Study GuideThe Tragedy of Julius Caesar and the Tragic Hero

Study all handouts/worksheets for this unit!!!

Intro to Caesar cloze notes Characteristics of a Tragic Hero notes Drama Terms (need to be able to apply them to an excerpt from the play) Content Terms (some will be on the test in a question or an answer choice)

Terms to Know

Tragic heroTragic flawSoliloquyDramatic IronyDialogueAsideMonologueHubrisMutinySoothsayerOratorPlebeianTriumvirateTyrantVengeanceMischievous

Questions for The Tragedy of Julius Caesar

1. Who did Caesar defeat before returning to the city?

2. Why do the two senators try to stop the people from celebrating in the beginning?

3. What warning does Caesar receive and from whom?

4. What is meant by “Ides?”

5. Who are Caesar’s two closest friends?

6. What is the internal conflict that Brutus faces?

7. In Act I, Scene ii, of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Brutus says, “I love / the name of honor more than I fear death.” What do Brutus’s words suggest about his character?

8. Who is the ringleader of the conspiracy, and how does he get Brutus on their side?

9. Which of the following actions creates the most suspense in Act II using atmosphere and mood?

10. In Act II, Scene i, Brutus says, “And therefore think of him as a serpent’s egg / Which hatched, would as his kind grow mischievous, / And kill him in the shell.” What is Brutus suggesting when he compares Caesar to a serpent’s egg?

11. What is Brutus’s tragic flaw?

12. Describe Calpurnia’s dream.

13. Why do the conspirators agree not to kill Mark Antony?

14. What do the following words tell us about Caesar’s personality?Cowards die many times before their deaths; / The valiant never taste of death but once. / Of all the wonders that I yet have heard, / It seems to me most strange that men should fear, / Seeing that death, a necessary end, / Will come when it will come (Act II, Scene ii).

15. What is symbolic about Marc Antony shaking hands with each conspirator?

16. Why doesn’t Trebonius have blood on his hands until this point?

17. When Antony speaks to the conspirators right after Caesar’s death, what does he say?

18. When Antony first vows revenge on the conspirators, who is aware of his plans?

19. Why does Antony point to the wounds on Caesar’s body and the rips in his cloak and identify whose dagger made each one?

20.What does Antony mean when he tells the crowd that a good speaker could “Put a tongue / In every wound of Caesar’s that should move / The stones of Rome to rise and mutiny (Act III, Scene ii)?

21.Despite his words, what does Antony convince the crowd of in his funeral speech?

22.Why is Brutus considered a tragic hero?

23.Why is Cassius NOT considered a tragic hero?

24.What frightens Brutus at the end of Act IV?

25.Why is Cassius shocked when he finds out that Brutus’s wife has died?

Rule of Three

What is a triumvirate, and how does it relate to Caesar? ________________________________

Now label the triangle.

Label the parts of the Rhetorical Triangle (the three appeals).