Hennessy Catholic College

HSC Advanced EnglishModule C: Representation and TextElective 2: Conflicting PerspectivesText: Shakespeares Julius Caesar

Name_____________________________

MODULE C: Representation and Text This module requires students to explore various representations of events, personalities or situations. They evaluate how medium of production, textual form, perspective and choice of language influence meaning. The study develops students understanding of the relationships between representation and meaning. (Reread English Stage 6 Syllabus, p 52.)

ELECTIVES: AdvancedMODULE C: Representation and TextElective 1: Conflicting PerspectivesIn their responding and composing, students consider the ways in which conflicting perspectives on events, personalities or situations are represented in their prescribed text and other related texts of their own choosing. Students analyse and evaluate how acts of representation, such as the choice of textual forms, features and language, shape meaning and influence responses. Students choose one of the following texts as the basis of their further exploration of the representations of conflicting perspectives.

Shakespearean Drama Shakespeare, William, Julius Caesar, Cambridge University Press, New Cambridge Shakespeare, 2004, ISBN: 9780521535137; or Cambridge School Shakespeare, 1992, ISBN: 9780521409032, or 2008, ISBN: 9780521706773

or

Prose Fiction Guterson, David, Snow Falling on Cedars, Bloomsbury/Allen & Unwin, 1995 or 2008, ISBN: 9780747522669; or 2007, ISBN: 9780747590040

or

Drama (d) or Film (f) Whelan, Peter, The Herbal Bed, Josef Weinberger/Hal Leonard Australia, 1996, ISBN: 9780856762239 (d) Levinson, Barry, Wag the Dog, Roadshow, 1997 (f)

or

Poetry Hughes, Ted, Birthday Letters, Faber/Allen & Unwin, 2005, ISBN: 9780571194735 Fulbright Scholars, The Shot, The Minotaur, Sam, Your Paris, Red

or

Nonfiction Robertson, Geoffrey, The Justice Game, Vintage/Random House, 1998, ISBN: 9780099581918 The Trials of Oz, Michael X on Death Row, The Romans in Britain, The Prisoner of Venda, Show Trials, Diana in the Dock: Does Privacy Matter?, Afterword: The Justice Game

Module C: Representation and Text

This module requires students to explore various representations of events, personalities or situations. They evaluate how medium of production, textual form, perspective and choice of language influence meaning. The study develops students understanding of the relationships between representation and meaning.

Each elective in this module requires the study of one prescribed text offering a representation of an event, personality or situation. Students are also required to supplement this study with texts of their own choosing which provide a variety of representations of that event, personality or situation. These texts are to be drawn from a variety of sources, in a range of genres and media.

Students explore the ways in which different media present information and ideas to understand how various textual forms and their media of production offer different versions and perspectives for a range of audiences and purposes.

Students develop a range of imaginative, interpretive and analytical compositions that relate to different forms and media of representation. These compositions may be realised in a variety of forms and media.

BOS definition:

Representation The ways ideas are portrayed through texts.Re-present how does the punctuation assist you to develop understanding of the concept?Representations of an event, personality or situation can be expanded upon or challenged depending on the perspective written from. You must assess representations from the range of perspectives: social, cultural, political, historical, gender, religious and intellectual in which they are created and from which they are received and read (your context).Assess and deconstruct the stereotypical from the objective, bias from subjectivity.Assess and deconstruct authorial purpose and intentional agendas against the position and agenda of the readers reception and the agenda in studying the text.

Meaning: The dynamic relationship between text and responder involving information (explicit and implicit), the affective and the contextual.

Meaning in and through texts: This expression implies that: meaning variously resides in texts is a dynamic process through which responders engage with texts, and involves the incorporation of understanding gained through texts into a wider context.

Fill in the table with your interpretation of the vocabulary of the syllabus:Syllabus VocabularyActualYour interpretation

Medium of ProductionDrama Script

Textual FormDrama ScriptStage Performance

Choice of LanguageSoliloquyDirect addressDramatic ironyVerbsAdverbsAdjectivesMetaphorsStructureAsidesStaging

Perspective

Version

EventAssassination of Caesar and the impact on the Roman Republic

PersonalityJulius Caesar

SituationUsurpation of leadership and assassination literally or figuratively - to publically defeat or refute the power invested in the personage

Provide a range of synonyms and antonyms for:Conflict

Perspective

Treason

Anarchy

Conspiracy

Rejection

Resistance

Discord

Dominance

Submission

Usurpation

Past HSC Questions:You need to test all evidence you select from Shakespeares Julius Caesar and from your related texts against these questions. Discard any evidence or ORTs hat cannot be discussed with all questions.1. You are speaking to an audience of your peers. Compose a speech in which you demonstrate how your understanding of conflicting perspectives is shaped by the construction of the texts. (2009 CSSA Trial)

2. How does the representation vehicle you have studied allow Conflicting Perspectives to be revealed?

3. The idea of Conflicting Perspectives suggests that the composers of the texts present an evenhanded, unbiased attitude to the events, personalities or situations represented. Evaluate the extent to which the representation of events, personalities or situations in the texts you have studied reflect this attitude. (Independent 2009 Trial)

4. My perspectives were veiled Your Paris, Ted Hughes. To what extent has the representation of your text and other material heightened your understanding of Conflicting Perspectives?

