Julius Caesar Take Home Exam

Due: no later than Friday, April 1, 2016

- MAKE SURE TO READ DIRECTIONS AND QUESTIONS THOROUGHLY Directions: Choose FIVE of the following ten questions and respond to them. Answers
must be in complete sentences. These are short answer questions they require
inferences and critical thinking, as well analysis and synthesis. Each question should
be answered in minimum of one paragraph. Answers with less than a paragraph will be
marked incorrect.
Check spelling and grammar. Final drafts of this take home exam should be neat and
organized. Revision of answers is necessary.
Format:
Submissions of the take home exams should be submitted in this order
- Julius Caesar Take Home Exam sheet
- Answers for the five questions (please skip a line between answers)
o How Answers Should Look: (simply write the word question with the
corresponding number of the question you are answering)
Question 1
Question 4
Question 3, etc.
Remember to include your name and period number. No-Named exams will not be
graded.
Exam Questions:
1. Discuss friendship in the play. Consider Caesar and Brutus, Caesar and Antony,
and Brutus and Cassius. Are these true friendships or merely political alliances
forged for the sake of convenience and self-preservation? How do they compare
with the marriages Caesar and Calpurnia, Brutus and Portia in the play? Are
they more profound or less profound, more revealing or less revealing of their
participants characters?
2. Who is the protagonist in this play? Is it Caesar, who dies well before the end,
but whose power and name continue on? Or is it Brutus, the noble man who falls
because of his tragic flaws? (This question requires integration of the tragic
hero trope into the answer!)
3. Discuss inflexibility in this play, focusing on Caesar and Brutus. How is each
man inflexible? Is this rigidity an admirable trait or a flaw? Do the rewards of
this rigidity outweigh the consequences, or vice versa?
4. Think about Caesar the mortal man as opposed to Caesar the public figure. How
does he continue to wield power over events even after he is dead? Do the
conspirators succeed in their goals by killing him, or is Caesars influence too
powerful to be contained even by his death?
5. Is there such a thing as honorable preemptive murder or crime? Is it right to kill
in order to prevent something that might happen (i.e. Caesar might have
become an evil emperor)?
6. Is there such a thing as honorable preemptive murder or crime? Is it right to kill
in order to prevent something that might happen (i.e. Caesar might have
become an evil emperor)?
7. Describe the changes that occur in the friendship between Cassius and Brutus.
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8. Brutus agonizes over the decision to kill his best friend Caesar. In the end, he
puts his love aside for the good of the country. Do you think Brutus is justified?
Does assassinating a leader for the good of the people constitute bravery worthy
of a tragic hero, or do the ends never justify the means?
9. How powerful are words? Think of words that have power, such as hate, love,
war, and anger. What makes these words powerful? How careful should you be
when using these words?
10.In all the chaos of Julius Caesar, is there a single voice of reason? If so, who?
Please explain your answer citing details from the text.

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