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Date:
Julius Caesar, Act 2 Reading Comprehension and Analytical Questions (42 Points)
Objectives:
1.
2.
3.
Analyze plot in Act 2 of Julius Caesar
Define and identify simile, metaphor, & hyperbole
Analyze use of simile, metaphor, $ hyperbole
Introduction - Act 1 Review, Fill In the Blank (4 points)
___________________ is the play’s villain. He is wholly jealous of Caesar’s power.
___________________ are hints the author uses to predict a future event in a text.
___________________ is the story’s main character. He can’t decide how to handle the “Caesar Problem!”
___________________ is the empire in which this play takes place.
___________________ is a play on words. Shakespeare loves to use them.
___________________ is Caesar’s wife.
___________________ is Caesar’s “right-hand” man! He is devoted to his friend and emperor.
___________________ is what Cinna delivers to Brutus at the end of Act 1.
Skills Review
A Simile – Is a comparison using “like” or “as.”
- “The sky tonight looks bloody, fiery, and terrible, just like the work we need to do.”
A Metaphor – Is a comparison not using “like” or “as.” They used a number of lines at a time. Such an
example is called “an extended metaphor.”
-Therefore we should [call] him [Caesar] a serpent’s egg – once it has hatched, it becomes dangerous.”
A Hyperbole – An extreme exaggeration.
-“If you went ahead and exposed your true face, Hell itself wouldn’t be dark enough to keep you from
being found and stopped.”
Reading Comprehension Questions (1 point each):
ACT II, SCENE I.
1. Describe Brutus’ thoughts at the beginning of Act 2?
2. What does the letter Brutus reads suggest about Caesar?
3. What characters show up at Brutus’ door? What do they want?
4. Why do the conspirators initially want Cicero to join them?
5. Why does Brutus reject Cicero?
6. How does Decius say he will make sure that Caesar will come to the Capitol?
7. How does Brutus treat his wife’s concerns?
ACT II, SCENE II.
8. What strange and horrible things does Calphurnia tell Caesar she has dreamt about?
9. What do the priests discover? What is their advise to Caesar?
10. How does Caesar respond to Calphurnia’s request to stay home?
11. Caesar, though almost convinced by his wife to stay home, decides to go to the Senate. How does Decius
Brutus persuade him to do so?
ACT II, SCENE III.
12. What is Artemidorus's plan?
13. Based on what you know about Caesar, do you believe this plan will work? Explain your answer.
ACT II, SCENE IV.
14. Why is Portia so nervous and upset? What does she send Lucius to do?
Analytical Questions (3 Points Each):
1.
Use your personal experience to respond to this quotation, “From the time when you decide to do
something terrible to the moment you do it, everything feels unreal, like a horrible dream.” Have
you ever done anything terrible? Did you feel a similar way?
2.
Why is Portia so mad at Brutus in Act 2, Scene 1? Would you have been mad if you were Portia?
Explain.
3.
Near the end of Act II, Scene I, Brutus tells Ligarius that he will perform “a deed that will make sick
men healthy” (I translated this for you). Of course, he was speaking of killing Caesar. How is this
quotation ironic (explain the dual meaning here)?
4.
What examples of foreshadowing were used in Act 2 (name AT LEAST 3)? What does Caesar think
about these omens/portents?
Skills Practice (4 Points Each):
1.
Find 1 example of each in ACT II. Write the quote, and the page number of the quote, on this paper.
THEN, explain the meaning behind the example. What is the speaker trying to explain by using
figurative language. (YOU CAN’T USE THE EXAMPLE SENTENCES).
a.
METAPHOR
b.
HYPERBOLE
c.
SIMILE