost?

10. Characterization: Characterization is the process of developing and portraying a character.

Use the Venn diagram to compare the ways that Mark Antony and Brutus use to deal with their adversaries when they each assume power. Write the characteristics they share in the overlapping parts of the circles (at least three characteristics per section).

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Plot Questions

1. What tactical error does Brutus make on the battlefield?

2. How does Lucilius demonstrate his loyalty to Brutus?

3. What happens to Brutus and Cassius?

4. What is the message conveyed in Mark Antony’s final speech?


1. Why do you think the audience witnesses a conference among the generals on both sides prior to the battle?

2. Do you believe justice has been served in Rome and that peace will ensue, or that other cycles of violence are likely to continue?

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3. In your opinion, has any character emerged as a hero or an anti-hero?

4. What would you consider the climax of the play, and why?

5. Think about the portrayal of women in the play, particularly Portia and Calpurnia. Why are they included in the play?

6. Discuss the similarities and differences between comparable characters in the new triumvirate and the conspirators.

7. Discuss the concept of honor and how it is intimately related to the practice of suicide from both a historical and a dramatic perspective.

8. How are superstition and irony related in this play?21

9. There are three major topics in this play: honor, friendship, and betrayal. What theme or message is displayed about each of these topics?

Quotations

9. Caesar, now be still. I killed not thee with half so good a will.


10. This was the noblest Roman of them all. All the conspirators save only he did that they did in envy of great Caesar. He only in a general honest thought and common good to all, made one of them. His life was gentle, and the elements so mixed in him that Nature might stand up and say to all the world, “This was a man.”

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Julius Caesar - Mrs. Pierson's English Coursespiersonenglishbrps.weebly.com/uploads/2/2/9/0/2290521… · Web viewWhy doesn’t Brutus want Caesar to become king despite their friendship?