Read the excerpt from act 3, scene 1, of Julius Caesar . BRUTUS: By your pardon; I will myself into the pulpit first, And show the reason of our Caesar’s death. What Antony shall speak I will protest He speaks by leave and by permission; And that we are contented Caesar shall Have all true rites and lawful ceremonies, It shall advantage more than do us wrong. Which quotations support the central idea that Brutus thinks it will do no harm and may actually benefit the conspirators if they let Antony give the eulogy at Caesar’s funeral? Choose two correct answers.
Read the excerpt from act 1, scene 3, of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar and the background information on the allusion it contains. CASSIUS: And why should Caesar be a tyrant then? Poor man, I know he would not be a wolf But that he sees the Romans are but sheep. He were no lion, were not Romans hinds. Those that with haste will make a mighty fire Begin it with weak straws. What trash is Rome? What rubbish, and what offal? when it serves For the base matter to illuminate So vile a thing as Caesar! But, O grief, Where hast thou led me? I perhaps speak this Before a willing bondman: then I know My answer must be made. But I am armed And dangers are to me indifferent. CASCA: You speak to Casca, and to such a man That is no fleering tell-tale. Hold, my hand. Be factious for redress of all these griefs And I will set this foot of mine as far As who goes farthest. CASSIUS: There’s a bargain made. Now know you, Casca, I have moved already Some certain of the noblest-minded Romans To undergo with me an enterprise Of honourable dangerous consequence. And I do know by this, they stay for me In Pompey’s Porch. For now this fearful night There is no stir or walking in the streets; And the complexion of the element In favour’s like the work we have in hand, Most bloody, fiery, and most terrible. Background information: Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, known in English as Pompey the Great, was a Roman general and political leader. Together with Caesar and Crassus, Pompey ruled as a member of the first Roman triumvirate. As a leader, Pompey was a capable administer and worked to help Rome grow and prosper. Among other projects, he built a large amphitheater in Rome. This amphitheater was named after him, and its annex became known as Pompey’s Porch. During this time, Pompey married Caesar’s daughter, Julia. After her death, however, Pompey and Caesar began to grow apart, and within a few years, Pompey sided with the senate against Caesar. War followed. In 48 BCE, Pompey’s armies were defeated, and he was murdered by former allies who were afraid of Caesar’s power. Which statement best explains the meaning added by the allusion in this excerpt?
Read the excerpt from Julius Caesar , act 1, scene 2. CASCA: Why, there was a crown offered him: and being offered him, he put it by with the back of his hand, thus; and then the people fell a-shouting. (230) BRUTUS: What was the second noise for? CASCA: Why, for that too. CASSIUS: They shouted thrice. What was the last cry for? CASCA: Why, for that too. BRUTUS: Was the crown offered him thrice? (235) CASCA: Ay, marry, was’t; and he put it by thrice, every time gentler than other; and at every putting by, mine honest neighbours shouted. What conflict does Casca's explanation of the crowd's cries in the passage best illustrate?
Read the excerpt from Julius Caesar , act 1, scene 2. [CASSIUS:] For once, upon a raw and gusty day, The troubled Tiber chafing with her shores, Said Caesar to me "Darest thou, Cassius, now Leap in with me into this angry flood, (110) And swim to yonder point?” Upon the word, Accoutred as I was, I plungèd in And bade him follow. So indeed he did. The torrent roared, and we did buffet it With lusty sinews, throwing it aside, (115) And stemming it with hearts of controversy. But ere we could arrive the point proposed, Caesar cried ‘Help me, Cassius, or I sink!’ Which details should be included in a paraphrase of the passage? Choose three correct answers.
Read the two excerpts from act 2, scene 1, of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar . Excerpt 1: [BRUTUS.] Since Cassius first did whet me against Caesar I have not slept. Between the acting of a dreadful thing And the first motion, all the interim is Like a phantasma or a hideous dream. The genius and the mortal instruments Are then in council, and the state of man, Like to a little kingdom, suffers then The nature of an insurrection. Excerpt 2: BRUTUS: Kneel not, gentle Portia. . . . You are my true and honourable wife, As dear to me as are the ruddy drops That visit my sad heart. PORTIA: If this were true, then should I know this secret. . . . Tell me your counsels; I will not disclose 'em. I have made strong proof of my constancy, Giving myself a voluntary wound Here in the thigh. Can I bear that with patience, And not my husband's secrets? How do Brutus’s moral dilemmas in each excerpt compare?
Read the excerpt from Julius Caesar , act 1, scene 2. SOOTHSAYER: Caesar! (15) CAESAR: Ha! who calls? CASCA: Bid every noise be still. Peace yet again. CAESAR: Who is it in the press that calls on me? I hear a tongue shriller than all the music Cry "Caesar!” Speak. Caesar is turned to hear. (20) SOOTHSAYER: Beware the ides of March. CAESAR: What man is that? BRUTUS: A soothsayer bids you beware the ides of March. CAESAR: Set him before me; let me see his face. CASSIUS: Fellow, come from the throng; look upon Caesar (25) CAESAR: What say’st thou to me now? Speak once again. SOOTHSAYER: Beware the ides of March. CAESAR: He is a dreamer. Let us leave him. Pass! How does this scene most contribute to the plot?
Read the excerpt from Julius Caesar , act 1, scene 2. CASSIUS: 'Tis just; And it is very much lamented, Brutus, (60) That you have no such mirrors as will turn Your hidden worthiness into your eye, That you might see your shadow. I have heard Where many of the best respect in Rome— Except immortal Caesar—speaking of Brutus, (65) And groaning underneath this age’s yoke, Have wished that noble Brutus had his eyes. What does the image of "And groaning underneath this age’s yoke” suggest about the meaning of the passage? (A yoke is a wooden harness, or collar, put around the neck of a horse or oxen that is pulling a plough.)
