Shakespeare
Honors 10B
Warm up


Destiny: A predetermined course of events
often held to an irresistible power or agency
What are your thoughts on destiny? Do you
believe that our actions are predetermined
or that our lives are ruled by randomness?
Essential Questions




What is the nature of
destiny?
Can an immoral act ever
be justified as honorable?
How can the public self
and private self co-exist?
What are the
consequences when they
do not?
Does power corrupt?
CA Standards

Writing 3.11: Evaluate the aesthetic
qualities of style, including the impact of
diction and figurative language on tone,
mood, and theme, using the terminology of
literary criticism.
CA Standards


Reading 3.4: Determine characters’ traits
by what the characters say about
themselves in narration, dialogue, dramatic
monologue, and soliloquy.
Reading 3.10: Identify and describe the
function of dialogue, scene designs,
soliloquies, asides, and character foils in
dramatic literature.
Concepts and Skills

Separate the major nouns and verbs
(nouns on the left and verbs on right)
Major Assignments




Script 100 pts
10 min. Film 100 pts.
Essay 1B 100 pts.
Quiz 30 pts each
Essay Assignment Due

Shakespeare makes use of characterization to
develop the themes of “Private vs. Public Self,”
and “Destiny.” Write an Academically Written 3 to
4 page essay where you connect character to
theme. You must make use of 2 of the following
literary techniques:





Parallelism
Character types
Figurative Language
Tone
Diction
Adaptation Assignment

You and your group are asked to adapt
only 1 act of the play. You have your choice
of act 2 or 3. You must be careful to keep to
the spirit of the characters. Understand
their motivations, etc. Each project must
include at least one major theme discussed
in class.
What will be evaluated in the film
project?




An “A” adaptation will keep to the spirit of the
characters and demonstrate how Brutus serves
as a foil of Caesar or Antony.
Demonstrate the complexity of Brutus and Antony
and the internal struggle of the Public and Private
Self.
Demonstrate a comprehensive grasp of the
material and engage with it in an imaginative
manner.
PG rating. PG-13 with teacher approval
Character Types


Antagonist: The character that creates the challenges
or oppositions to the protagonist
Protagonist: The main or central character of the story
Character Vocabulary

Foil: a character set
up with the expressed
purpose of
emphasizing the traits
and qualities of a
primary character

Flat characters:
Characters with only
1 dimension

Round Characters:
Characters with
multiple dimensions
or sides

Static Characters:
Characters who do
not change
throughout the course
of the story

Flat characters:
Characters with only
1 dimension

Round Characters:
Characters with
multiple dimensions
or sides

Dynamic Characters: Characters who change or
evolve throughout the story
Readings





Act 1 Thursday March 1st
Act 2 Monday March 5th
Act 3 Thursday March 8th
Act 4 Monday March 12th
Act 5 Thursday March 15th
Warm up

Chief among Shakespeare’s most beloved
plays are his tragedies: Hamlet, King Lear,
Othello, Julius Caesar, Romeo and Juliet,
etc.) Why is it that we as human beings are
attracted to or need tragedy?
The Nature of Shakespearean
Tragedies

Catharsis: Purification or purgation of
emotions (fear and pity) through art.
Shakespeare





1564-1616
Born in Stratford upon Avon
Birth and Death Celebrated on the same
day April 26
Of working class beginnings
Educated in a grammar (7-13) school
taught by Oxford graduates
Shakespeare’s Adulthood



At 18 married to Anne Hathaway: 18 years
his Senior
Hamnet and Judith
1592 (28) he was in London and
recognized as an actor and a playwright.
First mentioned by Robert Green as
“borrowing” from the plays of others




1592-4 At the onset of the plague he
moved on to poetry and was published by a
boyhood friend
1597 Purchased various properties and
purchased a coat of arms with the motto
“Non Sanz Drioct”
1598 the Globe Theatre is built
1603 King James’ “The Kings Men”
What form of figurative language is
employed in this explanation of
Shakespeare’s skill as a writer?

"Many were the wit-combats betwixt him and Ben
Jonson; which two I behold like a Spanish great
galleon and an English man-of-war; Master
Jonson (like the former) was built far higher in
learning; solid, but slow, in his performances.
Shakespeare, with the English man-of-war, lesser
in bulk, but lighter in sailing, could turn with all
tides, tack about, and take advantage of all winds,
by the quickness of his wit and invention."
Act 1 day 2 Agenda
Grammar Review: Double Negatives
 Homework
 Translating to contemporary prose
 Analyzing text: Destiny
 Character Descriptions
 The use of Ironies

Employing Academic Language in an
Analysis of Text (I.ii.60).



