julius caesar study guide

5/22/2018 Julius Caesar Study Guide

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Hennessy Catholic College

HSC Advanced English

Module C: Representation and Text

Elective 2: Conflicting Perspectives

Text: ShakespearesJulius Caesar

Name_____________________________


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MODULE C: Representation and Text

This module requires students to explore various representations of events, personalities or

situations. They evaluate how medium of production, textual form, perspective and choice of

language influence meaning. The study develops students understanding of the relationships

between representation and meaning. (Reread English Stage 6 Syllabus, p 52.)

ELECTIVES: Advanced

MODULE C: Representation and Text

Elective 1: Conflicting Perspectives

In their responding and composing, students consider the ways in which conflicting perspectives on events, personalities

or situations are represented in their prescribed text and other related texts of their own choosing. Students analyse and

evaluate how acts of representation, such as the choice of textual forms, features and language, shape meaning and

influence responses.

Students choose oneof the following texts as the basis of their further exploration of the representations of conflicting

perspectives.

Shakespearean Drama

Shakespeare, William,Julius Caesar, Cambridge University Press, New Cambridge Shakespeare, 2004, ISBN:

9780521535137; or Cambridge School Shakespeare, 1992, ISBN: 9780521409032, or 2008, ISBN: 9780521706773

or

Prose Fiction

Guterson, David,Snow Falling on Cedars, Bloomsbury/Allen & Unwin, 1995 or 2008, ISBN: 9780747522669; or 2007,

ISBN: 9780747590040

or

Drama (d) or Film (f)

Whelan, Peter, The Herbal Bed, Josef Weinberger/Hal Leonard Australia, 1996, ISBN: 9780856762239 (d) Levinson, Barry, Wag the Dog, Roadshow, 1997 (f)

or

Poetry

Hughes, Ted,Birthday Letters, Faber/Allen & Unwin, 2005, ISBN: 9780571194735Fulbright Scholars, The Shot, The Minotaur, Sam, Your Paris, Red

or

Nonfiction

Robertson, Geoffrey, The Justice Game, Vintage/Random House, 1998, ISBN: 9780099581918 The Trials of Oz,Michael X on Death Row, The Romans in Britain, The Prisoner of Venda, Show Trials, Diana in the Dock: DoesPrivacy Matter?, Afterword: TheJustice Game


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Module C: Representation and Text

This module requires students to explore various representations of events,personalities or situations. They evaluate how medium of production, textualform, perspective and choice of language in f luence meaning. The studydevelops students understanding of the relationships between representationand meaning.

Each elective in this module requires the study of one prescribed text offering arepresentation of an event, personality or situation. Students are also required tosupplement this study with texts of their own choosing whichprovide a varietyof representationsof that event, personality or situation.These texts are to bedrawn from a variety of sources, in a range of genres and media.

Students explorethe ways in which different media present information and ideas tounderstandhow various textual forms and their media of production offer differentversions and perspectives for a range of audiences and purposes.

Students develop a range of imaginative, interpretive and analytical compositionsthat relate to different forms and media of representation. These compositions maybe realised in a variety of forms and media.

BOS definition:

Representation The ways ideas are portrayed through texts.Re-presenthow does the punctuation assist you to develop understanding of theconcept?Representations of an event, personality or situation can be expanded upon orchallenged depending on the perspective written from. You must assess representationsfrom the range of perspectives: social, cultural, political, historical, gender, religious andintellectual in which they are created and from which they are received and read (yourcontext).Assess and deconstruct the stereotypical from the objective, bias from subjectivity.Assess and deconstruct authorial purpose and intentional agendas against the positionand agenda of the readers reception and the agenda in studying the text.

Meaning: The dynamic relationship between text and responder involving information(explicit and implicit), the affective and the contextual.

Meaning in and through texts: This expression implies that:

meaning variously resides in texts is a dynamic process through which responders engage with texts, and involves the incorporation of understanding gained through texts into a widercontext.


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Fill in the table with your interpretation of the vocabulary of the syllabus:

Syllabus Vocabulary Actual Your interpretation

Medium of Production Drama Script

Textual Form Drama Script

Stage Performance

Choice of Language Soliloquy

Direct address

Dramatic irony

VerbsAdverbs

Adjectives

Metaphors

Structure

Asides

Staging

Perspective

Version

Event Assassination of Caesar and the impact on the

Roman Republic

Personality Julius Caesar

Situation Usurpation of leadership and assassination

literally or figuratively - to publically defeat or

refute the power invested in the personage


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Provide a range of synonyms and antonyms for:

Conflict

Perspective

Treason

Anarchy

Conspiracy

Rejection

Resistance

Discord

Dominance

Submission

Usurpation


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Past HSC Questions:

You need to test all evidence you select from Shakespeares Julius Caesar and from your related

texts against these questions. Discard any evidence or ORTs hat cannot be discussed with all

questions.

1. You are speaking to an audience of your peers. Compose a speech in which youdemonstrate how your understanding of conflicting perspectives is shaped by the

construction of the texts. (2009 CSSA Trial)

2. How does the representation vehicle you have studied allow Conflicting Perspectivesto be revealed?

3. The idea of Conflicting Perspectives suggests that the composers of the texts presentan evenhanded, unbiased attitude to the events, personalities or situations represented.

Evaluate the extent to which the representation of events, personalities or situations in

the texts you have studied reflect this attitude. (Independent 2009 Trial)

4. My perspectives were veiled Your Paris, Ted Hughes. To what extent has therepresentation of your text and other material heightened your understanding of

Conflicting Perspectives?