Read the excerpt from act 3, scene 2, of Julius Caesar . [BRUTUS.] Who is here so vile that will not love his country? If any, speak, for him have I offended. I pause for a reply. ALL: None, Brutus, none. BRUTUS: Then none have I offended. I have done no more to Caesar than you shall do to Brutus. The question of his death is enrolled in the Capitol: his glory not extenuated, wherein he was worthy, nor his offences enforced, for which he suffered death. [Enter ANTONY and others, with CAESAR’s body] Here comes his body, mourned by Mark Antony, who, though he had no hand in his death, shall receive the benefit of his dying: a place in the commonwealth—as which of you shall not? With this I depart: that, as I slew my best lover for the good of Rome, I have the same dagger for myself, when it shall please my country to need my death. What is the best summary of this monologue?
Which statement gives evidence for Brutus's tragic flaw in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar ?
Read the excerpt from act 4, scene 3, of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar . BRUTUS: O Cassius, I am sick of many griefs. CASSIUS: Of your philosophy you make no use, If you give place to accidental evils. BRUTUS: No man bears sorrow better. Portia is dead. CASSIUS: Ha! Portia? BRUTUS: She is dead. CASSIUS: How scaped I killing when I crossed you so? O insupportable and touching loss! Upon what sickness? BRUTUS: Impatient of my absence, And grief that young Octavius with Mark Antony Have made themselves so strong—for with her death That tidings came. With this, she fell distraught, And, her attendants absent, swallowed fire. CASSIUS: And died so? BRUTUS: Even so. CASSIUS: O ye immortal gods! [Enter LUCIUS, with wine and taper] BRUTUS: Speak no more of her. Give me a bowl of wine. In this I bury all unkindness, Cassius. CASSIUS: My heart is thirsty for that noble pledge. Fill, Lucius, till the wine o’erswell the cup; I cannot drink too much of Brutus’ love. Which evidence from the text supports the conclusion that Cassius and Brutus have reconciled? Choose two correct answers.
Read the excerpt from act 5, scene 1, of Julius Caesar . ANTONY: Villains, you did not so, when your vile daggers Hacked one another in the sides of Caesar: You showed your teeth like apes, and fawned like hounds, And bowed like bondmen, kissing Caesar’s feet, Whilst damnèd Casca, like a cur, behind, Struck Caesar on the neck. O you flatterers! Cur and dog mean the same thing denotatively. Which statement best explains why Antony uses the word cur rather than dog to describe Casca?
Read the excerpt from act 5, scene 1, of Julius Caesar . CASSIUS: Messala. MESSALA, standing forth. What says my general? CASSIUS: Messala, This is my birthday; as this very day Was Cassius born. Give me thy hand, Messala. Be thou my witness that, against my will, As Pompey was, am I compelled to set Upon one battle all our liberties. You know that I held Epicurus strong And his opinion. Now I change my mind, And partly credit things that do presage. Coming from Sardis, on our former ensign Two mighty eagles fell, and there they perched, Gorging and feeding from our soldiers’ hands; Who to Philippi here consorted us. This morning are they fled away and gone, And in their steads do ravens, crows, and kites Fly o’er our heads and downward look on us, As we were sickly prey. Their shadows seem A canopy most fatal, under which Our army lies ready to give up the ghost. MESSALA: Believe not so. CASSIUS: I but believe it partly; For I am fresh of spirit, and resolved To meet all perils very constantly. Which central idea does this speech about omens best support?
Read the excerpt from act 2, scene 1, of Julius Caesar . BRUTUS: Kneel not, gentle Portia. PORTIA: I should not need if you were gentle Brutus. Within the bond of marriage, tell me, Brutus, Is it excepted I should know no secrets That appertain to you? Am I your self But as it were in sort or limitation? To keep with you at meals, comfort your bed, And talk to you sometimes? Dwell I but in the suburbs Of your good pleasure? If it be no more, Portia is Brutus’ harlot, not his wife. BRUTUS: You are my true and honourable wife, As dear to me as are the ruddy drops That visit my sad heart. PORTIA: If this were true, then should I know this secret. I grant I am a woman, but withal A woman that Lord Brutus took to wife. I grant I am a woman, but withal A woman well reputed, Cato’s daughter. Think you I am no stronger than my sex, Being so fathered and so husbanded? Tell me your counsels; I will not disclose 'em. I have made strong proof of my constancy, Giving myself a voluntary wound Here in the thigh. Can I bear that with patience, And not my husband’s secrets? BRUTUS: O ye gods, Render me worthy of this noble wife! What effect does Brutus's secrecy have on his wife, Portia? Choose three correct answers.
Read the excerpt from act 2, scene 1, of Julius Caesar . BRUTUS: Our course will seem too bloody, Caius Cassius, To cut the head off and then hack the limbs, Like wrath in death and envy afterwards— For Antony is but a limb of Caesar. Let us be sacrificers, but not butchers, Caius. We all stand up against the spirit of Caesar, And in the spirit of men there is no blood. O, that we then could come by Caesar’s spirit, And not dismember Caesar! But, alas, Caesar must bleed for it. And, gentle friends, Let’s kill him boldly, but not wrathfully. Let’s carve him as a dish fit for the gods, Not hew him as a carcass fit for hounds. And let our hearts, as subtle masters do, Stir up their servants to an act of rage, And after seem to chide 'em. This shall make Our purpose necessary, and not envious; Which so appearing to the common eyes, We shall be called purgers, not murderers. And for Mark Antony, think not of him, For he can do no more than Caesar’s arm When Caesar’s head is off. Which statement best explains Brutus’s motivation in this scene?
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