Political
Assassination
Lincoln
Kennedy
Elected in 1860
Elected in 1960
Concerned with civil
rights
Lost a son while
president
Concerned with civil
rights
Lost a son while
President
Lincoln
Kennedy
His successor was a
Democratic senator from
the South named Andrew
Johnson, born in 1808.
Lincoln’s Secretary,
whose name was
Kennedy, advised him
not to go to the theatre.
He was shot in the back
of the head in the
presence of his wife.
His successor was a
Democratic senator from
the South named Lyndon
Johnson, born in 1908.
Kennedy’s secretary,
whose name was Lincoln,
advised him not to go to
Dallas.
He was shot in the back
of the head in the
presence of his wife.
Lincoln
Kennedy
Assassin John Wilkes
Booth was born in the
South in 1839.
Booth shot Lincoln in a
theatre and ran to a
warehouse.
Assassin Lee Harvey
Oswald was born in the
South in 1939.
Oswald shot Kennedy
from a warehouse and ran
to a theatre.
His assassin was shot
before going to trial.
His assassin was shot
before going to trial.
Quickwit
A good friend of yours has been elected
president of the student council. Soon, you
notice that he or she is abusing the position
by claiming privileges and using it to
further his or her social life. How would
you deal with this situation?
Objectives
Identify significant themes in The Tragedy of Julius
Caesar
Identify and understand literary concepts, including
persuasion, tragedy, tragic hero, and foreshadowing.
Learn about the life and writings of William Shakespeare
and the Elizabethan Era
Identify examples of foreshadowing, figurative language,
poetry, characterization and irony
Learn background information on Julius Caesar
ACTIVITY # 1: Before Caesar/ After Caesar
In the before column, List every thing you know about
Shakespeare and the play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar
Before
After
Julius Caesar in Context
Shakespeare lived and
wrote in Elizabethan
Era 1485-1625, at the
height of the
Renaissance
This play debuted at
Globe Theatre in 1599
HOT ISSUE!!!
One of the hottest
political issues in
Elizabethan England
was the role of the
monarch and what
loyalty should be
owed him or her.
Hmmm? Sound
familiar?
During this time…
Renaissance=rebirth=15th &16th century Europe
Art, scholarship, and literature flourished
Reformation: King Henry VIII (Elizabeth’s dad) split from
Pope and Catholic Church and founded Protestant Church
of England
Age of Exploration: The Americas and more
Age of Discovery: many scientific discoveries including
telescope and planetary motion
Heard of these guys?
Other figures from the Renaissance
Copernicus
Galileo Galilei
Leonardo Da Vinci
Christopher Columbus
Hernán Cortés
Vasco da Gama
Ferdinand Magellan
Francisco Pizarro
Donatello
Michelangelo
TAKE NOTES HERE:
What to look for:
Persuasion:
Technique used by
speakers and writers to
convince an audience
to adopt a particular
viewpoint.
TRAGEDY
tragedy: a play in
which events turn out
disastrously for the
main character or
characters
Tragic Hero
a character whose basic
goodness and superiority are
marred by a tragic flaw
a fatal error in judgment that
leads to the hero’s downfall.
Brutus: noble, but a poor judge
of character; too rigid in his
ethical and political principles
Caesar: brings great things to
Rome, but proud, arrogant,
and ambitious
Types of Speech
Dialogue: a
conversation between
characters.
Monologue: a speech
by one character to
another character
Soliloquy: a speech given
by a character alone.
Aside: short speech
delivered by an actor in
which they express their
true thoughts.
Traditionally, the aside is
directed to the audience
and is inaudible to the
other actors.
Types of Irony
Dramatic
Verbal
Irony of Situation
Verbal Irony
Author says one thing and means something
else.
Irony of Situation
When what is expected does not
occur.
Dramatic Irony
Audience knows something that a character
in the literature does not know.
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar
Play, in five acts, about several
men trying to save the Roman
Republic from Caesar’s ambition
of having complete control.
Before Caesar, Rome was a
Republic
Equal citizenship and people could
elect tribunes to represent them in
tribunals = like congress and the
senate!
The Scene…
Based on a true story, this play takes
place in Ancient Rome,
where Julius Caesar
has just returned in
triumph from war.
The crowd hails him as their new leader, but there are some
Romans who fear he will become too powerful of a ruler,
more like an emperor, and they will lose the liberties they
have enjoyed as citizens of a free state.
A small group of men conspire to assassinate
Caesar, believing they are acting to preserve
the freedoms of the Roman Republic.
They surround him in the Forum,
and stab him to death.
The play goes on to tell the story of what
happens after the murder, as the conspirators
quarrel among themselves, war erupts, and
liberties, instead of being protected, appear to
be lost.
CHARACTERS ACT I
Casca
Flavius & Marullus
Julius Caesar
Calpurnia
Marcus Antonius
AKA
Mark Antony
Conspirator; hates the ordinary citizenry
yet is jealous when the people honor
Caesar.
Tribunes aka government workers.
Conquering Roman general, a mighty
soldier swayed by superstition.
Wife of Caesar
Caesar’s BFFE
Vows to avenge Caesar’s death.
Soothsayer
Cassius
Marcus Brutus
Fortune Teller
Displays greed and envy and motivates
most of the conspirators.
Only conspirator whose motives to
assassinate Caesar are pure. Caesar’s
friend and Cassius’ brother-in-law
Cicero
A senator
Cinna
A poet
Pompey
Part of triumvirate which included
Caesar before the civil war.