5. There are no certainties, only representations. Discuss.

6. Acts of representation are carefully constructed to the audiences beliefs, desires andfears.

7. Perspectives of an event, personality or situation may be manipulated by the ways inwhich a composer represents them. Evaluate the ways in which the composer

manipulates perspectives in your prescribed text and in at least TWO other related

texts of your own choosing.

8. Conflicting perspectives of any event, personality or situation are a result of the waysthe composer represents them. Discuss this statement.

9. Dont be afraid of opposition. Remember, a kite rises against, not with, the wind.Hamilton Mabie. Explore this proposition.


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10.It is not possible to hold a mirror to what we seek to represent. Representation willalways modify thereby shaping meaning and influencing responses. To what extent do

you agree with this statement?

11.You are a speaker at a conference for writers and directors which is exploring therelationships between representation and meaning. You have been asked to discuss

the extent to which conflicting perspectives intentionally distort meaning.

12.Exploring conflicting perspectives helps us gain a better understanding of our world.Do you agree? In your response, make particular reference to your personal

understanding of this Elective. (ETA 2009 Trial)

13.Sometimes what is right to one person is wrong to another. How relevant is thisquotation to the ideas you have explored in your study of Conflicting Perspectives.

(ETA 2009 Trial)

14.Truth springs from argument amongst friends. David Hume. How far hasinvestigation of different arguments encountered in your study of [texts] led you to a

better understanding of the truth? (ETA 2009 Trial)

15.Passionate convictions, articulating opposing views, are presented in texts you havestudied. How effectively has your response been manipulated by the representation of

these views? (2010 CSSA Trial)

16.More than anything else, conflicting perspectives are the result of bias or self-interest.Respond to this statement through an analysis of the ways perspectives are

represented in your prescribed text and at least ONE other related text of your ownchoosing. (2011 CSSA Trial)

17.How does your study of this elective demonstrate the idea that conflictingperspectives are shaped by the construction of texts?

Refer in detail to your prescribed text and at least ONE other related text of your own

choosing. (2011 GRC Trial)

18.Conflicting perspectives are fundamental to our human desire to raise questions. Towhat extent do the texts you have studied in this module support or challenge this

idea. In your response, make detailed reference to your prescribed text and at least one

other related text of your own choosing. (Abbotsleigh 2010 Trial)


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19.You have been asked to take part in a debate on the topic: that the existence ofconflicting perspectives in society can only be enriching. Write a speech that you

could use to argue FOR or AGAINST this statement. In your speech, support your

argument with close reference to how ideas have been represented in your prescribed

text and at least TWO other related texts of your own choosing. (Baulkham Hills 2010

Trial)

20.Evaluate how composers acts of representation shape meaning and influenceresponses on conflicting perspectives. In your response, you must refer to your

prescribed text and at least ONE additional text of your own choosing. (Fort Street

2010 Trial)

21.How have the texts you have studied in this elective enhanced your understanding of

the complexities of conflicting perspectives? Refer to your prescribed text and TWOtexts of your own choosing. (James Ruse 2010 Trial)

22.At the heart of representation are acts of deliberate selection and emphasis. How doesyour prescribed text and ONE text of your own choosing illustrate this in relation to

Conflicting Perspectives? (North Sydney Girls 2010 Trial)

23.It does not help us understand an event, situation or a personality when we encounterconflicting perspectives about that event, situation or personality. You have been

asked to present a view on this statement to an audience of HSC students. Write a

transcript of the speech you would give. In your response, you must make detailed

reference to your prescribed text and at least TWO other texts of your own choosing.

(St Ignatius Riverview 2010 Trial)

24.Explore how [core text] and ONE other related text of your own choosing represent

conflicting perspectives in unique and evocative ways.

25.To what extent has textual form shaped your understanding of conflictingperspectives?

In your response, make detailed reference to your prescribed text and at least ONE

other related text of your own choosing.

26.Analyse the ways conflicting perspectives generate diverse and provocative insights.

In your response, make detailed reference to your prescribed text and at least ONE

other related text of your own choosing.


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27.Compare how the texts you have studied emphasise the complexities evident in thenature of conflicting perspectives.

28.How have the texts studied in this elective challenged your ways of thinking about

Conflicting Perspectives?

29.Texts in this elective offer perspectives on the significance of truth in humanexperiences.

Were you persuaded to embrace these perspectives?

30.At the heart of representation are acts of deliberate selection and emphasis.

Do the texts you have studied demonstrate this in relation to ConflictingPerspectives?

31.You are the keynote speaker at a conference for young writers and directors.

The title of your presentation is: Visions and Versions of Conflicting Perspectives.

In your presentation, explore how and for what purpose composers create their visions

and version.

32.Imagine you are a journalist. You have been asked to contribute an article to aneducational supplement for HSC students about the ways texts represent Conflicting

Perspectives.

Your headline is Representation and Misrepresentation.

33.How has your understanding of events, personalities or situations been shaped bytheir representations in the texts you have studied?

34.You have created an exhibition of texts entitled One persons perspective is

The exhibition includes your prescribed text and other related texts of your own

choosing.

Write your speech for the opening night of the exhibition. In your speech, explainhow the exhibition reflects your vision of conflicting perspectives.


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Techniques and structures to look for that present conflicting perspectives inShakespeare and your related texts

Active versus passive verbs

Metaphors- simple or in preference extended and how the language extends synecdoche,metonymy etc.