5. There are no certainties, only representations. Discuss.

6. Acts of representation are carefully constructed to the audiences beliefs, desires and fears.

7. Perspectives of an event, personality or situation may be manipulated by the ways in which a composer represents them. Evaluate the ways in which the composer manipulates perspectives in your prescribed text and in at least TWO other related texts of your own choosing.

8. Conflicting perspectives of any event, personality or situation are a result of the ways the composer represents them. Discuss this statement.

9. Dont be afraid of opposition. Remember, a kite rises against, not with, the wind. Hamilton Mabie. Explore this proposition.

10. It is not possible to hold a mirror to what we seek to represent. Representation will always modify thereby shaping meaning and influencing responses. To what extent do you agree with this statement?

11. You are a speaker at a conference for writers and directors which is exploring the relationships between representation and meaning. You have been asked to discuss the extent to which conflicting perspectives intentionally distort meaning.

12. Exploring conflicting perspectives helps us gain a better understanding of our world. Do you agree? In your response, make particular reference to your personal understanding of this Elective. (ETA 2009 Trial)

13. Sometimes what is right to one person is wrong to another. How relevant is this quotation to the ideas you have explored in your study of Conflicting Perspectives. (ETA 2009 Trial)

14. Truth springs from argument amongst friends. David Hume. How far has investigation of different arguments encountered in your study of [texts] led you to a better understanding of the truth? (ETA 2009 Trial)

15. Passionate convictions, articulating opposing views, are presented in texts you have studied. How effectively has your response been manipulated by the representation of these views? (2010 CSSA Trial)

16. More than anything else, conflicting perspectives are the result of bias or self-interest. Respond to this statement through an analysis of the ways perspectives are represented in your prescribed text and at least ONE other related text of your own choosing. (2011 CSSA Trial)

17. How does your study of this elective demonstrate the idea that conflicting perspectives are shaped by the construction of texts?Refer in detail to your prescribed text and at least ONE other related text of your own choosing. (2011 GRC Trial)

18. Conflicting perspectives are fundamental to our human desire to raise questions. To what extent do the texts you have studied in this module support or challenge this idea. In your response, make detailed reference to your prescribed text and at least one other related text of your own choosing. (Abbotsleigh 2010 Trial)

19. You have been asked to take part in a debate on the topic: that the existence of conflicting perspectives in society can only be enriching. Write a speech that you could use to argue FOR or AGAINST this statement. In your speech, support your argument with close reference to how ideas have been represented in your prescribed text and at least TWO other related texts of your own choosing. (Baulkham Hills 2010 Trial)

20. Evaluate how composers acts of representation shape meaning and influence responses on conflicting perspectives. In your response, you must refer to your prescribed text and at least ONE additional text of your own choosing. (Fort Street 2010 Trial)

21. How have the texts you have studied in this elective enhanced your understanding of the complexities of conflicting perspectives? Refer to your prescribed text and TWO texts of your own choosing. (James Ruse 2010 Trial)

22. At the heart of representation are acts of deliberate selection and emphasis. How does your prescribed text and ONE text of your own choosing illustrate this in relation to Conflicting Perspectives? (North Sydney Girls 2010 Trial)

23. It does not help us understand an event, situation or a personality when we encounter conflicting perspectives about that event, situation or personality. You have been asked to present a view on this statement to an audience of HSC students. Write a transcript of the speech you would give. In your response, you must make detailed reference to your prescribed text and at least TWO other texts of your own choosing. (St Ignatius Riverview 2010 Trial)

24. Explore how [core text] and ONE other related text of your own choosing represent conflicting perspectives in unique and evocative ways.

25. To what extent has textual form shaped your understanding of conflicting perspectives?In your response, make detailed reference to your prescribed text and at least ONE other related text of your own choosing.

26. Analyse the ways conflicting perspectives generate diverse and provocative insights.In your response, make detailed reference to your prescribed text and at least ONE other related text of your own choosing.

27. Compare how the texts you have studied emphasise the complexities evident in the nature of conflicting perspectives.

28. How have the texts studied in this elective challenged your ways of thinking about Conflicting Perspectives?

29. Texts in this elective offer perspectives on the significance of truth in human experiences.Were you persuaded to embrace these perspectives?30. At the heart of representation are acts of deliberate selection and emphasis.Do the texts you have studied demonstrate this in relation to Conflicting Perspectives?

31. You are the keynote speaker at a conference for young writers and directors.The title of your presentation is: Visions and Versions of Conflicting Perspectives.In your presentation, explore how and for what purpose composers create their visions and version.

