FOCUS/Agenda

1. FOCUS/Agenda • COMPLETE THE 3-2-1 CHART • Character Notes • Review Vocabulary – Keep in Words to Own Section of Notebooks • Background Notes • Cliffs Notes Video • Please Bring Your Textbooks to Class On MONDAY!

2. Julius Caesar Character Notes & Background I.i

3. Caesar’s Allies/Associates • Marcus Antonius (Mark Antony) - Friend of Caesar; One of the leaders of Rome after Caesar’s death • Octavius Caesar – Nephew of Julius Caesar and first Roman Emperor • Lepidus – Ally of Antony and Octavius and one of the three rulers of Rome after Caesar’s assassination • Artemidorus – Friend of Caesar who writes a letter warning Caesar of the assassination plot

4. Conspirators • Marcus Brutus - Friend of Caesar; Kills Caesar “for the good of Rome” • Cassius - Leader of the conspiracy against Caesar; Brother-in-law of Brutus • Casca – the first conspirator to stab Caesar • Trebonius – a member of the conspiracy • Caius Ligarius- Final member of the conspiracy; A sick man; Joins conspirators when Brutus asks him to help make Rome well

5. Conspirators Con’d • Decius Brutus - Conspirator who uses flattery to get Caesar to the Senate House • MetellusCimber- Conspirator and brother of PubliusCimber who was banished from Rome • Cinna – conspirator who urges Cassius to bring Brutus into the conspiracy to gain favorable public opinion

6. Citizens • Flavius and Marullus- Tribunes who guard the rights of Roman citizens

7. The Soothsayer • Seer into future • Tries to warn Caesar about the assassination plot • “Beware the Ides of March” (I.ii.18)

8. The Women • Portia – Brutus’ wife • Calphurnia – Caesar’s wife; tries to keep Caesar from going the Senate on the day of his assassination

9. Act I Vocabulary • 1. construe C A. omens • 2. cogitations F B. fully armed • 3. accoutered B C. interpret • 4. entreat G D. temperament • 5. fain H E. foreboding • 6. mettle D F. thoughts • 7. prodigies A G. make an earnest request of • 8. portentous E H. gladly

10. Julius Caesar Focus 10/21 • “Something deathless and dangerous in the world sweeps past you…It is something fearful and ominous, something turbulent and to be dreaded, which distends the drama to include the life of nations as well as of men. It is an ageless warning.” – John Mason Brown • What feeling do you get when you first read this quotation? • What might the “deathless and dangerous” something be? • Start a new page in the JOURNAL SECTION of your notebooks – Label it JULIUS CAESAR FOCUS 10/21. Record your responses.

11. Agenda/Objectives • Focus Assignment • Background Notes I.i • Read and Interpret Julius Caesar I.i • Recognize Puns • Answer Julius Caesar Act I Scene i Questions

12. JULIUS CAESAR ACT I SCENE iBackground Notes • The opening scenes are the exposition of the play • The first scene outlines the relationship between the plebeians, or common people, and Caesar and the attitude of the soldiers toward the plebeians • Shakespeare depicts the plebeians throughout the play as a group rather than individuals • Overall the plebeians tend to be gullible and easily led

13. Background Notes Cont’d • PUN – PLAY ON THE MULTIPLE MEANINGS OF A WORD OR ON TWO WORDS THAT SOUND ALIKE BUT HAVE DIFFERENT MEANINGS. • Many jokes and riddles are based on puns: • “When is a doctor most annoyed?” • “When he runs out of patients.”

14. Julius Caesar Focus 10/22 • Do you believe in fate? That is to say do you believe that everything in life predetermined, that the cause of events are beyond man’s control.? Discuss events in your life which were hard to attribute to mere coincidence. • Record your responses in the JOURNAL SECTION of your notebooks. • THIS WEEK’S FOCUS ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE COLLECTED ON FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25!