Similehow the comparative is constructed and with what and for what purpose and to whateffect

Visual imageryartwork, photography or picture book analysis - , juxtaposition of contrastingimages, deliberate use of size or perspective, framing, colours, lines, shapes forms to deliberatelyexpose conflicting views of the same event, personality or situation

Poetic devicesjuxtaposition created through simile, figurative language including alliteration,antithesis, contradiction, allusion, contextual metaphors

Modalityuse of specific verbs to construct an agenda or manipulate or persuade the audienceeither within or external to the text

Tone- how is it constructed- usually through verbs, adverbs and adjectival phrasing, use the tonewords list to develop vocabulary here. Sardonic, mocking, satirical, critical, duplicitous, wary,antagonistic, bitter, deprecating, ambiguous, ruthless, benevolent,

Imagerybestial, connotative images that represent or symbolise perspectives of an event,personality or situation

Hyperbole, hyperbolic metaphor

Parallelism

Symbolism

Anachronism

Salutation

Thematic synopsis

Contrast, contradictions,

Non-sequiturs

Personification

Antistrophe

Syllepsis

Enjambment

Tautology

Dramatic movement

denouement

Tragedy/tragic hero/ tragic flaw

Rhetorical devices- especially in Shakespearelogos, ethos, pathos and the devices used toconstruct same, political rhetoric

Metre and rhyme or rhythm of speech- iambic pentameter, blank verse; examine in particular thedifferent ways Shakespeare has Antony and Brutus give their funeral orations- iambic pentameterv poetic versewhich view is being privileged?

Structural premises, how the narrative unfolds and why in that orderdiffers across texts to

present or privilege one perspective over another Voice- which voices are privileged and which are silenced

Allusionto heroes, historical events, legend and mythwith metaphorical or hyperbolic effect

Parallels- in text, in speeches, in characterisation, in image form, in editing to present perspectivesin film

Micro versus macro structure of the play- vignettes that unfold creating a play in itself withintexts- evident cross a range of text types

Staging directions, editing decisions,

Irony, paradoxevident across all texts types but state how it is constructeddramatic,situational, verbal,

Analogy

Contrast Tragic hero

Punscomedic relief, entendre

Apostropheinvocations in Shakespeare

Foreshadowing

Anthropomorphism, personification


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Repetition, anaphora and how it is constructed and why

Jargon, rhetoric

Sensory imagery

Logicobjective language

Subjective language

Motifs

First, second, third personemotive, subjective, versus objective or distancing

Rhetorical question

Accumulation

Dialectical language

Polemical language

Language of extreme oppositesoxymorons

Antithesisdirect or indirect contradictions of argument (Brutus and Caesar both use thisstrategy, one in sincerity, one to satirise.


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Suggested texts that can be used as related material:

Film ProseFictionand non-Fiction

Short stories,essays,Speeches

Documentary Poetry Artworks,Image andPicture Books

Good Morning

Vietnam

In the Lake of the

WoodsTimOBrien

The Pedestrian

Ray Bradbury

Four Hours in My

Lai

We Are Going

OodgerooNoonuccal

Artwork: Girl

Before a MirrorPicasso

Platoon The Bell Jar

Sylvia Plath

The Story of an

HourKate

Chopin

HOPE Bora RingJudith

Wright

Artwork: Kate

DurhamSiev X

Sliding Doors PamelaSamuel

Richardson

Letters to Literary

LadiesMaria

Edgeworth

Bowling for

Columbine -

Moore

This Lime Tree

Bower my Prison -

Coleridge

Artwork:My Wife

NudeSalvador

Dali

Philadelphia Heart of Darkness -Conrad

A Vindication ofthe Rights of

women -

Wollstonecraft

Leaky Boat -http://www.abc.net

.au/tv/programs/lea

kyboat.htm

The Lovesong of JAlfred Prufrock

T S Elliot

Propaganda PostersAustralian, Nazi,

WWII

Avatar Animal Farm -Orwell

Rights of ManThomas Paine

Promisesdocumentary on

PalestinianConflict with Israel

http://www.fanpop.

