William Shakespeare

Objectives: Common Core State Standards

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RL 1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of

what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

RL 2 Determine the theme or central idea of a text.

RL 3 Analyze how complex characters with conflicting motivations develop, interact with others, and advance the plot or develop the theme.

RL 4 Determine the figurative and connotative meanings of words and

phrases as they are used in a text.

RL 5 Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure a text

and order events within it create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise. RL 9 Analyze how an author draws on and transforms source material in a specific work.

RL 10 Read and comprehend dramas.

RI 7 Analyze various accounts of a subject told in different mediums. SL 3 Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric.

L 1b Use various types of clauses to convey specific meanings and add

variety and interest to writing.

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Meet William Shakespeare…

Born in 1564 Lived during the Renaissance Period during the reign of Queen Elizabeth And Henry the VIII  Grew up in Stratford upon Avon 400 miles from London  Shakespeare wrote mainly comedies Including A Midsummer’s Night Dream,  He also wrote tragedies like Romeo

and Juliet.

 He wrote romances too, like The Winter’s Tale

Meet William Shakespeare cont…

 He helped build the Globe Theater  It was common for people to eat, drink and talk during performances!

 Shakespeare modeled his writing after the great historian Plutarch.

Plutarch was a famous Roman Citizen (pictured below).

Who is Julius Caesar?

 Caesar was born in 100 B.C

 He was a shrewd military general  He became wealthy and powerful by conquering Gaul-a territory in western Europe  In 60 B.C. Rome was under the control of Crassus, Pompey and Caesar  These three leaders were known as The First

Triumvirate

 Crassus died and soon Pompey and Caesar came into odds with each other

Who is Julius Caesar? Cont…

 Caesar defeated Pompey in 45 B.C

 The play opens up in 44 B.C-there is concern that Caesar might crush the republic that has been established and create either a monarchy- or worse, a dictatorship!

Act I-The Tragedy of Julius Caesar

Setting: The Festival of Lupercal

 Act I opens here  Lupercal comes from “lupus” or wolf  Women who could not bare children would stand in the way of the “runners” carrying sacrificial goats or dogs, in order to be blessed with the powers to have children  Caesar’s wife, Calpurnia was unable to have children

Act I-The Tragedy of Julius Caesar cont…

Epilepsy-The Falling Sickness

 Several characters allude to or mention Caesar’s “falling sickness”  Some in Shakespeare’s day associated the “falling sickness” to being able to prophesize or tell the future

Pun

 A pun is a joke that makes use of two different meanings of the word. In Scene I, the cobbler (shoe maker) makes a pun with the words all and awl (a shoemakers tool). “Truly, sir, all that I live by is with the awl.”  This is one of the earliest forms of humor

Act I Study Guide

I. Vocabulary

 Wherefore: (line 32-Murellus): Should we?

 Exeunt: exit  Vulgar: (line 70-Flavius): Common people  Construe: to interpret or translate

II. Literary Terms

 Blank Verse: unrhymed iambic pentameter (5 syllables in a line that are unrhymed).

 Prose: Ordinary speech or writing without metrical structure

Act I Study Guide cont…

Tragedy: drama of literary work which the main character suffers extreme sorrow Pun: a play on words Conflict: fighting or disharmony between with different ideas or interests

Act I Study Guide cont…

Types of Conflicts: External Conflict: man vs. man man vs. animal man vs. nature Internal Conflict: man vs. self Soliloquy: dramatic dialogue which a character reveals his or her thoughts, when alone or unaware of others.

Act I Study Guide cont…

Iambic Meter: line in which there is a stressed syllable sound, followed by an unstressed syllable Iambic Pentameter: Five syllables in a line, with an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable Metaphor: Comparison not using like or as Simile: Comparison using like or as

Act I Vocabulary:

1. Tributaries: people who had to obey rules and laws 2. Servile: people who had to serve those who were in power (example: the senators below Caesar) 3. Construe: interpret 4. Cogitations: thoughts 5. Accoutred: to be well equipped 6. Encompass: to surround 7. Loath: to hate someone 8. Prodigious: extraordinary 9. Redress: to make amends (to make right) 10. Infirmity: to show weakness

Characters Introduced in Act I

Julius Caesar: (Marcus) Brutus: Cassius: Antony: Casca: As we read fill in traits that describe each character!

Blog Response Question…

Can your conscience (intuition/judgment) mislead you? Recall a situation or a time when this happened to you or someone you know. What did you (he or she) learn from it?