32. Imagine you are a journalist. You have been asked to contribute an article to an educational supplement for HSC students about the ways texts represent Conflicting Perspectives.Your headline is Representation and Misrepresentation.

33. How has your understanding of events, personalities or situations been shaped by their representations in the texts you have studied?

34. You have created an exhibition of texts entitled One persons perspective isThe exhibition includes your prescribed text and other related texts of your own choosing.Write your speech for the opening night of the exhibition. In your speech, explain how the exhibition reflects your vision of conflicting perspectives.

Techniques and structures to look for that present conflicting perspectives in Shakespeare and your related texts Active versus passive verbs Metaphors- simple or in preference extended and how the language extends synecdoche, metonymy etc. Simile how the comparative is constructed and with what and for what purpose and to what effect Visual imagery artwork, photography or picture book analysis - , juxtaposition of contrasting images, deliberate use of size or perspective, framing, colours, lines, shapes forms to deliberately expose conflicting views of the same event, personality or situation Poetic devices juxtaposition created through simile, figurative language including alliteration, antithesis, contradiction, allusion, contextual metaphors Modality use of specific verbs to construct an agenda or manipulate or persuade the audience either within or external to the text Tone- how is it constructed- usually through verbs, adverbs and adjectival phrasing, use the tone words list to develop vocabulary here. Sardonic, mocking, satirical, critical, duplicitous, wary, antagonistic, bitter, deprecating, ambiguous, ruthless, benevolent, Imagery bestial, connotative images that represent or symbolise perspectives of an event, personality or situation Hyperbole, hyperbolic metaphor Parallelism Symbolism Anachronism Salutation Thematic synopsis Contrast, contradictions, Non-sequiturs Personification Antistrophe Syllepsis Enjambment Tautology Dramatic movement denouement Tragedy/tragic hero/ tragic flaw Rhetorical devices- especially in Shakespeare logos, ethos, pathos and the devices used to construct same, political rhetoric Metre and rhyme or rhythm of speech- iambic pentameter, blank verse; examine in particular the different ways Shakespeare has Antony and Brutus give their funeral orations- iambic pentameter v poetic verse which view is being privileged? Structural premises, how the narrative unfolds and why in that order differs across texts to present or privilege one perspective over another Voice- which voices are privileged and which are silenced Allusion to heroes, historical events, legend and myth with metaphorical or hyperbolic effect Parallels- in text, in speeches, in characterisation, in image form, in editing to present perspectives in film Micro versus macro structure of the play- vignettes that unfold creating a play in itself within texts- evident cross a range of text types Staging directions, editing decisions, Irony, paradox evident across all texts types but state how it is constructed dramatic, situational, verbal, Analogy Contrast Tragic hero Puns comedic relief, entendre Apostrophe invocations in Shakespeare Foreshadowing Anthropomorphism, personification Repetition, anaphora and how it is constructed and why Jargon, rhetoric Sensory imagery Logic objective language Subjective language Motifs First, second, third person emotive, subjective, versus objective or distancing Rhetorical question Accumulation Dialectical language Polemical language Language of extreme opposites oxymorons Antithesis direct or indirect contradictions of argument (Brutus and Caesar both use this strategy, one in sincerity, one to satirise.

Suggested texts that can be used as related material:

FilmProse Fiction and non-FictionShort stories, essays, SpeechesDocumentaryPoetryArtworks, Image and Picture Books

Good Morning VietnamIn the Lake of the Woods Tim OBrienThe Pedestrian Ray BradburyFour Hours in My LaiWe Are Going Oodgeroo NoonuccalArtwork: Girl Before a Mirror Picasso

PlatoonThe Bell Jar Sylvia PlathThe Story of an Hour Kate ChopinHOPEBora Ring Judith WrightArtwork: Kate Durham Siev X

Sliding DoorsPamela Samuel RichardsonLetters to Literary Ladies Maria EdgeworthBowling for Columbine - MooreThis Lime Tree Bower my Prison - ColeridgeArtwork: My Wife Nude Salvador Dali

PhiladelphiaHeart of Darkness - ConradA Vindication of the Rights of women - WollstonecraftLeaky Boat - http://www.abc.net.au/tv/programs/leakyboat.htm

The Lovesong of J Alfred Prufrock T S Elliot

Propaganda Posters Australian, Nazi, WWII

AvatarAnimal Farm - OrwellRights of Man Thomas PainePromises documentary on Palestinian Conflict with Israelhttp://www.fanpop.com/spots/human-rights/videos/3074817/title/promises-documentary-on-israel-palestine-conflict-from-childrens-perspective

Poetry that reveals a dominant cultural voice and then suggests the submission or rejection of oppression of the non-dominant group- resistance I the form of poetry protest works such asSlave poetryAfrican American poetryNative American poetryApartheid poetryIndigenous poetry