com/spots/human-

rights/videos/3074

817/title/promises-

documentary-on-

israel-palestine-

conflict-from-

childrens-

perspective

Poetry that revealsa dominant cultural

voice and thensuggests the

submission or

rejection of

oppression of the

non-dominant

group- resistance I

the form of poetry

protest works

such as

Slave poetry

African Americanpoetry

Native American

poetry

Apartheid poetry

Indigenous poetry

PB: The RabbitsbyJohn Marsden and

Shaun Tan

Spotswood 1984 - Orwell I Have a Dream -

MLK

Outfoxed Easter 1916 - Yeats PB: The Islandby

Armin Greder

The Island Brave New World

Aldous Huxley

Redfern Speech

Paul Keating

Fahrenheit 9/11 Paradise Lost -

Milton

Artwork:Blue

Poles/criticism

and art theory by

Sydney Pollack

AI Fahrenheit 451

Ray Bradbury

The Limerick

loves- MariaEdgeworth

The Awful Truth War Poems_

Wilfred Owen ( notthose on the HSC

Standard List

PB:Black and

Whiteby DavidMacauley

Apocalypto Crime and

Punishment -

Dosteovsky

A Modest Proposal

- Swift

Frontline War Poetry of

Siegfried Sassoon

Anonymous DraculaBram

Stoker

BiopicsHawke

KeatingKennedy

Watson

DiggingSeamus

Heaney

Spotswood The Picture of

Dorian Gray -

Wilde

Nuremberg

Documents

JFK documentaries Ode to melancholy

John Keats

Ode to a

NightingaleJohn

Keats
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/programs/leakyboat.htmhttp://www.abc.net.au/tv/programs/leakyboat.htmhttp://www.abc.net.au/tv/programs/leakyboat.htmhttp://www.abc.net.au/tv/programs/leakyboat.htmhttp://www.fanpop.com/spots/human-rights/videos/3074817/title/promises-documentary-on-israel-palestine-conflict-from-childrens-perspectivehttp://www.fanpop.com/spots/human-rights/videos/3074817/title/promises-documentary-on-israel-palestine-conflict-from-childrens-perspectivehttp://www.fanpop.com/spots/human-rights/videos/3074817/title/promises-documentary-on-israel-palestine-conflict-from-childrens-perspectivehttp://www.fanpop.com/spots/human-rights/videos/3074817/title/promises-documentary-on-israel-palestine-conflict-from-childrens-perspectivehttp://www.fanpop.com/spots/human-rights/videos/3074817/title/promises-documentary-on-israel-palestine-conflict-from-childrens-perspectivehttp://www.fanpop.com/spots/human-rights/videos/3074817/title/promises-documentary-on-israel-palestine-conflict-from-childrens-perspectivehttp://www.fanpop.com/spots/human-rights/videos/3074817/title/promises-documentary-on-israel-palestine-conflict-from-childrens-perspectivehttp://www.fanpop.com/spots/human-rights/videos/3074817/title/promises-documentary-on-israel-palestine-conflict-from-childrens-perspectivehttp://www.fanpop.com/spots/human-rights/videos/3074817/title/promises-documentary-on-israel-palestine-conflict-from-childrens-perspectivehttp://www.fanpop.com/spots/human-rights/videos/3074817/title/promises-documentary-on-israel-palestine-conflict-from-childrens-perspectivehttp://www.fanpop.com/spots/human-rights/videos/3074817/title/promises-documentary-on-israel-palestine-conflict-from-childrens-perspectivehttp://www.fanpop.com/spots/human-rights/videos/3074817/title/promises-documentary-on-israel-palestine-conflict-from-childrens-perspectivehttp://www.fanpop.com/spots/human-rights/videos/3074817/title/promises-documentary-on-israel-palestine-conflict-from-childrens-perspectivehttp://www.fanpop.com/spots/human-rights/videos/3074817/title/promises-documentary-on-israel-palestine-conflict-from-childrens-perspectivehttp://www.fanpop.com/spots/human-rights/videos/3074817/title/promises-documentary-on-israel-palestine-conflict-from-childrens-perspectivehttp://www.fanpop.com/spots/human-rights/videos/3074817/title/promises-documentary-on-israel-palestine-conflict-from-childrens-perspectivehttp://www.fanpop.com/spots/human-rights/videos/3074817/title/promises-documentary-on-israel-palestine-conflict-from-childrens-perspectivehttp://www.fanpop.com/spots/human-rights/videos/3074817/title/promises-documentary-on-israel-palestine-conflict-from-childrens-perspectivehttp://www.fanpop.com/spots/human-rights/videos/3074817/title/promises-documentary-on-israel-palestine-conflict-from-childrens-perspectivehttp://www.abc.net.au/tv/programs/leakyboat.htmhttp://www.abc.net.au/tv/programs/leakyboat.htmhttp://www.abc.net.au/tv/programs/leakyboat.htm


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Motorcycle Diaries Motorcycle Diaries Refugee Blues by

W H Auden

Maos Last Dancer Sense and

Sensibility

Austen

Regicide Poetry

just Google -

excellent resources

The Power of One Jane EyreBronte

The Green Mile Maos Last Dancer

Li Cunxin

The Hollow Men

T S Elliot

The Shawshank

Redemption

Cry Freedom

John Briley

Mississippi

Burning

The Power of One

The Boys from

Brazil

The Boys from

Brazil- Ira Levin

Lord of the Flies Lord of the Flies-

Golding

Flowers for

Algernon

To Kill a

MockingbirdRunaway Jury The Year of Living

Dangerously

Goodnight and

Good Luck

Uncle Toms Cabin

Harriet Beecher

Stow

The Reader GulliversTravels -

Swift

Life is Beautiful Shindlers List

(also in film)

Featurearticles

Websites Newspaperarticles

CurrentAffairsepisodes

Telemovies/docudramas

Photography

Cronulla Riots SIEVX.com HensonArt orPornographyhttp://www.abc.net

.au/news/2008-05-

23/art-community-

defends-naked-

teen-photo-

exhibition/2445836

Cronulla Riots Malcolm X Vietnam imagesgirl running from

NAPALM

explosion

Gillard v Rudddebates, either

personal or written

in analysis

Belonging CSIRO WheatTrials

Four Corners Not without myDaughter (also in

written text)

Hensonart or

pornography

Holocaust websites Media Watch Go Back to Where

You Came From

any series but

most current is best

Greenpeace v

whaling

Vietnam Veterans

Association

Q and Afind a

specific topic

transcript-

Munich
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-05-23/art-community-defends-naked-teen-photo-exhibition/2445836http://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-05-23/art-community-defends-naked-teen-photo-exhibition/2445836http://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-05-23/art-community-defends-naked-teen-photo-exhibition/2445836http://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-05-23/art-community-defends-naked-teen-photo-exhibition/2445836http://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-05-23/art-community-defends-naked-teen-photo-exhibition/2445836http://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-05-23/art-community-defends-naked-teen-photo-exhibition/2445836http://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-05-23/art-community-defends-naked-teen-photo-exhibition/2445836http://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-05-23/art-community-defends-naked-teen-photo-exhibition/2445836http://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-05-23/art-community-defends-naked-teen-photo-exhibition/2445836http://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-05-23/art-community-defends-naked-teen-photo-exhibition/2445836http://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-05-23/art-community-defends-naked-teen-photo-exhibition/2445836http://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-05-23/art-community-defends-naked-teen-photo-exhibition/2445836http://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-05-23/art-community-defends-naked-teen-photo-exhibition/2445836


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How to study Julius Caesar and identify then analyse conflictingperspectives.

