The Tragedy of Julius Caesar Introduction & Act I Notes

1. The Tragedy of Julius CaesarIntroduction & Act I Notes William Shakespeare

2. Objectives: Common Core State Standards • RL 1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. • RL 2 Determine the theme or central idea of a text. • RL 3 Analyze how complex characters with conflicting motivations develop, interact with others, and advance the plot or develop the theme. • RL 4 Determine the figurative and connotative meanings of words and phrases as they are used in a text. • RL 5 Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure a text and order events within it create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise. • RL 9 Analyze how an author draws on and transforms source material in a specific work. • RL 10 Read and comprehend dramas. • RI 7 Analyze various accounts of a subject told in different mediums. • SL 3 Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric. • L 1b Use various types of clauses to convey specific meanings and add variety and interest to writing. http://my.hrw.com

3. Meet William Shakespeare… • Born in 1564 • Lived during the Renaissance Period during the reign of Queen Elizabeth And Henry the VIII • Grew up in Stratford upon Avon- 400 miles from London • Shakespeare wrote mainly comedies Including A Midsummer’s Night Dream, • He also wrote tragedies like Romeo and Juliet. • He wrote romances too, like The Winter’s Tale

4. Meet William Shakespeare cont… • He helped build the Globe Theater • It was common for people to eat, drink and talk during performances! • Shakespeare modeled his writing • after the great historian Plutarch. • Plutarch was a famous Roman • Citizen (pictured below).

5. Who is Julius Caesar? • Caesar was born in 100 B.C • He was a shrewd military general • He became wealthy and powerful by conquering Gaul-a territory in western Europe • In 60 B.C. Rome was under the control of Crassus, Pompey and Caesar • These three leaders were known as The First Triumvirate • Crassus died and soon Pompey and Caesar came into odds with each other

6. Who is Julius Caesar? Cont… • Caesar defeated Pompey in 45 B.C • The play opens up in 44 B.C-there is concern that Caesar might crush the republic that has been established and create either a monarchy- or worse, a dictatorship!

7. Act I-The Tragedy of Julius Caesar • Setting: The Festival of Lupercal • Act I opens here • Lupercal comes from “lupus” or wolf • Women who could not bare children would stand in the way of the “runners” carrying sacrificial goats or dogs, in order to be blessed with the powers to have children • Caesar’s wife, Calpurnia was unable to have children

8. Act I-The Tragedy of Julius Caesar cont… • Epilepsy-The Falling Sickness • Several characters allude to or mention Caesar’s “falling sickness” • Some in Shakespeare’s day associated the “falling sickness” to being able to prophesize or tell the future • Pun • A pun is a joke that makes use of two different meanings of the word. In Scene I, the cobbler (shoe maker) makes a pun with the words all and awl (a shoemakers tool). “Truly, sir, all that I live by is with the awl.” • This is one of the earliest forms of humor

9. Act I Study Guide • I. Vocabulary • Wherefore: (line 32-Murellus): Should we? • Exeunt: exit • Vulgar: (line 70-Flavius): Common people • Construe: to interpret or translate • II. Literary Terms • Blank Verse: unrhymed iambic pentameter (5 syllables in a line that are unrhymed). • Prose: Ordinary speech or writing without metrical structure

10. Act I Study Guide cont… Tragedy: drama of literary work which the main character suffers extreme sorrow Pun: a play on words Conflict: fighting or disharmony between with different ideas or interests

11. Act I Study Guide cont… Types of Conflicts: External Conflict: man vs. man man vs. animal man vs. nature Internal Conflict: man vs. self Soliloquy: dramatic dialogue which a character reveals his or her thoughts, when alone or unaware of others.

12. Act I Study Guide cont… Iambic Meter: line in which there is a stressed syllable sound, followed by an unstressed syllable Iambic Pentameter: Five syllables in a line, with an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable Metaphor: Comparison not using like or as Simile: Comparison using like or as

13. Act I Vocabulary: 1. Tributaries: people who had to obey rules and laws 2. Servile: people who had to serve those who were in power (example: the senators below Caesar) 3. Construe: interpret 4. Cogitations: thoughts 5. Accoutred: to be well equipped 6. Encompass: to surround 7. Loath: to hate someone 8. Prodigious: extraordinary 9. Redress: to make amends (to make right) 10. Infirmity: to show weakness

14. Characters Introduced in Act I Julius Caesar: (Marcus) Brutus: Cassius: Antony: Casca: As we read fill in traits that describe each character!

15. Blog Response Question… Can your conscience (intuition/judgment) mislead you? Recall a situation or a time when this happened to you or someone you know. What did you (he or she) learn from it?