PB: The Rabbits by John Marsden and Shaun Tan

Spotswood1984 - OrwellI Have a Dream - MLKOutfoxedEaster 1916 - YeatsPB: The Island by Armin Greder

The IslandBrave New World Aldous HuxleyRedfern Speech Paul KeatingFahrenheit 9/11Paradise Lost - MiltonArtwork: Blue Poles /criticism and art theory by Sydney Pollack

AIFahrenheit 451 Ray BradburyThe Limerick loves- Maria EdgeworthThe Awful TruthWar Poems_ Wilfred Owen ( not those on the HSC Standard ListPB: Black and White by David Macauley

ApocalyptoCrime and Punishment - Dosteovsky A Modest Proposal - SwiftFrontlineWar Poetry of Siegfried Sassoon

AnonymousDracula Bram StokerBiopics HawkeKeatingKennedyWatson

Digging Seamus Heaney

SpotswoodThe Picture of Dorian Gray - WildeNuremberg DocumentsJFK documentariesOde to melancholy John KeatsOde to a Nightingale John Keats

Motorcycle DiariesMotorcycle DiariesRefugee Blues by W H Auden

Maos Last DancerSense and Sensibility AustenRegicide Poetry just Google -excellent resources

The Power of OneJane Eyre Bronte

The Green MileMaos Last Dancer Li CunxinThe Hollow Men T S Elliot

The Shawshank RedemptionCry Freedom John Briley

Mississippi BurningThe Power of One

The Boys from BrazilThe Boys from Brazil- Ira Levin

Lord of the FliesLord of the Flies- Golding

Flowers for AlgernonTo Kill a Mockingbird

Runaway JuryThe Year of Living Dangerously

Goodnight and Good LuckUncle Toms Cabin Harriet Beecher Stow

The ReaderGulliversTravels - Swift

Life is BeautifulShindlers List (also in film)

Feature articlesWebsitesNewspaper articlesCurrent Affairs episodesTelemovies/docudramasPhotography

Cronulla RiotsSIEVX.comHenson Art or Pornography http://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-05-23/art-community-defends-naked-teen-photo-exhibition/2445836

Cronulla RiotsMalcolm XVietnam images girl running from NAPALM explosion

Gillard v Rudd debates, either personal or written in analysis BelongingCSIRO Wheat Trials

Four CornersNot without my Daughter (also in written text)

Henson art or pornographyHolocaust websitesMedia WatchGo Back to Where You Came From any series but most current is best

Greenpeace v whalingVietnam Veterans AssociationQ and A find a specific topic transcript- Munich

How to study Julius Caesar and identify then analyse conflicting perspectives.

Make a detailed list of each character in the text Mind map who each character aligns with or is in opposition to Locate textual references that suggest acceptance, and rejection of other characters or events Assess and locate textual references where individuals experience inner conflict and evaluate their own perspectives acknowledging conflict ( Brutus) Evaluate Shakespeares perspective and how the language exposes his perspective Evaluate if any language privileges one perspective over the other? Select key scenes, soliloquies or monologues then deconstruct in detail for techniques and how they have been uses to reveal/expose/challenge/confront perspectives Identify the conflict that surrounds Caesar and who constructs the conflict Assess Brutus role and internal conflict Assess Cassius revengeful and aggressive stance as a find suggest how he has been used as a foil to Antony or Brutus perspectives How is Cassius anger and frustration and fear and need for regicide explored in the text? Who argues against regicide and why? Why are the perspectives of Caesar differing across the characters as a man, as a leader, as a monarch and how do these differ from Caesars own perspective? What is the significance of the Republic, the idea of monarchy, the concepts of liberty, freedom and honour in the text? How do the perspectives of what these ideas constitute differ across the various character What events take place what is the reaction of a range of individuals Brutus, Antony, Cassius, Flavius, the populace? Are the conflicting perspectives resolved with Caesars death? After analysing your key quotes in excruciating detail test your evidence against the 34 suggested questions. Evaluate your effectiveness in choice of references and analysis in responding to each question. What evidence would you need to discard, what evidence do you still need to locate? After analysing your key quotes in excruciating detail test your evidence against the examiners comments for Conflicting Perspectives that are on the Board of Studies Website not just last years comments but those of previous years- are you meeting the requirements for the stronger responses with your choice of references and your depth of analysis? Read the academic readings provided. Reassess your analysis against these readings Develop a position about conflicting perspectives that you can use in any essay- your thesis statement. Test your references and arguments against your thesis statement and reevaluate or amend evidence as required

How to read, study, analyse and evaluate the links between your related text choices and Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