Make a detailed list of each character in the text

Mind map who each character aligns with or is in opposition to

Locate textual references that suggest acceptance, and rejection of other characters or

events Assess and locate textual references where individuals experience inner conflict and

evaluate their own perspectives acknowledging conflict ( Brutus)

Evaluate Shakespeares perspective and how the language exposes his perspective

Evaluate if any language privileges one perspective over the other?

Select key scenes, soliloquies or monologues then deconstruct in detail for techniquesand how they have been uses to reveal/expose/challenge/confront perspectives

Identify the conflict that surrounds Caesar and who constructs the conflict

Assess Brutus role and internal conflict

Assess Cassius revengeful and aggressive stance as a find suggest how he has beenused as a foil to Antony or Brutus perspectives

How is Cassius anger and frustration and fear and need for regicide explored in thetext?

Who argues against regicide and why?

Why are the perspectives of Caesar differing across the charactersas a man, as aleader, as a monarchand how do these differ from Caesars own perspective?

What is the significance of the Republic, the idea of monarchy, the concepts ofliberty, freedom and honour in the text? How do the perspectives of what these ideas

constitute differ across the various character

What events take placewhat is the reaction of a range of individualsBrutus,Antony, Cassius, Flavius, the populace?

Are the conflicting perspectives resolved with Caesars death? After analysing your key quotes in excruciating detailtest your evidence against the

34 suggested questions. Evaluate your effectiveness in choice of references and

analysis in responding to each question. What evidence would you need to discard,

what evidence do you still need to locate?

After analysing your key quotes in excruciating detailtest your evidence against theexaminers comments for Conflicting Perspectives that are on the Board of Studies

Websitenot just last years comments but those of previous years- are you meeting

the requirements for the stronger responses with your choice of references and your

depth of analysis?

Read the academic readings provided. Reassess your analysis against these readings

Develop a position about conflicting perspectives that you can use in any essay- yourthesis statement.

Test your references and arguments against your thesis statement and reevaluate oramend evidence as required


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How to read, study, analyse and evaluate the links between your relatedtext choices and Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

Read the text closely and identify the key events, personalities or situations that areevident and represent conflicting perspectives

Complete the relevant ORT analysis sheet Identify key scenes, passages, quotes that reflect conflict either at an individual or

group level

Locate the parallel that reflects antithesis, argument, rejection of other viewtheconflicting perspective

Analyse judiciously chosen references for techniques relevant to the text typeensureyou select texts or references that are rich in technique

Create a comparative text type chart- demonstrate similarities or differences intechniques noting how they link to similar arguments on conflicting perspectives with

Julius Caesars dramatic techniques

Make a comparative chart between your ORTs and Julius Caesar and evaluate how itlinks or makes a comparison

Locate evidence that stands apart from Julius Caesar but demonstrates a distinctconflicting perspective to use in paragraphs in isolation

Identify the contexts that surround the meaning of your text

Test your analysis against the module description and rubric

Test your analysis against each of the past paper questions (ALL OF THEM)

Test your analysis against the markers comments on the Board of Studies website

Test your analysis against exemplars

Reevaluate any references that need to be updated or discarded

Write into paragraphs, either discrete or as comparatives with Julius Caesar as

appropriate Test your work against the thesis statement/s you have decided upon- make changes

as required

Go the Descriptor Bands provided by the Board of Studies for Advanced EnglishPrint off the rubrics for two past exams for this Module (Module C). Develop the

rubric in more details so you can determine what each dot point is requiring.

Print off the Notes from the BOS Marking Centre for the past two years and highlightand annotate to aspects of the Descriptor bands and rubrics

Create a scaffold for an essay, a debate, an interview script and a formal speech thatyou can use to rehearse your understandings and analysis of the core and related texts

you have developed. Evaluate, develop further sophistication and insight, reevaluate, reassess, use every

subject throughout the HSC to build your depth and breadth of understanding and

continually revise the work notes you compete in readiness for mid-year

examinations and Trials.


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Exercises to do with Shakespeares Julius Caesar

Construct a table for each character identifying key events they are involved in, their politicalposition, their theoretic position on Caesar and whether the character demonstrates shifts or changesin their internal perspectives of Caesar. Locate how language is used and shaped to reveal/expose

perspectives and the actions/decisions/shifts or catalysts that occur in the internalisation of ideas.

Construct a table of conflicting perspectives of people and events in the text. Who is at greatestopposing perspectives? Who is manipulated by the perspectives of others? Are the perspectives based

on moral/ethical/political/social/human factors? How is language used to shape these perspectives. Dothe perspectives change across the text? What do the changes suggest about thestability/integrity/naivety/ malevolence of the characters involved?

Take each Scene of the play and insert into the text analyser on www.usingenglish.com.Locate significant language that is repeated in the scene (bolder and bigger) Evaluate why thislanguage is used and privileged in the text. Is any of the language suggesting silences?

Select two quotes about Caesar from the perspective of different characters from each scene in theplay. Identify the common or conflicting perspectives present across the play as a whole. What is

Shakespeares purpose and effectiveness in revealing these perspectives as he does?

The original folio printing of the text states that the title is The Tragedie of Julius Caesar. What is thetrue tragedy of the play? Write an analysis of the tragedy of each character in terms of how conflictingperspectives leads to the downfall of humanity. Discuss the paradox of humanitys perpetuating of the

destruction of themselves as represented in this play.

Go the CSU HSC online material on Julius Caesar. Go through the notes and exercise and create notesthat you can use in your study and essays.

Develop an annotated plot graph of key events in the text that reflect conflicting perspectives. Lookfor patterns of the protagonists of the conflict and the impact it has on other characters across theplay- whether literal, inferential, metaphysical or philosophical.

Read the academic readings on the play provided for you. Annotate for key arguments and theses youcan use to develop a range of statements from. Evaluate these thesis statements in light of the essayquestions you have been provide with. Discard unsuitable ones and develop those which are relevant.

