Julius Caesar
A Play by
William Shakespeare
If found, please return to:
Mrs. DeGraffenreid 620
10th Grade English
This notebook belongs to: ______Period: _____
10th grade California Content Standards
And at the culmination of this unit, students will be able to:
1. Understand the characteristics of a Shakespearean tragedy (RD 3.1)
2. Critique the function of dialogue, soliloquies, and asides (RD 3.10)
3. Analyze characters’ personalities, motivations, and influences based on what they do, say, and what other characters say about them. (RD 3.3 and RD 3.4)
Reading and Studying the Play
All students have a chance to read, but only the larger parts will be given to students that want them. All parts are assigned for an entire act. Readers stand or sit at the front of the class, and we “act” out the scene as much as possible. This means we will use the printed stage directions to enter or exit the room and to decide which characters sit/stand near each other.
After reading each act, you will break into your study groups to answer the study guide questions before moving on to the next act. Higher level understanding will be achieved through class discussions and activities. After each act, we will take a brief quiz over vocabulary and the study guide questions. During the quiz, your Notebook will be graded.
Over the course of this unit, we will study the story of Julius Caesar and Shakespeare’s writing of the tragic play with his name. You will work in a group of 4 throughout our study. You will complete the study guide and activities with your group. Please write your group members’ names and contact information here:
1. Speaker – Responsible for getting my group to our shared vision. He or She is the face of the political campaign.
______Phone #: ______
2. Chief of Advertising – Responsible to keeping positive and negative advertisements for the political campaign.
______Phone #: ______
3. Chief of Staff – Responsible for keeping everyone organized and working together. This person schedules and keeps meetings timely.
______Phone #: ______
4. Chief of Quality – Responsible for making sure all work in completed at the proficient or advanced level. Nothing is turned in without being checked by him or her first.
______Phone #: ______
1
Julius Caesar Group Grade / Julius Caesar Individual GradeGroup members will be required to work together to do the following tasks:
· Read and comprehend the play
· Complete study guide
· Write and give speeches
· Prepare political campaign advertisements
· Write essays
· Collectively make decisions to compete in a group v. group competition.
· Collectively stand behind group products.
· Collectively work to improve group member performance. / Individuals will be required to know all aspects of the group campaign as listed to the left, and fulfill these individual responsibilities:
· Read and comprehend the play
· Complete study guide
· Complete vocabulary notes
· Take quizzes and tests (individually)
· Write essays
· Peer evaluation
Julius Caesar Political Campaign (Group Grade)
Your group will be running a political campaign, concurrent with our reading of the play, for a candidate of your creation who is also trying to fill the political vacuum left by Caesar’s death. At the end of this assignment the group with the highest score will get their candidate elected Caesar and will earn a proficient (B) on the final test for this unit.
Developing Your Character
1. The Romapolitan (the fashion and gossip magazine of the Roman republic) is doing a piece on the big-time players in Roman society. Along with the obvious generals and senators they have asked for a piece on you.
[70 campaign points + 20 campaign point bonuses for most outstanding project]
Please include the following:
i. A Resume with a profile, relevant experience in office, skills, strengths, and references.
ii. A Drawing of your character. Must be colorful and high quality on construction paper.
2. Speeches will occasionally be required from each of the soon-to-be-candidates on assigned topics. The amount of time allotted for each speech as well as its preparation time will vary.
[70 campaign points + 20 campaign point bonuses for most outstanding speech]
Campaign
3. Daily Advertising
· Advertisements must be current with our reading of Julius Caesar. In other words you cannot have any overt advertisements for you as the next Caesar until we have finished reading Act III scene I when Julius is killed. Prior to the assassination you may have advertisements about your character and personality and current occupation though.
· Your advertisements may not lie, but they can be suggestive.
· Your advertisements must promote the personality of your assigned person.
· Your advertisements may not be xeroxed or computer generated.
· 10 Campaign points can be earned per unique advertisement created of finished quality
· Teams can lose campaign points as well if an exceptionally blistering negative ad comes up against their candidate. [10 campaign point each time]
4. Speeches
· Speeches will occasionally be required from each of the candidates on assigned topics. The amount of time allotted for each speech as well as its preparation time will vary. [70 campaign points + 20 campaign point bonuses for most outstanding speech]
5. Debate
· A debate will be staged later on in this campaign. Issues to be discussed will be given out ahead of time so that groups may prepare. The entire group may participate by providing research and written help to their candidate. [100 campaign points + 20 campaign point bonuses for most outstanding speech]
6. Miscellaneous Scoring Opportunities
· Other Outstanding Displays of Overachievement or overdoing things in doing the assignment. [20 campaign point/day]
· Providing a Sculpture of Your Candidate[50 campaign points]
· Select and Play a Theme Song each Time Your Candidate appears on stage. [10 campaign point/opportunity]
· Video Commercial with advertisement propaganda techniques [50 campaign points]
· Costuming [10 campaign point/day]
· Weekly popularity poll among voters [10-30 campaign points/week]
· Other______
Speech Assignment Prompts
SPEECH #1 [PRE-PLAY]
The setting is as follows. You (insert candidate’s name) are on your way to see the celebration of Julius Caesar’s return. On your way through the empty Roman streets you come upon a few street urchins up to no good. As you look upon them you are reminded of your own youth and the way you changed yourself for the better. Please prepare a monologue addressed to these street kids where you help to steer them on the right path by sharing your life story with them. (3 min. max)
SPEECH #2 [AFTER ACT I Scene ii]
After the parade celebrating Caesar’s victory a series of speeches have been set up at The Academy (the university) to discuss the following question: Does leadership mean being honorable?
