Planning Your Week: November 7-11
Sun. 11/6—Membean practice due.
Sun. 11/13 - Membean practice due.
Mon. 11/14 - "Tracking Caesar" handout due, finish reading the play
Thurs. 11/17--Julius Caesar choice board due
Full text of Julius Caesar online here!
Monday, November 7
LG: Analyze a film director’s interpretation of Julius Caesar focusing on character and theme.
- Opener—2016-2017 English course pathways - students will make course selections
- IAN Journal Entry: What are our obligations as American citizens? Is voting necessary and/or effective?
- View Eric Liu's Ted Talk "There's No Such Thing as Not Voting" and complete SMELL rhetorical analysis
- Revisit journal & discuss in Roman Empire groups:
- Have you been influenced by Liu's talk? Why or why not?
- If you have not been receptive, is there a problem with the speaker? The message? The audience? (Did you already agree with him?)
- Consider the context - how does an audience control the effectiveness of a message?
- How do you feel about audiences who are easily swayed? Does it depend on the message?
- Act out and read Act 3, Julius Casear
Tuesday, November 8—Student Holiday/Election Day
Wednesday, November 9
LG: Consider the rhetorical strategies speakers employ and evaluate their effectiveness on intended audience.
- Opener: watch a scene from Law and Order https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjG2AMYiyrg where the lawyers deliver closing arguments from a murder. Critique the persuasive and rhetorical moves each lawyer makes.
- Review Act III of Julius Caesar, considering the question of whether the conspirators are justified in killing Caesar.
- Analyze evidence supporting and refuting the conspirators’ actions. For example, consider the following:
- Caesar’s physical limitations (I ii 95-131)
- Why should Caesar be king? (I.ii. 135-141)
- The fate of Marullus and Flavius (I.ii. 281-287)
- Brutus’s reasons for killing Caesar (I.i. 10-34)
- Caesar refuses the crown (I. ii. 220-246)
- Caesar’s will (III.ii. 240-244 and 249-254)
- Teams will compile text evidence in the style of persuasive “closing argument remarks” and vote if Caesar should be assassinated based on the evidence up to Caesar’s speech 3.1.58-73.
- Closer—Defend your vote in a short response and summarize Caesar’s good and bad qualities according to the text thus far.
Thursday, November 10
LG: Review methods of characterization and analyze character in Julius Caesar.
- Opener—Mini-lesson on subtext and mini-scene performances in Roman Empires.
- NOTES FOR IAN:
- Subtext Tools:
Stress-emphasis placed on a word when pronounced
Inflection – the way the voice goes up or down when a word is pronounced
Pause – break in reading for emphasis
Nonverbal communication – gestures, posture, the presence or absence of eye contact
- Subtext Tools:
- NOTES FOR IAN:
- Work session:
- Complete group reading of Act III
- Finish your "Tracking Caesar" handout - front and back, to be submitted tomorrow
- Examine the subtext in both Brutus's (3.2.12-47) and Marc Antony's (3.2.75-109, 3.2.120-231) eulogies. Write one paragraph for each speech that makes a claim about the subtext within the text. These should be CEI paragraphs - use evidence and valid reasoning to support your close reading of the subtext. How should an actor deliver these lines? Consider stress, inflection, pauses, and nonverbal communication. This is due tomorrow. Handwritten is okay!
- Closer—How does emotion and inflection positively or negatively impact an audience’s understanding of the play?
- Homework: Two paragraphs (one for Marc Antony's speech and one for Brutus's) due tomorrow. "Tracking Caesar" handout due Monday, 11/14.
Friday, November 11
LG: Consider the rhetorical strategies speakers employ and evaluate their effectiveness on intended audience.
- Trade and discuss your assessment of subtext in Brutus's and Antony's speeches. Do you agree with your classmates?
- Read Acts 4 and 5 of Julius Caesar and complete "Tracking Caesar" handout. Complete your guided reading questions and handout for Monday. Be prepared for a reading quiz.