Julius Caesar Writing Prompts

Create a Google Doc called “Caesar Writings” and you will write YOUR CHOICE of prompt on there each time you’re asked to in class. Write a full paragraph while paying attention to spelling, grammar, etc. We will use these to create another “Perfect Paragraph” document.

Restate the topic in the paragraph.

  1. Contrast Brutus and Cassius.
  2. Select one example of often quoted lines from the play and discuss where you might use those lines in a modern situation. DO NOT use “…it was Greek to me.”
  1. The conspirator Brutus believed that the immoral act of murder would in this case benefit all Romans. Do you agree that a noble end sometimes justifies less than noble means? Discuss this with actual examples.
  1. Shakespeare uses great insight to show the contrast between how a character sees himself and how he really is. Do you notice a similar contrast in people you know?
  1. The qualities of leadership are discussed from various angles throughout the play. Write about the qualities you feel are necessary for leadership. Is leadership the same as power?
  1. Historians argue that history is cyclical. For instance, Rome, once the greatest empire in the world, no longer exists. It succeeded the Greeks, which was another mighty civilization. There were also great Egyptian empires, and we might even point at the Mayans and Incas in Mexico as yet another example of great empires now conquered or extinct. The United States is currently the greatest “empire” in modern times. What will be our downfall, if any?
  1. Shakespeare wrote most of his plays in blank verse, meaning that each line was approximately ten syllables in length and contained a blank rhyme scheme (no intentional rhyming). Your Task: Calpurnia and Portia never meet in the play, but imagine a conversation between these two women following Caesar’s assassination. What would Portia say to Calpurnia, and Calpurnia back to Portia? Use Shakespearean blank verse and rich Old English vocabulary to write this imaginary and awkward 20-line conversation.

VIII. There are many supernatural occurrences in the play. What are your thoughts about the supernatural? Consider all of the natural disasters that have occurred in the past few years alone – tsunamis, tornadoes, hurricanes, etc. Do you think that someone or something is trying to tell us something about the way we are treating our world? Why or why not? Do you believe in ESP, fortune telling, premonitions, horoscopes, and/or superstitions? REMEMBER, NO ONE HAS TO WRITE ABOUT THIS TOPIC; IT IS JUST ONE OF MANY CHOICES.

  1. What is the turning point of the play?
  1. Name three qualities of “the mob” and show how Antony works with each in his funeral oration.
  1. Who is the protagonist in the play? Explain your opinion.
  1. Write about peer pressure and persuasion. How easily are you persuaded by your friends? How easily do you persuade others? Try to give a personal example if you can. Comment on why and how students your age talk each other into (or out of) things.
  1. At the end of the play, Mark Antony describes Brutus as a truly honorable man. Do you think Brutus was honorable? Why or why not? Support your answer with evidence from the play.

XIX. After reading Act IV: Suppose that the assassination plot had been discovered, and Caesar had lived. In your opinion, would he have changed Rome as Brutus feared? Would Brutus have been punished for his part in the plot?

XX. Discuss one of the following quotes. What does it mean? Which character or situation does is apply to in Julius Caesar? Also, apply the quote to another historical event or current event.

  1. In politics a community of hatred is almost always the foundation of friendship.

-Alexis de Tocqueville

  1. Nothing is so unbelievable that oratory cannot make it acceptable.

-Cicero

  1. Every man of action has a strong dose of egotism, pride, hardness, and cunning. But all those things will be regarded as high qualities if he can make them the means to achieve great ends.

-Charles de Gaulle

  1. There are two levers for moving men—interest and fear.

-Napoleon Bonaparte