Because you are such a well-respected member of the community we would love for you to give a five minute or less speech.
SPEECH #3 [AFTER ACT III Scene i Line 32]
Due to your increased popularity after having spoken at the “We Love Rome Rally,” you have been asked to appear before the Senate on the Ides of March to present a bill of your creation suggesting what is the most important problem in Rome that the Senate needs to address. You may or may not want to focus this bill on an area that you are directly affiliated with. You may supplement your speech with visuals. (5 min. max.)
SPEECH #4 [AFTER ACT III Scene i]
CAESAR IS DEAD! And you are popular. Whether you intended to or not the opportunity to seize power in Rome is upon you. A few well-placed speeches coupled with a blistering ad campaign and you could be being called Caesar in the near future. Your first opportunity is to speak at the funeral of Caesar after Brutus and Marc Antony. Commiserate and sympathize with them. Tell the people of what you think about what has happened. Tell them what needs to happen now. Tell them who they need to watch out for. Tell them how you can provide them what they need. Tell them what you need to get their support. This speech is the beginning of your campaign to become the first elected Emperor of Rome.
Speech Assignments Grading Rubric
Your group will earn a class grade on each speech. You will be graded individually for your contribution to the group’s success. As a group you should work to prepare your speaker to do this.
Your group will also earn points for your campaign. And can will bonus points for your campaign if your group has the most interesting and engaging speech.
o Gesturing and Movement
o Intonation
o Staying in character and with platform
o Content addresses topic
o Content reflects understanding of events in the play so far
Advertisements and Propaganda
Political campaigns can manipulate voters just as businesses manipulate consumers into buying their products by manipulating the reader with techniques that appeal to the consumers’ subliminal or unnoticed feelings. Companies appeal to consumers in many different ways to persuade them to buy their products.
Your Julius Caesar group must create 5 advertisements of varying type that employ each of these advertising techniques. The advertisement may be positive for you or negative for an opponent.
Every ad can score or reduce a campaign score by 10-40 points. Depending on how complete and thorough it is. So if it just a finished ad but the content isn’t great it will be worth 10. If it is finished and has new content, that is 20. If it is finished and has new and moving content, that is 30. If the advertisement goes above and beyond expectations, that is a 40.
· Advertisements must be current with our reading of Julius Caesar. In other words you cannot have any overt advertisements for you as the next Caesar until we have finished reading Act III scene I when Julius is killed. Prior to the assassination you may have advertisements about your character and personality and current occupation though.
· Your advertisements may not lie, but they can be suggestive.
· Your advertisements must promote the personality of your assigned person.
· Your advertisements may not be xeroxed or computer generated.
Advertising Techniquesavant garde / the suggestion that using this product puts the user ahead of the times e.g. a toy manufacturer encourages kids to be the first on their block to have a new toy
bandwagon / the suggestion that everybody is using the product and that you should too in order to be part of the group e.g. a credit card company quotes the number of millions of people who use their card
facts and figures / statistics and objective factual information is used to prove the superiority of the product e.g. a car manufacturer quotes the amount of time it takes their car to get from 0 to 100 k.p.h.
glittering generalities / "weasel words" are used to suggest a positive meaning without actually really making any guarantee e.g. a famous sports personality says that a diet product might help you to lose weight the way it helped him to lose weight
hidden fears / the suggestion that this product will protect the user from some danger e.g. a laundry detergent manufacturer suggests that you will be embarrassed when strangers see "ring around the collar" of your shirts or blouses
magic ingredients / the suggestion that some almost miraculous discovery makes the product exceptionally effective e.g. a pharmaceutical manufacturer describes a special coating that makes their pain reliever less irritating to the stomach than a competitor`s
patriotism / the suggestion that purchasing this product shows your love of your country e.g. a company brags about its product being made in Canada and employing Canadian workers
plain folks / the suggestion that the product is a practical product of good value for ordinary people e.g. a cereal manufacturer shows an ordinary family sitting down to breakfast and enjoying their product
snob appeal / the suggestion that the use of the product makes the customer part of an elite group with a luxurious and glamorous life style e.g. a coffee manufacturer shows people dressed in formal gowns and tuxedos drinking their brand at an art gallery
transfer / words and ideas with positive connotations are used to suggest that the positive qualities should be associated with the product and the user e.g. a textile manufacturer wanting people to wear their product to stay cool during the summer shows people wearing fashions made from their cloth at a sunny seaside setting where there is a cool breeze
testimonial / a famous personality is used to endorse the product e.g. a famous hockey player recommends a particular brand of skates
wit and humor / customers are attracted to products that divert the audience by giving viewers a reason to laugh or to be entertained by clever use of visuals or language
(based on Tressler and Lewis, Mastering Effective English (Third Edition), pp.470-472)
William Shakespeare Lecture Notes
Born – _____ Died – _____
· Not much is known about Shakespeare’s early life. He was the son of a tanner who belonged to the ______class. He grew up in a small town outside of London called ______, and he probably attended the grammar school there. In 1582, he married ______and had three children.
· By 1592, Shakespeare is known to have moved to London and to have established himself as an ______and a ______. He wrote plays in order to make a living!
· Shakespeare was known to be a shareholder in a prominent theater troupe with close ties to the court of ______. Shakespeare and others established the ______.
· He wrote approximately 37 plays between 1592 and 1613. Plays were meant to be ______.
· Shakespeare is famous for using the following techniques:
o low humor (slapstick), ______elements, a play within a play, puns and other plays on words, and mistaken identity.
· Shakespeare’s plays live on because their themes are ______. The stories have the same appeal for today’s audiences as they did for Elizabethan audiences.