Read the text closely and identify the key events, personalities or situations that are evident and represent conflicting perspectives Complete the relevant ORT analysis sheet Identify key scenes, passages, quotes that reflect conflict either at an individual or group level Locate the parallel that reflects antithesis, argument, rejection of other view the conflicting perspective Analyse judiciously chosen references for techniques relevant to the text type ensure you select texts or references that are rich in technique Create a comparative text type chart- demonstrate similarities or differences in techniques noting how they link to similar arguments on conflicting perspectives with Julius Caesars dramatic techniques Make a comparative chart between your ORTs and Julius Caesar and evaluate how it links or makes a comparison Locate evidence that stands apart from Julius Caesar but demonstrates a distinct conflicting perspective to use in paragraphs in isolation Identify the contexts that surround the meaning of your text Test your analysis against the module description and rubric Test your analysis against each of the past paper questions (ALL OF THEM) Test your analysis against the markers comments on the Board of Studies website Test your analysis against exemplars Reevaluate any references that need to be updated or discarded Write into paragraphs, either discrete or as comparatives with Julius Caesar as appropriate Test your work against the thesis statement/s you have decided upon- make changes as required Go the Descriptor Bands provided by the Board of Studies for Sc AdvAdvanced EnglishPrint off the rubrics for two past exams for this Module (Module C). Develop the rubric in more details so you can determine what each dot point is requiring. Print off the Notes from the BOS Marking Centre for the past two years and highlight and annotate to aspects of the Descriptor bands and rubrics Create a scaffold for an essay, a debate, an interview script and a formal speech that you can use to rehearse your understandings and analysis of the core and related texts you have developed. Evaluate, develop further sophistication and insight, reevaluate, reassess, use every subject throughout the HSC to build your depth and breadth of understanding and continually revise the work notes you compete in readiness for mid-year examinations and Trials.

Exercises to do with Shakespeares Julius Caesar

Construct a table for each character identifying key events they are involved in, their political position, their theoretic position on Caesar and whether the character demonstrates shifts or changes in their internal perspectives of Caesar. Locate how language is used and shaped to reveal/expose perspectives and the actions/decisions/shifts or catalysts that occur in the internalisation of ideas.

Construct a table of conflicting perspectives of people and events in the text. Who is at greatest opposing perspectives? Who is manipulated by the perspectives of others? Are the perspectives based on moral/ethical/political/social/human factors? How is language used to shape these perspectives. Do the perspectives change across the text? What do the changes suggest about the stability/integrity/naivety/ malevolence of the characters involved?

Take each Scene of the play and insert into the text analyser on www.usingenglish.com.Locate significant language that is repeated in the scene (bolder and bigger) Evaluate why this language is used and privileged in the text. Is any of the language suggesting silences?

Select two quotes about Caesar from the perspective of different characters from each scene in the play. Identify the common or conflicting perspectives present across the play as a whole. What is Shakespeares purpose and effectiveness in revealing these perspectives as he does?

The original folio printing of the text states that the title is The Tragedie of Julius Caesar. What is the true tragedy of the play? Write an analysis of the tragedy of each character in terms of how conflicting perspectives leads to the downfall of humanity. Discuss the paradox of humanitys perpetuating of the destruction of themselves as represented in this play.

Go the CSU HSC online material on Julius Caesar. Go through the notes and exercise and create notes that you can use in your study and essays.

Develop an annotated plot graph of key events in the text that reflect conflicting perspectives. Look for patterns of the protagonists of the conflict and the impact it has on other characters across the play- whether literal, inferential, metaphysical or philosophical.

Read the academic readings on the play provided for you. Annotate for key arguments and theses you can use to develop a range of statements from. Evaluate these thesis statements in light of the essay questions you have been provide with. Discard unsuitable ones and develop those which are relevant.

Construct visual interpretations of the conflict between characters. Annotate the images presenting size and proportion as evidence of the power juxtapositions between the characters. Evaluate how the visual representations reshape your understanding of the conflict and the significance of opposing views of Caesar, of his politics, of his supporters, of his death and of his value as an historical figure in representations such as literature.

Develop the transcript of a debate entitled Butchers or Purgers. Argue both sides of this debate using textual evidence that identifies, exposes and evaluates the impact of the conflicting perspectives embedded in the text. You must have evidence from a range of Acts and Scenes across the play including Act One Scene One and Act Five, final scene.

Identify which characters speak in what metre and rhyme. What are the patterns? Evaluate how the language patterns are used by Shakespeare to represent the conflicting perspectives?

Related Text Synthesis

After creating a detailed analysis of each related text (you must complete at least TWO) using the scaffolds provided, develop tables that link the texts to Shakespeares Julius Caesar.

Thematic parallelsJulius CaesarORT 1ORT 2

Character parallelsJulius CaesarORT 1ORT 2

Conceptual parallelsJulius CaesarORT 1ORT 2

Studying a Drama Text for HSC English1. List the name, author and publication details of the play. Must know the provenance. Must know the edition you are using for the HSC.2. Develop a brief context sentence not a retell for example: Shakespeares effective development of characters and setting presents the paradoxes and ironies innate to the concept of conflicting perspectives.3. Establish the context for the play When was the play written? Who was it written by? How does this work fit into the context of the composers other works? What does the play suggest about society? What does the play suggest about the culture it has been written to be received in? Are there any social or cultural assumptions present in the text? What political commentaries are being made in the content of the text? What gender constructs does the text affirm or subvert? What philosophical and intellectual arguments re being made in the text? What values are exposed in the text?