Construct visual interpretations of the conflict between characters. Annotate the images presentingsize and proportion as evidence of the power juxtapositions between the characters. Evaluate how thevisual representations reshape your understanding of the conflict and the significance of opposingviews of Caesar, of his politics, of his supporters, of his death and of his value as an historical figurein representations such as literature.

Develop the transcript of a debate entitled Butchers or Purgers. Argue both sides of this debate using

textual evidence that identifies, exposes and evaluates the impact of the conflicting perspectivesembedded in the text. You must have evidence from a range of Acts and Scenes across the playincluding Act One Scene One and Act Five, final scene.

Identify which characters speak in what metre and rhyme. What are the patterns? Evaluate how the

language patterns are used by Shakespeare to represent the conflicting perspectives?
http://www.usingenglish.com/http://www.usingenglish.com/http://www.usingenglish.com/


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Related Text Synthesis

After creating a detailed analysis of each related text (you must complete at least TWO) using

the scaffolds provided, develop tables that link the texts to ShakespearesJulius Caesar.

Thematicparallels

Julius Caesar ORT 1 ORT 2


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Characterparallels



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Conceptualparallels



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Studying a Drama Text for HSC English

1. List the name, author and publication details of the play.

Must know the provenance.

Must know the edition you are using for the HSC.

2. Develop a brief context sentencenot a retellfor example: Shakespeares effectivedevelopment of characters and setting presents the paradoxes and ironies innate to the concept of

conflicting perspectives.

3. Establish the context for the play

When was the play written?

Who was it written by?

How does this work fit into the context of the composers other works?

What does the play suggest about society?

What does the play suggest about the culture it has been written to be received in?

Are there any social or cultural assumptions present in the text?

What political commentaries are being made in the content of the text?

What gender constructs does the text affirm or subvert?

What philosophical and intellectual arguments re being made in the text?

What values are exposed in the text?

4. Establish purpose and audience:

What is the purpose of the text?

What issues does it raise discussion about?

Are these issues limited by the time period in which the text is set or are they universal?

What do you think the composer is attempting to convey?

Is there any evidence of intertextual or archetypal texts content that provide evidence toconfirm your assertion of purpose?

Who was the audience for the text?

What social classes did the audience represent?

What level of education did the audience have?

What does the content of the play suggest about the audience?

Are there any records to suggest a response from the audience to the text? What was itand how effective was the composer in conveying his ideas?

5. Where does the text belong in the history of literature?

What themes dies the text deal with?

What issues does the text use to convey the themes?]

What specific ideas are raised that argue for the theme of the text?

Is the composer effective at conveying the themes? Why? Why not?

How has the composer conveyed the theme effectively?


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What language techniques has he/she used? How are they effective?What complex vocabulary or phrasing has been used?

How does the language include or exclude the reader?

What links, either implicit or explicit does it make to other texts?

6. Stage directions

What stage directions have been provided by the composer?

How realistic are these directions for the modern stage?

Are the stage directions limited by special effects or by the interpretation originallydesigned by the composer?

How could this affect a response form a contemporary audience?

Do the stage directions provide any specific insights into the composer or the audience?

What assumptions are made by a director when accessing the text for a performance?

7. Develop a detailed character analysis of each Act and Scene

You should create visual mind maps of the interactions and relationships between thecharactersi.e. Is it love, power, pity that form the interconnections and relationships

with the other characters in the text?

Establish the power roles of each character

Establish what is gendered about the dialogue Shakespeare has constructed for eachcharacter

Identify any subversions of gender that take place through the dialogue

Differentiate between the dialogue used between all male characters on the stage aswell as all female and male / female interactions. How does the language change? What

is Shakespeare attempting to do?

Has social class been engendered into the text and how does, for example, the languageof characters differentiate and demonstrate social class, education etc.?

Does the language used by each character change as the text progresses? How andWhy?

8. Language and structure

List the major metaphors, allusions, metaphysical conceits, ironies, paradoxes used inthe text. Explain how each one provides insight into the purpose, contexts and

underlying themes of the text

List the significant phrases, soliloquies and monologues in the text.

Why have you selected these references? Do they demonstrate change in yourcharacters? Do they represent conflicting perspectives?

How do the extracts you have selected provide a sense of continuity to the text?

Why has the text been constructed as it has?

What do the various language forms, features and structures of the text suggest aboutthe composer? Audience?

What other major language forms or structures are used in the text?


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Historical Context Notes Worksheet

What is the historical context?

How does the historical context

impact on the text? (use of

Events, key characters, sites,

dates. Inference, allusions, factual

statements etc.)

Does the historical context

provide insight or depth into the

events or characters in the text?

How? Why?

How does the historical contextaffect your response to the text?

What specific language features

or structures of the text conveythe historical context? (motifs,

symbols, metaphors, similes,

descriptors etc.)

Copy out any quotes (and their

provenance) that you may need

to use in your final work that

suggest or provide evidence ofhistorical context?


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Political Context Notes Worksheet

What is the political context?

(Examine relationships of power,

government power, bullying, force,

demands, any character or individual

that is forced or coerced into acting in

a certain way or who is restricted

from acting in a certain way by a

higher power or more powerful

character).

How is the political context revealed

in the textcharacterisation, setting,

themes, issues, ideas, values,

symbols, motifs etc

Does the political context provide

depth or insight into the events or

characters in the text? How? Why?

How does the political context affectyour response to the text? (Include,

exclude etc.?)

What specific language features or

structures of the text convey the

political context?(motifs, symbols,metaphors, similes, descriptors etc.)


provenance) that you may need to

use in your final work that suggest or

provide evidence of political context?


