1. The Tragedy of Julius Caesar
Act III

2. Anticipation Guide Act III

3. Act III Overview
Having ignored the warnings of the soothsayer in Act I and those of his wife, Calpurnia, in Act II, Caesar proceeds to the Capitol on the ides of March. Decius has told him that the Senate is ready to confer a crown upon him. Caesar is accompanied by the conspirators, led by Cassius and Brutus, as well as by his friend Mark Antony. Meanwhile, Artemidorus plans to reveal the conspiracy to Caesar. As Act III unfolds, Caesar approaches the Capitol, and events take a fateful, irreversible turn.

4. Act III, Scene i Define drama in your own words.
Suspense: A state of anxious wondering about what might happen next
Respond to the Literary Analysis question: How does Caesar create suspense?
Clarify Cassius’ lines What does Cassius says he will do if their plan to kill Caesar has been discovered? Why would would Cassius kill himself if the conspirators’ plan fails and Caesar lived?

5. Act III, Scene i How does what Caesar says affect your opinion of him?
If Caesar desires to be seen as a man of who always keeps his word, why might he have changed his mind earlier in the play? (Staying home - Act II, Scene ii)
Judge the picture
How does it portray tension and suspense?

6. Act III, Scene i Analyze line 74.
What does Caesar suggest in comparing himself to Olympus?
Support the actions the conspirators are about to take from this position.
Respond to the Reading Skill question: In what ways does line 76 combine ideas of words with images of violence?
Compare and Contrast the conspirators reaction to the murder (lines 78-95).

7. Act III, Scene i Analyzing Brutus’ Speech
Respond to the Reading Skill prompt: Find an example of an image linking blood and words in lines
Describe why this image is so jarring.
What does Shakespeare suggest with such an image?
Evaluate the effect of lines on the audience.
Judge how the audience would react to the lines.

8. Act III, Scene i
Compare and Contrast whether you agree with Brutus or Cassius and explain why (lines ).
Analyze Antony’s speech
Respond to the Literary Analysis question: What is Antony’s purpose in delivering this monologue?
Explain what Antony’s speech tells us about his opinion of Caesar.

9. Act III, Scene i Analyze Antony’s speech (lines 183-210).
How would you characterize the speech? Is it emotional? What language is used?
Respond to the Literary Analysis question: In this monologue, what image of his state of mind does Antony create for the conspirators?

10. Act III, Scene i Cassius and Brutus lines 214-226.
What does Cassius want Antony to make clear?
Why does Antony hesitate?
For Brutus, what difference will the right words, or “reasons,” make to the “spectacle” of Caesar’s bloody body?

11. Act III, Scene i Antony’s request and Cassius’ concern (lines 231+)
Answer the Literary Analysis question: Why doe Cassius wish to prevent others from hearing what he says in this aside to Brutus?
Which character is right about Antony – Brutus or Cassius – explain why.

12. Act III, Scene i Antony’s request and Cassius’ concern (lines 231+)
Answer the Literary Analysis question: Why doe Cassius wish to prevent others from hearing what he says in this aside to Brutus?
Which character is right about Antony – Brutus or Cassius – explain why.

13. Act III, Scene i This is a soliloquy because Antony is alone on stage.
Respond to the Literary Analysis question: What does Antony’s speech reveal to the audience that other characters do not know?

14. End Act III, Scene i
Complete Reading Checks, Critical Viewing, and Vocabulary for Act III, Scene I

15. BIG Warm Up: Quickwrite
Tell me what you did over Spring Break
Don’t say “nothing”
Even if you just watched Netflix tell me what you watched, why you watched it, what you learned, etc.
Answer the who, what when, where, how and why to what you did.
1 Page minimum.

16. Act III, Scene ii Evaluate Brutus’ speech in lines 12-34.
Respond to the Literary Analysis question: What is Brutus’ purpose in delivering this monologue?
Examine Brutus’ final lines
Answer the Literary Analysis question: In this monologue, how does Brutus emphasize his sincerity?
Speculate about why Brutus leaves before Antony’s speech.

17. Act III, Scene ii How does the crowd react to Brutus’ speech?
Analyze how Brutus is able to win the people’s good opinion and support.

18. Act III, Scene ii Antony’s Speech (74-108)
Answer the Literary Analysis question: How is Antony’s monologue both similar and different from Brutus’ in line 12-34?
What idea does Antony constantly repeat, but in various forms?
When does he repeat this idea?

19. Act III, Scene ii
Analyze imagery by answering the Reading Skill question for lines
Identify words and ideas in lines of Antony’s monologue that capture an audience’s interests and attention.
Answer the Reading Skill question (lines ): In what ways does the action on stage connect Caesar’s body and words in his will?
What does Antony achieve by drawing the crowds around the corpse to hear the will?

20. Act III, Scene ii
What is ironic about the way Antony describes his own speech (lines )?
Respond to the Reading Skill question: Which images in Antony’s speech combine ideas of words, the body, and violence?
“a sudden flood of mutiny”
“steal away your heats”

21. Act III, Scene ii
Respond to the Reading Skill question: Moved by news of Caesar’s words, what action does the crowd take involving Caesar’s body?

22. End Act III, Scene ii
Complete Reading Checks, Critical Viewing, and Vocabulary for Act III, Scene ii

23. Act III, Scene iii
Note: Cinna enters first and speaks. This may be considered an aside address.
Literary Analysis: To whom is Cinna’s speech addressed?
Predict: What is going to happen to Cinna? Support with evidence and details from his speech.

24. Act III, Scene iii
Answer the Reading Skill question: How does a confusion about Cinna’s name place his body in danger?
Identify the lines in this scene in which Shakespeare couples a reference to words with images of a person’s physical body.

25. End Act III, Scene iii
Complete Reading Checks, Critical Viewing, and Vocabulary for Act III, Scene iii

26. To what extent does experience determine what we perceive?
The crowd’s perception of Caesar’s death changes based on the different accounts given.
Summarize: Explain how Brutus justifies the assassination in his speech to the crowd.
Analyze: Explain how Antony turns the crowd against the conspirators.

27. Anticipation Guide Act III