15. Agenda • Focus Assignment • Discuss Julius Caesar Act I.i • Background Notes I.ii • Begin I.ii

16. Julius Caesar Act I Scene iiBackground Notes • As the Roman god of agriculture and protector of flocks, Lupercus was associated with fertility in general. • Since belief in this god’s power was widespread, Caesar should not necessarily be faulted as superstitious for hoping that the ritual will help Calphurnia shake off her “sterile curse.” • This hope takes on new meaning when we consider that Caesar may soon be crowned king and will need an heir to carry on his dynasty.

17. I.ii Background Notes Cont’d • Cassius’s claims about Caesar’s weaknesses are not borne out by Roman historians. • According to Suetonius: “Caesar was a most skilled swordsman and horseman, and showed surprising powers of endurance. He always led his army, more on foot than in the saddle…If he reached an unfordable river he would either swim or propel himself across it on an inflated skin, and often arrive at his destination before his messengers whom he had sent ahead to annouce his approach.”

18. I.ii Background Notes Cont’d • Plutarch wrote: “[Caesar] used warfare as a tonic to his health. By long, hard journeys, simple diet, sleeping night after night in the open, and rough living he…made his body strong enough to resist all attacks.” • Why might Caesar have been misrepresented in I.ii.100-130? • What can we conclude about Cassius? • Open books to page 779

19. Julius Caesar Focus 10/23 • “Men at some time are masters of their fates; The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings.” • Cassius, I.ii.139-141 • Explain what Cassius means here. • QUIZ ON MONDAY, OCTOBER 28! • Julius Caesar Act I • Shakespeare Notes

20. Agenda • Focus • Discuss Questions 1-4 • Listen to Act I Scene ii (page 785) • Answer Questions 6-10 • Graphic Organizers

21. Focus 10/24 • How would you evaluate the character of Brutus? Is he strong, weak, or something in between. • Use evidence from I.ii to support your responses. • JULIUS CAESAR ACT I QUIZ – MONDAY, OCTOBER 28 • Shakespeare Notes • Background Notes • Vocabulary

22. I.iii Background Notes • Medieval Hierarchy • Medieval ideas still prevalent in England at the time of Shakespeare • Universe organized into what critic Arthur O. Lovejoy has called “the great chain of being.” • God was at the top of the hierarchy • Between Heaven and Earth were nine orders of angels • Humans below God and the angels

23. Medieval Hierarchy Cont’d • State, Church, and family modeled after heavenly hierarchy • Head of state viewed as God’s appointed deputy on earth • Rules in accordance with a divine plan • Attempts to overturn the monarch was an act of disobedience against God • Would disturb the harmony of the universe

24. Greek Philosophy • Brutus believes in Stoicism • Stoicism = virtue, as expressed in action, as the supreme purpose of life • Result of wisdom is the performance of duty • Joy and grief should not be outwardly shown • In doing one’s duty Stoic must spare neither himself nor others

25. Greek Philosophy • Cassius believes in Epicureanism • Epicureanism = pleasure is the chief good • Pleasure = freedom of the body from pain and of the soul from anxiety • Prudence was means to these ends • Did not believe in divine intervention or an afterlife • Fear and fear of death, was the greatest evil

26. Focus 10/25 • Cassius’s soliloquy (long speech in which a character who is alone on stage expresses private thoughts or feelings) marks the end of scene ii and the end of the exposition. Write a full summary of the basic facts from the exposition. • THIS WEEK’S FOCUS ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE COLLECTED TODAY! • JULIUS CAESAR ACT I QUIZ IS MONDAY! • PLOT • CHARACTERS • BACKGROUND NOTES • SHAKESPEARE’S LIFE AND TIMES

27. Julius Caesar AGENDA • Listen to Act I Scene iii • Act I Scene iii (page 789) – answer questions as you listen • Discuss • ANY QUESTIONS? • BEGIN GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS – DUE MONDAY, OCTOBER 28– QUIZ DAY!

28. Julius Caesar