Writers use an advance academic
vocabulary, topic sentences, and
transitional words.
Writers do not use contractions or
questions
Writers use proper punctuation for the
quotations used.
I.ii. 30-190

Translating to
contemporary


Focus on Cassius’
argument
Rewrite the dialogue
into a modern context
but try to keep the spirit
of the text
Explicate the following passage and
relate to character and theme
“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.i 139-142
707 line 45


What does this passage say about Cassius
and his relationship to fate?
Come up with one or two adjectives to
describe each of the following characters:
Cassius, Casca, Brutus, Caesar, Antony
Prophetic Irony/ Pathetic Fallacy

The physical environment (ie. weather)
reacts in such a way that it reflects an
emotional tension or foreshadows an event.
Destiny & Fate

Extra-credit: Prepare
an academically
written expository
report on the different
interpretations of fate
in various cultures and
faiths (including
ancient Rome).
Act I
 1. In Scene I, what do Flavius and Marellus want the
commoners to do? Why?
 2. What is the Soothsayer's advice to Caesar? How does this
connect to one of our themes
 3. Explain the difference between the views of Caesar held by
Cassius and Brutus.
 4. Caesar clearly gives his thoughts about Cassius. What does
he say?
 5. Summarize Casca's explanation of why Caesar looked so
sad.
 6. At the end of Scene II in lines 312 - 326, Cassius makes
plans. What plans does he make?
 Why?
 7. Casca says, "For I believe they are portentous things/Unto the
climate that they point
 upon." What does he mean?
 8. Why does Cassius want Brutus to join the conspiracy?
ACT II
Dynamics of Blocking: An Analysis of
Mankiewicz’s “Julius Caesar” Scene 2
How do the actors
movements underscore
the fundamental theme of
the battle between the
public and the private self?
What visual symbols does
the director employ to
further develop that
theme.
Warm up

In Act 2 Shakespeare explores one of our
essential questions: Can the public self and
private self co-exist?

In an academically written paragraph describe
how characterization may be used to explore this
dissonance. Hint: Brutus and Caesar are set up
as foils.
Parallelism

A writer may repeat or closely mirror certain
phrases to draw a reader’s attention.
Homo-social societies


homosociality describes same-sex relationships
that are not of sexual nature. For example, a
heterosexual male who prefers to socialize with
men may be considered a homosocial
heterosexual.
however, the notion that the boundaries between
the social and the sexual are blurry, fuzzy; thus
homosociality and homosexuality are connected
and can never fully be disentangled.
Parallelism

As a rhetorical device: to give two or more
parts of a grouping of phrases a similar
form so as to give the whole a definite
pattern.


Veni, Vidi, Vici – Julius Caesar
"The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal
sharing of blessing; the inherent virtue of
socialism is the equal sharing of miseries."
(Churchill)
Act II
1. To what decision does Brutus come in his orchard? Why?
2. What does Lucius give to Brutus in Scene I?
3. Why doesn't Brutus want to swear an oath with the conspirators?
4. For what reason does Metellus Cimber want Cicero to join the
conspiracy?
5. Brutus is against including Cicero and against killing Mark Antony.
Why?
6. Why did Brutus say, "Render me worthy of this noble wife!"?
7. Of what does Calpurnia try to convince Caesar?
8. Caesar yields to Calpurnia's wishes at first. Why does he change his
mind and decide to go to the Senate meeting?
9. What does the note Artemidorus wants to give to Caesar say?
Act III
Destiny and Prophecy III.i.270
Analyzing Appeals and Rhetoric

Breaking down the Pulpit Speeches

Use a t-chart to list the different appeals and
rhetorical devices each orator uses (pg 16 and
37 of the Perspectives of Multicultural Literature
respectively.)
Analyzing character speech for
parallelism

ANTONY Friends,
Romans, countrymen,
lend me your ears. I
come to bury Caesar,
not to praise him. The
evil that men do lives
after them.

BRUTUS Romans,
countrymen, and
lovers! Hear me for my
cause, and be silent
Dynamics of Acting: An Analysis of
Marlon Brando’s Performance of Antony

Analyzing Brando’s
performance




Pay attention to his facial
expressions
Analyze the tone of his voice
How do these elements help
develop the idea of the public
and private persona?
Why can and must Antony
negotiate between the two
successfully?
Reflection

