Really, rain?! No wonder we are rated the least happy people in Canada.

English

Bonus essay assignment: Due Friday

1. Victorian critic Edward Dowden wrote that Brutus has a "soul of incorruptible virtue". Using examples from the play, build a case either for against Dowden's statement.

2. Calpurnia and Portia have minor but important roles in the play.  Study the scenes Calpurnia and Portia share with their husbands (2.1 and 2.2). What are the similarities and differences?

3. Explain the significance of Caesar's famous line "Et tu, Brute?" Does it ensure we do not forget Brutus is a criminal?

4. What negative qualities of Brutus cause his own destruction?

5. Discuss the role of Cassius in the play.  We know that the welfare of Rome is the sole motivation of Brutus, but what motivates Cassius?

6. So many of Shakespeare's plays deal with the topic of suicide. In Julius Caesar, many characters take their life (or have others take their life for them).  Is this really right? Examine the self-murderers and their reasons for taking their own lives.

7. Julius Caesar was a politician who was becoming too powerful, yet he was not a tyrant.  He wasn't all good but he wasn't all bad either.  Did he deserve to be removed from his position? Do people have a right to assassinate their ruler if the ruler is corrupt?

8. Shakespeare seems to tell us people are just like sheep.  They could be led in any direction and their minds are changed in an instant. Is Shakespeare right in his perception of people?  Describe the role of the common people in the play.

9. Explain the role of fate played in Julius Caesar, supporting it with specific examples.

10. Compare and contrast the personalities of Brutus and Cassius.

11. Choose three symbols that Shakespeare uses throughout the play and describe how they contribute to it.

12. Choose a less significant character (not Caesar, Brutus, Cassius, Antony) and describe his/her role in the play.

13. Some people believe that the title of the play should have been the Tragedy of Marcus Brutus, Support or refute this argument.

Socials

Finish all of the last set of practicing questions.
Turn in your tests so I can take off two bad questions and re-issue you a proper mark.
Tomorrow is review day. You will play jeopardy and I will have teams arranged.
Test: 30 m/c, 5 vocab/ 2 guiding questions.