English Renaissance & Shakespeare
Objective (EO2.1): Research the ideas and significant achievements that define the English Renaissance.
Objective (EO2.2): Analyze how literary devices contribute to the development of central ideas or themes.
Objective (EO2.3): Compare a variety of themes (within a text or between multiple texts).
Objective (E02.4): Annotate the structural and poetical elements that define a sonnet.
Objective (EO2.5): Participate in discussions to explore the structure and meaning of poetry.
Objective (EO2.6): Create an original work using structural and language elements covered in this unit.
Objective (EO3.1): Comprehend Shakespeare’s language based on understanding of Shakespearean language and contextual clues.
Objective (EO3.2): Analyze the external and internal conflicts of major and minor characters.
Objective (EO3.3): Critique the main character as a tragic hero.
Objective (E03.4): Support claims about character and theme with specific evidence from the text.
Objective (EO3.5): Explain how denotation and connotation create humor and verbal irony.
Objective (EO3.6): Evaluate several performances using comparison and established criteria.
Objective (EO3.7): Perform a monologue or scene from Shakespeare’s play.
Within the Tent of Brutus: Enter the Ghost of Caesar, Julius Caesar, Act IV, Scene III, by Edwin Austin Abbey, 1905
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar often shortened to Julius Caesar, is a historical tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written and first performed in 1599. The play portrays the political conspiracy that led to the assassination of the Roman dictator Julius Caesar and Rome's subsequent civil war. Drawing primarily (with deviations in various aspects) from Sir Thomas North's 1579 translation of Parallel Lives by Plutarch, Shakespeare presents a dramatised account of Caesar's growing power, his murder by a group of senators led by Cassius and Brutus, and the defeat of the conspirators by the forces of Mark Antony and Octavius at the Battle of Philippi.
Although named after Caesar, the play focuses largely on Brutus, whose moral and political dilemmas have often led critics to regard him as its tragic hero. Central themes include the tension between personal loyalty and public duty, the use of rhetoric in politics, and the fragility of republican governance in the face of ambition and power. Julius Caesar was among the first plays performed at the Globe Theatre and has remained one of Shakespeare’s most frequently staged works. It has been adapted in numerous forms and interpreted in diverse political contexts, reflecting concerns from Elizabethan debates on succession to modern discussions of dictatorship and democracy. The play is widely studied for its exploration of character, persuasion, and political morality, and it continues to influence literature, theater, and political discourse.
Adapted from Wikipedia