4. Establish purpose and audience: What is the purpose of the text? What issues does it raise discussion about? Are these issues limited by the time period in which the text is set or are they universal? What do you think the composer is attempting to convey? Is there any evidence of intertextual or archetypal texts content that provide evidence to confirm your assertion of purpose? Who was the audience for the text? What social classes did the audience represent? What level of education did the audience have? What does the content of the play suggest about the audience? Are there any records to suggest a response from the audience to the text? What was it and how effective was the composer in conveying his ideas?

5. Where does the text belong in the history of literature? What themes dies the text deal with? What issues does the text use to convey the themes?] What specific ideas are raised that argue for the theme of the text? Is the composer effective at conveying the themes? Why? Why not? How has the composer conveyed the theme effectively? What language techniques has he/she used? How are they effective?What complex vocabulary or phrasing has been used? How does the language include or exclude the reader? What links, either implicit or explicit does it make to other texts?

6. Stage directions What stage directions have been provided by the composer? How realistic are these directions for the modern stage? Are the stage directions limited by special effects or by the interpretation originally designed by the composer? How could this affect a response form a contemporary audience? Do the stage directions provide any specific insights into the composer or the audience? What assumptions are made by a director when accessing the text for a performance?

7. Develop a detailed character analysis of each Act and Scene You should create visual mind maps of the interactions and relationships between the characters i.e. Is it love, power, pity that form the interconnections and relationships with the other characters in the text? Establish the power roles of each character Establish what is gendered about the dialogue Shakespeare has constructed for each character Identify any subversions of gender that take place through the dialogue Differentiate between the dialogue used between all male characters on the stage as well as all female and male / female interactions. How does the language change? What is Shakespeare attempting to do? Has social class been engendered into the text and how does, for example, the language of characters differentiate and demonstrate social class, education etc.? Does the language used by each character change as the text progresses? How and Why?

8. Language and structure List the major metaphors, allusions, metaphysical conceits, ironies, paradoxes used in the text. Explain how each one provides insight into the purpose, contexts and underlying themes of the text List the significant phrases, soliloquies and monologues in the text. Why have you selected these references? Do they demonstrate change in your characters? Do they represent conflicting perspectives? How do the extracts you have selected provide a sense of continuity to the text? Why has the text been constructed as it has? What do the various language forms, features and structures of the text suggest about the composer? Audience? What other major language forms or structures are used in the text?Historical Context Notes WorksheetWhat is the historical context?

How does the historical context impact on the text? (use of Events, key characters, sites, dates. Inference, allusions, factual statements etc.)

Does the historical context provide insight or depth into the events or characters in the text? How? Why?

How does the historical context affect your response to the text?

What specific language features or structures of the text convey the historical context? (motifs, symbols, metaphors, similes, descriptors etc.)

Copy out any quotes (and their provenance) that you may need to use in your final work that suggest or provide evidence of historical context?

Political Context Notes WorksheetWhat is the political context? (Examine relationships of power, government power, bullying, force, demands, any character or individual that is forced or coerced into acting in a certain way or who is restricted from acting in a certain way by a higher power or more powerful character).

How is the political context revealed in the text characterisation, setting, themes, issues, ideas, values, symbols, motifs etc

Does the political context provide depth or insight into the events or characters in the text? How? Why?

How does the political context affect your response to the text? (Include, exclude etc.?)

What specific language features or structures of the text convey the political context? (motifs, symbols, metaphors, similes, descriptors etc.)

Copy out any quotes (and their provenance) that you may need to use in your final work that suggest or provide evidence of political context?

Intellectual Context Notes WorksheetWhat is the intellectual context explored in the text ideas about life, philosophy the big ideas the text deals with?

How does the intellectual context impact on the text (include, exclude, determine level of education the audience needs to explore meaning etc.)?

Does the intellectual context provide depth or insight into the events or characters in the text? How? Why?

How does the intellectual context affect your response to the text?

What specific language features or structures of the text convey the intellectual context? (motifs, symbols, metaphors, similes, descriptors etc.)

Copy out any quotes (and their provenance) that you may need to use in your final work that suggest or provide evidence of intellectual context?

Social Context Notes WorksheetWhat is the social context? (education, work, family relationships and friendships - professional or personal)

How is social context used by the composer to shape meaning in the text?

Does the social context provide depth or insight into the events or characters in the text? How? Why? (For example, does any change in social context occur that creates conflicting perspectives of characters or events?

How does the social context affect your response to the text?

What specific language features or structures of the text convey the social context? (motifs, symbols, metaphors, similes, descriptors etc.)