With Caesar dead, Antony moves to the
forefront of the action, thus allowing him to
develop into a dynamic character. In act III
he navigates between the public and
private personas expertly, how does he
compare to Brutus? What does this imply
about their functions in this particular act?
1. What is ironic about the timing of Caesar's murder (in relation to
the preceding events)?
2. In the moments following Caesar's death, what do the
conspirators proclaim to justify their deed?
3. Antony's servant brings a message to Brutus. What does he say?
4. Antony wants to speak at Caesar's funeral. What reaction does
Brutus have? Cassius? Why would they react differently?
5. Under what conditions will Antony speak at the funeral?
6. What did Brutus say to the people at the funeral?
7. What did Antony say to the people at the funeral in his now
famous "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears"
speech?
8. Why did Brutus and Cassius flee Rome?
9. What is the point of Act III Scene III?
10. Please describe the following character terms as best you can:
dynamic, static, round, flat, protagonist, and antagonist.
11. Describe Cassius and his relationship to Brutus.
12. Please describe one of the many foil pairings that Shakespeare
uses in the play
Act IV
Warm up: Explicate in Academic Writing

True, This! —
Beneath the rule of men entirely great,
The pen is mightier than the sword. Behold
The arch-enchanters wand! — itself a nothing! —
But taking sorcery from the master-hand
To paralyze the Caesars, and to strike
The loud earth breathless! — Take away the
sword — States can be saved without it!
Act IV: The Power of the Written
Word



“He shall not live; look, with a spot I damn
him.” Antony
The power of the written word is of vast
significance in Shakespeare’s Julius
Caesar.
What other instances of writing may
underscore Shakespeare’s hidden theme?
The Disintegration of the Private-Self
The Irony of Self Fulfilling Prophesy
When love begins to sicken and decay,
It uses an enforced ceremony.
There are no tricks in plain and simple faith:
But hollow men, like horses hot at hand,
Make gallant show and promise of their mettle;
But when they should endure the bloody spur,
They fall their crests, and, like deceitful jades
Sink in the Trial. - Brutus
Character Reflection

How has Portia’s death affected Brutus,
what effect does this produce in Brutus’s
struggle between the private and the public
self?







Act IV
1. What did Antony, Octavius, and Lepidus gather to discuss?
What does this tell us about Antony?
2. To what does Antony compare Lepidus? What form of
figurative language does he employ?
3. What problem has developed between Cassius and
Brutus? How is it resolved? How is this connected to one of
our themes?
4. What news did Messala bring Brutus?
5. For what reasons does Brutus want to lead his armies to
Philippi?
6. What message did Caesar's ghost bring Brutus?
Act V
Agenda




Warm Up
Act V
Julius Caesar Recap
Script Writing
Act V Ironies



Irony: the contrast between what is
expected and what happens.
Situational irony: The contrast between
what a character expects and what actually
happens.
Dramatic Irony: When the audience knows
something will or has happened and the
characters do not.
Finishing up Julius Caesar




V.i.110 Brutus’ character
V.iii. Irony: Titinius and Cassius
V.iv Young Cato
V.v.68 Character analysis: Antony
Warm up: Correct the format and
grammar of the following paragraph
I think that Shakespeare used figurative
language to describes how much pretty
Juliet was by Romeos point of view. In
some seen he makes figurative language
by comparing juliet to a “jewel in an ethiops’
ear (III.ii.9)”. this might be images because
he describes things in great detail. In
concluding shakespeare uses imagery to
describe things in detail.
What was wrong with the paragraph?







Words are misspelled or capitalized incorrectly:
“imagery,” “Juliet,” “Shakespeare,” etc.
Uses the “I” pronoun
Mixes tenses: past and present.
Uses extra words
Grammar needs work
Does not break down the quote enough
Uses incorrect punctuation
Act V
1. Why did Pindarus stab Cassius? Why would Cassius choose to die?
2. What causes Titinius to say, "The sun of Rome is set!"? When and
where was this line foreshadowed?
3. Who do the soldiers believe they have captured in Scene IV? Who is
it really?
4. How does Brutus die? And more importantly why does Brutus
choose to die?
5. Why did Antony say Brutus was the "noblest Roman of them all"?
Julius Caesar Recap

Free writing reflection: write a page on your
thoughts on Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar.
What did you like? Dislike? Do you think
that the characters are believable or
interesting?
Final Quick Write


Can we exist without the private self
What are the consequences
Script Writing 101
Script Writing Format

Fonts: use 12 pt. Courier it is
the industry standard.

No bold-face, italics, etc.
Formatting Page Margins




Left, 1.5 inches.
Right 1.0 inches.
Top 1.0 inches to the body .5 to
the page number
Bottom .5 to 1.5
Dialogue format




Left 3.0 inches
Right 2.5
About 3 inches for each piece of
dialogue
Names are capped and centered
INT. BOBA LOCA
DAY
KAREN
(walking through door)
I love Mr. Nunez’ class! I’ve
learned so much this school
year.
Karen stirs her boba Thai iced tea
KAREN
(On the phone)
I never like to wait on my
assignments. Cause we have only
one week to finish this screenplay and I want to do really
(MORE)
_________________________________
KAREN (CONT’D)
well because I’d like to write
movies when I grow up.