Julius Caesar essay assignment
  

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http://www.flatheadreservation.org/index.php/student/printer/julius_caesar_essay_questions/

If you follow all these steps exactly, I will replace your essay grade on To Kill a Mockingbird with the grade you get on this essay.

Write an essay of at least 1,000 words about one of the main themes in Julius Caesar. State the meaning you take from the play, and then explain why you believe your view is correct.

Below I’ve written some topics and questions to stimulate your thinking. Do not simply “answer” these questions as if you are taking a test. Instead, organize your thoughts into an essay, with a thesis, topic sentences, and transitions between paragraphs.

Each paragraph in the body should develop one of your reasons, using plot summary, quotations from the play, etc.

Your essay should have a strong conclusion that clinches your argument.

The essay will be scored using this rubric.

You must follow these directions exactly, or I will not give you a score for this assignment:

1. Takes notes as your read the play, so that you can use them to think about what point the play is making. If you are going to write about “friendship,” make a note of events and speeches that touch on this theme.

2. Use your notes to make a sentence outline of your essay. This should consist of your main point and three or four points that support that main point.

3. Write a draft of your essay, concentrating on fleshing out your main points and getting the organization clear and coherent, and providing enough supporting detail so any reader will know exactly what you are saying.

4. Revise your essay, concentrating on having the right thoughts in the right order, with enough supporting detail.

5. Edit your essay, reading every sentence carefully, paying attention to parallel structure, dangling modifiers, run-on sentences, sentence fragments, and active voice.

6. Proofread your essay, concentrating on spelling, capitalization, and apostrophes.

7. Hand in all your materials. On top, have the finished essay. Under that, show a draft with your revisions penciled in. Under that, show your full sentence outline. On the bottom, include your reading notes from the play. This should all be neat and easy to read.

Questions to think about as you form your main idea about the play:

Was Brutus a villain or a hero? Even though he led the conspiracy against Julius Caesar, Marcus Junius Brutus (84-42 B.C.) enjoyed a reputation in his day among Roman republicans as a noble and fair-minded statesman. However, his opponentsnotably supporters of Caesar֖regarded him as a traitor. First, Brutus sided with Pompey the Great against Caesar when the Roman Civil War started in 49 B.C. After Caesar defeated Pompey at Pharsalus, Greece, in 48 B.C., he pardoned Brutus and appointed him governor of Cisalpine Gaul in 46 B.C. and a praetor of Rome in 44 B.C. But Brutus turned against Caesar a second time, helping to organize and lead the conspiracy that led to Caesars assassination in 44 B.C. Brutus believed the action was necessary to prevent Caesar from becoming dictator-for-life, meaning that all power would reside in Caesar and not in the delegates representing the people. Was Brutus a traitorous villain or selfless hero? In an argumentative essay, take a stand on this question. Use the facts of history as well as interpretations of these facts, including Shakespeares depiction of Brutus, to support the thesis.

Though Julius Caesar focuses on the struggles between powerful men, what role do the plebeians, or common people, play? Are they as fickle as Flavius and Murellus claim in the opening scene? How important is their support to the successes of the various military leaders and the outcome of the play? The play depicts Rome at a time of transition between republic and empirea time in which, theoretically, the Roman people are losing their power. What role do the people themselves play in this transition?

Discuss friendship in the play. Consider Caesar and Brutus, Caesar and Antony, Brutus and Cassius, Antony and Octavius, or any other pairings. Are these true friendships or merely political alliances forged for the sake of convenience and self-preservation? How do they compare with the relationships between husbands and wives? Are they more profound or less profound, more revealing or less revealing of their participants’ characters?

Consider theatricality in this play. Think particularly of the scene of Caesar’s murder (and Cassiuss reference to future productions of the scene), the speeches in the Forum (particularly Antony’s), and the speeches given over the dead conspirators. How do acting and rhetoric affect the events of the play? How do they interact with politics? Does the play reference its own political power as a theatrical production?

Discuss inflexibility in this play, focusing on Caesar and Brutus. How is each man inflexible? Is this rigidity an admirable trait or a flaw? Do the rewards of this rigidity outweigh the consequences, or vice versa?

Analyze the structure of the main plot of the play and compare it to the subplot.

Describe Julius Caesar and compare and contrast him to the characters of Brutus, Antony, and Cassius.

Which character in the play seems to have the most balance and why? Which seems to have the least balance and why?

Whose tragedy do you feel is greater - that of Caesar or that of Brutus? Fully explain your answer, using details from the play.

Compare and contrast the motives of Brutus and Cassius in killing Caesar.

Compare and contrast the funeral speeches of Antony and Brutus. Which is more successful and why?

What is the major theme of the play and how is it developed?

Discuss Caesar as a character or force in the play even after his assassination.

Comment on Shakespeare’s use of the supernatural in the play.

Who are the key female characters in the play? Do they play an important part in the action of the play or do they exist merely to highlight the traits of their male partners? Explain your response.

What are all the reasons that the play ends in tragedy? What hope exists in the play and why is it important?