Copy out any quotes (and their provenance) that you may need to use in your final work that suggest or provide evidence of social context?

References you MUST read to develop your view on Shakespeares veracity or reconstruction of the narrative of Caesar from primary sources:

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Caesar*.htmlhttp://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Julius*.html

http://www.pbs.org/empires/romans/empire/julius_caesar.html

Julius Caesar: Analysis by Act and SceneFrom Julius Caesar. Ed. Henry Norman Hudson. New York: Ginn and Co., 1908. I. THE EXPOSITION, OR INTRODUCTION (TYING OF THE KNOT) Act I, Scene i. The popularity of Csar with the Roman mob and the jealousy of the official classes--the two motive forces of the play--are revealed. The fickleness of the mob is shown in a spirit of comedy; the antagonism of Marullus and Flavius strikes the note of tragedy. Act I, Scene ii, 1-304. The supreme characters are introduced, and in their opening speeches each reveals his temperament and foreshadows the part which he will play. The exposition of the situation is now complete. II. THE COMPLICATION, RISING ACTION, OR GROWTH (TYING OF THE KNOT) Act I, Scene ii, 305-319. In soliloquy Cassius unfolds his scheme for entangling Brutus in the conspiracy, and the dramatic complication begins. Act I, Scene iii. Casca, excited by the fiery portents that bode disaster to the state, is persuaded by Cassius to join "an enterprise of honourable-dangerous consequence" (lines 123-124). The conspirators are assigned to their various posts, and Cassius engages to secure Brutus before morning. Act II, Scene i. The humane character of Brutus, as master, husband, and citizen, is elaborated, and his attitude to Csar and the conspiracy of assassination clearly shown. He joins the conspirators--apparently their leader, in reality their tool. In lines 162-183 he pleads that the life of Antony be spared, and thus unconsciously prepares for his own ruin. Act II, Scene ii. Csar is uneasy at the omens and portents, and gives heed to Calpurnia's entreaties to remain at home, but he yields to the importunity of Decius and starts for the Capitol, thus advancing the plans of the conspirators. The dramatic contrast between Csar and Brutus is strengthened by that between Calpurnia in this scene and Portia in the preceding. Act II, Scene iii. The dramatic interest is intensified by the warning of Artemidorus and the suggestion of a way of escape for the protagonist. Act II, Scene iv. The interest is further intensified by the way in which readers and spectators are made to share the anxiety of Portia. III. THE CLIMAX, CRISIS, OR TURNING POINT (THE KNOT TIED) Act III, Scene i, 1-122. The dramatic movement is now rapid, and the tension, indicated by the short whispered sentences of all the speakers except Csar, is only increased by his imperial utterances, which show utter unconsciousness of the impending doom. In the assassination all the complicating forces--the self-confidence of Csar, the unworldly patriotism of Brutus, the political chicanery of Cassius, the unscrupulousness of Casca, and the fickleness of the mob--bring about an event which changes the lives of all the characters concerned and threatens the stability of the Roman nation. The death of Csar is the climax of the physical action of the play; it is at the same time the emotional crisis from which Brutus comes with altered destiny.

IV. THE RESOLUTION, FALLING ACTION, OR CONSEQUENCE (THE UNTYING OF THE KNOT) Act III, Scene i, 123-298. With Brutus's "Soft! who comes here? A friend of Antony's" begins the resolution, or falling action, of the play. "The fortune of the conspirators, hitherto in the ascendant, now declines, while 'Csar's spirit' surely and steadily prevails against them."--Verity. Against the advice of Cassius, Brutus gives Antony permission to deliver a public funeral oration. Antony in a soliloquy shows his determination to avenge Csar, and the first scene of the falling action closes with the announcement that Octavius is within seven leagues of Rome. Act III, Scene ii--Scene iii. The orations of Antony, in vivid contrast to the conciliatory but unimpassioned speeches of Brutus, fire the people and liberate fresh forces in the falling action. Brutus and Cassius have to fly the city, riding "like madmen through the gates of Rome." In unreasoning fury the mob tears to pieces an innocent poet who has the same name as a conspirator. Act IV, Scene i. Antony, Octavius, and Lepidus, having formed a triumvirate of which Antony is the master spirit, agree on a proscription list and join forces against Brutus and Cassius, who "are levying powers." Act IV, Scene ii. Brutus and Cassius, long parted by pride and obstinacy, meet to discuss a plan of action. Act IV, Scene iii. This is one of the most famous individual scenes in Shakespeare.... Its intensely human interest is always conceded, but its dramatic propriety, because of what seems a 'dragging' tendency, has been often questioned. The scene opens with Brutus and Cassius bandying recriminations, and the quarrel of the two generals bodes disaster to their cause. As the discussion proceeds, they yield points and become reconciled. Brutus then quietly but with peculiar pathos tells of Portia's death by her own hand. In all the great tragedies, with the notable exception of Othello, when the forces of the resolution, or falling action, are gathering towards the dnouement, Shakespeare introduces a scene which appeals to an emotion different from any of those excited elsewhere in the play. "As a rule this new emotion is pathetic; and the pathos is not terrible or lacerating, but, even if painful, is accompanied by the sense of beauty and by an outflow of admiration or affection, which come with an inexpressible sweetness after the tension of the crisis and the first counter-stroke. So it is with the reconciliation of Brutus and Cassius, and the arrival of the news of Portia's death."--Bradley. While the shadow of her tragic passing overhangs the spirits of both, Brutus overhears the shrewd, cautious counsel of Cassius and persuades him to assent to the fatal policy of offering battle at Philippi. That night the ghost of Csar appears to Brutus. Act V, Scene i. The action now falls rapidly to the quick, decisive movement of the dnouement. The antagonists are now face to face. Brutus and Cassius have done what Antony and Octavius hoped that they would do. The opposing generals hold a brief parley in which Brutus intimates that he is willing to effect a reconciliation, but Antony rejects his proposals and bluntly charges him and Cassius with the wilful murder of Csar. Cassius reminds Brutus of his warning that Antony should have fallen when Csar did. Antony, Octavius, and their army retire, and the scene closes with the noble farewell without hope between Brutus and Cassius. Act V, Scene ii. The opposing armies meet on the field, and a final flare-up of hope in the breast of Brutus is indicated by his spirited order to Messala to charge. The scene implies that Cassius was defeated by being left without support by Brutus.

