Name:_______________________ The Tragedy of Julius Caesar Study Guide, Act 1 Setting a Purpose: Read to discover different characters’ reactions to Julius Caesar’s leadership. Did You Know? In Act 1, Julius Caesar attends the feast of Lupercal, held yearly to honor a fertility god. It began with the sacrifice of goats and a dog at the Lupercal, a cave where Rome’s legendary founders, Romulus and Remus, allegedly were nursed by a she‐wolf. Young men called “Luperci” would dress themselves in the goatskins and run around the Palatine Hill, one of the seven hills on which ancient Rome was built. They carried goat thongs that they used to strike people, especially women who could not have children. The ritual was said to help women become fertile. The Romans celebrated dozens of religious festivals, many involving games or spectacles. These events provided amusement for the poor and gave leaders an opportunity to interact with common people. Vocabulary: (Drama Terms) 1.
dialogue 2. act 3. scene 4. stage directions 5. soliloquy 6. aside Questions: 1.
How do Flavius and Mureullus respond when they meet commoners who are celebrating Caesar’s triumph? What elicits this response? 2. What happens when Antony offers Caesar a crown? How does the crowd respond to Caesar’s actions? Analyze Caesar’s action. Does he really not want to be crowned king, or was his refusal a ploy? Why or why not? 3. What does the soothsayer warn and what device is being used here? How does Caesar respond to what the soothsayer says? 4. How does Cassius praise Brutus and criticize Caesar? 5. Describe Cassius’s and Casca’s reactions to the storm. What do their reactions reveal about their characters? 6. What action does Cassius take to win Brutus over? Why is it important for him to gain Brutus’s support? 7. How does each character feel about Caesar? For each character, give a quote that reveals his attitude about Caesar. Additionally, summarize that character’s opinion of Caesar. Marullus and Flavius Casssius Casca Brutus Julius Caesar Poetry, Prose, and Puns Part A. Shakespeare wrote his plays in a form of poetry called blank verse. The natural rhythm of English speech is unstressed or stressed syllables. This is an iambic beat. Five beats or stresses to a line is called pentameter. Thus, iambic pentameter is a natural English line. If rhyme is not used, the poetry becomes blank verse. 1. Read the following line from Act I scene i, and mark the stressed syllables. You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things! 2. Who says this line? What is his rank or position? Part B. Skim again through the first scene. While some characters speak in blank verse, others speak in prose. 1. Who speaks only in prose? 2. What is the rank or position of this character? 3. What might you assume about Shakespeare’s use of poetry from this example? As you go through the play, note uses poetry and who uses prose. Also note the occasions when poetry is used and when prose is used. Part C. The use of a word to suggest two or more meanings at the same time, or the use of two different words that sound alike to create humor is called a pun. Look at the first two pages of Act I scene one for the following questions. 1. What two meanings are in the word cobbler? 2. What is the word that sounds like awl and completes the pun? 3. Why does Shakespeare use puns in this scene?