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Intellectual Context Notes Worksheet

What is the intellectual context

explored in the textideas about

life, philosophythe big ideas the

text deals with?

How does the intellectual context

impact on the text (include,

exclude, determine level of

education the audience needs to

explore meaning etc.)?

Does the intellectual context

provide depth or insight into the

events or characters in the text?

How? Why?

How does the intellectual contextaffect your response to the text?


or structures of the text convey

the intellectual context? (motifs,

symbols, metaphors, similes,descriptors etc.)




suggest or provide evidence of

intellectual context?


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Social Context Notes Worksheet

What is the social context?

(education, work, family

relationships and friendships -

professional or personal)

How is social context used by the

composer to shape meaning in

the text?

Does the social context provide

depth or insight into the events or

characters in the text? How?

Why? (For example, does any

change in social context occur

that creates conflicting

perspectives of characters or

events?

How does the social context affect

your response to the text?


or structures of the text convey

the social context? (motifs,

symbols, metaphors, similes,descriptors etc.)




suggest or provide evidence of

social context?


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References you MUST read to develop your view on Shakespeares veracity

or reconstruction of the narrative of Caesar from primary sources:

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Caesar*.html

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Julius*.html

http://www.pbs.org/empires/romans/empire/julius_caesar.html
http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Caesar*.htmlhttp://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Caesar*.htmlhttp://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Julius*.htmlhttp://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Julius*.htmlhttp://www.pbs.org/empires/romans/empire/julius_caesar.htmlhttp://www.pbs.org/empires/romans/empire/julius_caesar.htmlhttp://www.pbs.org/empires/romans/empire/julius_caesar.htmlhttp://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Julius*.htmlhttp://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Caesar*.html


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Jul ius Caesar: Analysis by Act and Scene

FromJulius Caesar. Ed. Henry Norman Hudson. New York: Ginn and Co., 1908.

I. THE EXPOSITION, OR INTRODUCTION (TYING OF THE KNOT)

Act I, Scene i.The popularity of Csar with the Roman mob and the jealousy of the official

classes--the two motive forces of the play--are revealed. The fickleness of the mob is shown

in a spirit of comedy; the antagonism of Marullus and Flavius strikes the note of tragedy.

Act I, Scene ii, 1-304.The supreme characters are introduced, and in their opening speeches

each reveals his temperament and foreshadows the part which he will play. The exposition of

the situation is now complete.

II. THE COMPLICATION, RISING ACTION, OR GROWTH (TYING OF THEKNOT)

Act I, Scene ii, 305-319.In soliloquy Cassius unfolds his scheme for entangling Brutus in the

conspiracy, and the dramatic complication begins.

Act I, Scene iii.Casca, excited by the fiery portents that bode disaster to the state, is

persuaded by Cassius to join "an enterprise of honourable-dangerous consequence" (lines

123-124). The conspirators are assigned to their various posts, and Cassius engages to secure

Brutus before morning.

Act II, Scene i.The humane character of Brutus, as master, husband, and citizen, is

elaborated, and his attitude to Csar and the conspiracy of assassination clearly shown. He

joins the conspirators--apparently their leader, in reality their tool. In lines 162-183 he pleads

that the life of Antony be spared, and thus unconsciously prepares for his own ruin.

Act II, Scene ii.Csar is uneasy at the omens and portents, and gives heed to Calpurnia's

entreaties to remain at home, but he yields to the importunity of Decius and starts for the

Capitol, thus advancing the plans of the conspirators. The dramatic contrast between Csar

and Brutus is strengthened by that between Calpurnia in this scene and Portia in the

preceding.

Act II, Scene iii.The dramatic interest is intensified by the warning of Artemidorus and the

suggestion of a way of escape for the protagonist.

Act II, Scene iv.The interest is further intensified by the way in which readers and spectators

are made to share the anxiety of Portia.

III. THE CLIMAX, CRISIS, OR TURNING POINT (THE KNOT TIED)

Act III, Scene i, 1-122.The dramatic movement is now rapid, and the tension, indicated by

the short whispered sentences of all the speakers except Csar, is only increased by his

imperial utterances, which show utter unconsciousness of the impending doom. In the

assassination all the complicating forces--the self-confidence of Csar, the unworldly

patriotism of Brutus, the political chicanery of Cassius, the unscrupulousness of Casca, and

the fickleness of the mob--bring about an event which changes the lives of all the characters

concerned and threatens the stability of the Roman nation. The death of Csar is the climax

of the physical action of the play; it is at the same time the emotional crisis from whichBrutus comes with altered destiny.


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IV. THE RESOLUTION, FALLING ACTION, OR CONSEQUENCE (THE UNTYINGOF THE KNOT)

Act III, Scene i, 123-298.With Brutus's "Soft! who comes here? A friend of Antony's" begins

the resolution, or falling action, of the play. "The fortune of the conspirators, hitherto in the

ascendant, now declines, while 'Csar's spirit' surely and steadily prevails against them."--

Verity. Against the advice of Cassius, Brutus gives Antony permission to deliver a public

funeral oration. Antony in a soliloquy shows his determination to avenge Csar, and the first

scene of the falling action closes with the announcement that Octavius is within sevenleagues of Rome.

Act III, Scene ii--Scene iii.The orations of Antony, in vivid contrast to the conciliatory but

unimpassioned speeches of Brutus, fire the people and liberate fresh forces in the falling

action. Brutus and Cassius have to fly the city, riding "like madmen through the gates of

Rome." In unreasoning fury the mob tears to pieces an innocent poet who has the same name

as a conspirator.

Act IV, Scene i.Antony, Octavius, and Lepidus, having formed a triumvirate of which

Antony is the master spirit, agree on a proscription list and join forces against Brutus and

Cassius, who "are levying powers."