V. DNOUEMENT, CATASTROPHE, OR CONCLUSION (THE KNOT UNTIED) Act V, Scene iii. The charge ordered by Brutus has been successful, and Octavius has been driven back, but Cassius is thus left unguarded, and Antony's forces surround him. He takes refuge on a hill and sends Titinius to see "whether yond troops are friend or enemy." Believing Titinius to be slain, he begs Pindarus to stab him, and Cassius dies "even with the sword that kill'd" Csar. With the same sword Titinius then slays himself, and Brutus, when Messala bears the news to him, exclaims in words that strike the keynote of the whole falling action and dnouement: O Julius Csar, thou art mighty yet!Thy spirit walks abroad, and turns our swordsIn our own proper entrails.Act V, Scene iv. Like Hamlet, Brutus at the last is a man of supreme action. He rallies his forces for a last attack. With hopeless failure before him, he is at once a heroic figure and one of infinite pathos. Young Cato falls. Lucilius is attacked; assuming the name of Brutus, he is not killed but taken prisoner. Antony recognizes him and gives orders that he be treated kindly. Act V, Scene v. Brutus dies by his own sword, and his last words tell the story of failure and defeat. Like a true Roman, he meets his doom without a murmur of complaint. He had been true to his ideals. The tragic dnouement comes as the inevitable consequence, not of wilful sin, but of a noble mistake. In death he commands the veneration of both Antony and Octavius, who pronounce over his body the great interpretation of his character, and in their speeches the tragedy closes as with a chant of victory for the hero of defeat. VI. MANAGEMENT OF TIME AND PLACE 1. Historic time. Csar's triumph over the sons of Pompey was celebrated in October, B.C. 45. Shakespeare makes this coincident with "the feast of Lupercal" on February 15, B.C. 44. In the play Antony delivers his funeral oration immediately after Csar's death; historically, there was an interval of days. Octavius did not reach Rome until upwards of two months after the assassination; in III, ii, 261, Antony is told by his servant immediately after the funeral oration that "Octavius is already come to Rome." In November, B.C. 43, the triumvirs met to make up their bloody proscription, and in the autumn of the following year were fought the two battles of Philippi, separated historically by twenty days, but represented by Shakespeare as taking place on the same day. 2. Dramatic Time. Historical happenings that extended over nearly three years are represented in the stage action as the occurrences of six days, distributed over the acts and scenes as follows: Day 1.--I, i, ii.Interval.Day 2.--I, iii.Day 3.--II, III.Interval.Day 4.--IV, i.Interval.Day 5.--IV, ii, iii.Interval.Day 6.--V.This compression for the purposes of dramatic unity results in action that is swift and throbbing with human and ethical interest. 3. Place. Up to the second scene of the fourth act Rome is the natural place of action. The second and third scenes of the fourth act are at Sardis in Asia Minor; the last act shifts to Philippi in Macedonia. The only noteworthy deviation from historical accuracy is in making the conference of the triumvirs take place at Rome and not at Bononia.... But there is peculiar dramatic effectiveness in placing this fateful colloquy in the city that was the center of the political unrest of the time. How to cite this article: Shakespeare, William. Julius Caesar. Ed. Henry Norman Hudson. New York: Ginn and Co., 1908. Shakespeare Online. 20 Aug. 2009. (date when you accessed the information) < http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/juliuscaesar/juliushudson.html >.