Act IV, Scene ii.Brutus and Cassius, long parted by pride and obstinacy, meet to discuss a

plan of action.

Act IV, Scene iii.This is one of the most famous individual scenes in Shakespeare.... Its

intensely human interest is always conceded, but its dramatic propriety, because of what

seems a 'dragging' tendency, has been often questioned. The scene opens with Brutus and

Cassius bandying recriminations, and the quarrel of the two generals bodes disaster to their

cause. As the discussion proceeds, they yield points and become reconciled. Brutus then

quietly but with peculiar pathos tells of Portia's death by her own hand. In all the great

tragedies, with the notable exception of Othello, when the forces of the resolution, or falling

action, are gathering towards the dnouement, Shakespeare introduces a scene which appeals

to an emotion different from any of those excited elsewhere in the play. "As a rule this new

emotion is pathetic; and the pathos is not terrible or lacerating, but, even if painful, is

accompanied by the sense of beauty and by an outflow of admiration or affection, which

come with an inexpressible sweetness after the tension of the crisis and the first counter-

stroke. So it is with the reconciliation of Brutus and Cassius, and the arrival of the news of

Portia's death."--Bradley. While the shadow of her tragic passing overhangs the spirits of

both, Brutus overhears the shrewd, cautious counsel of Cassius and persuades him to assent

to the fatal policy of offering battle at Philippi. That night the ghost of Csar appears to

Brutus.

Act V, Scene i.The action now falls rapidly to the quick, decisive movement of the

dnouement. The antagonists are now face to face. Brutus and Cassius have done what

Antony and Octavius hoped that they would do. The opposing generals hold a brief parley in

which Brutus intimates that he is willing to effect a reconciliation, but Antony rejects his

proposals and bluntly charges him and Cassius with the wilful murder of Csar. Cassius

reminds Brutus of his warning that Antony should have fallen when Csar did. Antony,

Octavius, and their army retire, and the scene closes with the noble farewell without hope

between Brutus and Cassius.

Act V, Scene ii.The opposing armies meet on the field, and a final flare-up of hope in thebreast of Brutus is indicated by his spirited order to Messala to charge. The scene implies that

Cassius was defeated by being left without support by Brutus.


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V. DNOUEMENT, CATASTROPHE, OR CONCLUSION (THE KNOT UNTIED)

Act V, Scene iii.The charge ordered by Brutus has been successful, and Octavius has been

driven back, but Cassius is thus left unguarded, and Antony's forces surround him. He takes

refuge on a hill and sends Titinius to see "whether yond troops are friend or enemy."

Believing Titinius to be slain, he begs Pindarus to stab him, and Cassius dies "even with the

sword that kill'd" Csar. With the same sword Titinius then slays himself, and Brutus, when

Messala bears the news to him, exclaims in words that strike the keynote of the whole falling

action and dnouement:

O Julius Csar, thou art mighty yet!

Thy spirit walks abroad, and turns our swords

In our own proper entrails.

Act V, Scene iv.Like Hamlet, Brutus at the last is a man of supreme action. He rallies his

forces for a last attack. With hopeless failure before him, he is at once a heroic figure and one

of infinite pathos. Young Cato falls. Lucilius is attacked; assuming the name of Brutus, he is

not killed but taken prisoner. Antony recognizes him and gives orders that he be treated

kindly.

Act V, Scene v.Brutus dies by his own sword, and his last words tell the story of failure and

defeat. Like a true Roman, he meets his doom without a murmur of complaint. He had been

true to his ideals. The tragic dnouement comes as the inevitable consequence, not of wilful

sin, but of a noble mistake. In death he commands the veneration of both Antony and

Octavius, who pronounce over his body the great interpretation of his character, and in their

speeches the tragedy closes as with a chant of victory for the hero of defeat.

VI. MANAGEMENT OF TIME AND PLACE

1.Historic time.Csar's triumph over the sons of Pompey was celebrated in October, B.C.

45. Shakespeare makes this coincident with "the feast of Lupercal" on February 15, B.C. 44.In the play Antony delivers his funeral oration immediately after Csar's death; historically,

there was an interval of days. Octavius did not reach Rome until upwards of two months after

the assassination; in III, ii, 261, Antony is told by his servant immediately after the funeral

oration that "Octavius is already come to Rome." In November, B.C. 43, the triumvirs met to

make up their bloody proscription, and in the autumn of the following year were fought the

two battles of Philippi, separated historically by twenty days, but represented by Shakespeare

as taking place on the same day.

2.Dramatic Time.Historical happenings that extended over nearly three years are

represented in the stage action as the occurrences of six days, distributed over the acts and

scenes as follows:

Day 1.--I, i, ii.

Interval.

Day 2.--I, iii.

Day 3.--II, III.

Interval.

Day 4.--IV, i.

Interval.

Day 5.--IV, ii, iii.

Interval.

Day 6.--V.

This compression for the purposes of dramatic unity results in action that is swift and

throbbing with human and ethical interest.


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3.Place.Up to the second scene of the fourth act Rome is the natural place of action. Thesecond and third scenes of the fourth act are at Sardis in Asia Minor; the last act shifts to

Philippi in Macedonia. The only noteworthy deviation from historical accuracy is in making

the conference of the triumvirs take place at Rome and not at Bononia.... But there is peculiar

dramatic effectiveness in placing this fateful colloquy in the city that was the center of the

political unrest of the time.

How to cite this article:

Shakespeare, William.Julius Caesar. Ed. Henry Norman Hudson. New York: Ginn and Co.,

1908. Shakespeare Online. 20 Aug. 2009. (date when you accessed the information) .