Julius Caesar Essay

Julius Caesar Essay 10th Grade Periods 1 and 2

Mr. Chao

Things You Did Well

• Understanding the Text• Thesis Statements• Making Claims about Characters• Providing Quotes as Evidence• Intro and Concluding Paragraphs

Introductory Paragraphs

• Start with a hook• Most papers had these• More CREATIVITY

• Connect to the text• Most papers were missing this

• Include a CLEAR THESIS• Must ADDRESS THE PROMPT• Must outline your arguments

Things To Improve• STRUCTURE• Making STRONG CLAIMS• Including ALL aspects of Quote Integration• Including ANALYSIS in your paper• Defining HERO• Using SPECIFIC EXAMPLES• FINISHING THE PAPER

Finishing Your Paper• The outline format is not OPTIONAL. It is MANDATORY to

include 3 supports and 2 examples per support. You also needed to have AT LEAST 2 direct quotes. Paragraphs missing these things are considered incomplete due to inadequate evidence. Please make sure you FINISH your paper. The last thing you want is to lose points due to poor effort.

ABOUT HALF of the papers I read were incomplete and did not hit ALL of the requirements of the paper.

Finishing your Paper• Things that were left out in INCOMPLETE PAPERS• Missing Introductory Paragraph• Missing Supports• Missing Examples• Missing Paragraphs• Missing Analysis• Missing Quotes• Missing Conclusion

• Works Cited

• MAKE SURE YOU START EARLY AND GIVE YOURSELF TIME TO FINISH THE PAPER! DON’T BE LAZY!

Finishing Your Paper• Unless, of course, this happens:

Can’t type my paper. My cat won’t let me. Guess I’ll have to handwri… oh.

Writing Conventions to Avoid• Fix the following errors in writing conventions:• NO Contractions

• Don’t, can’t, they’re, doesn’t, wouldn’t, etc.

• AVOID “I” “You” and “We”• “I believe that Caesar is the hero of the story…”• “We will consider three supporting arguments for this”

• AVOID Questions• “This is what one of the conspirators says, so who is the real hero?”

• Italicize book titles!• Julius Caesar not “Julius Caesar”

• PROOFREAD

PROOFREAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“During Anthony’s funeral speech, he asks the crows if this act was ambitious.”

Caesar is ambitious? Coolstorybro. I’m a bird. CAWWWWW…

MLASchmoe 1

Joe Schmoe

Mr. Chao

English 9

4 December 2012

• Snazzy Title (No underline, no bold, size 12)

• Times New Roman font, Size 12, Double-spaced, 1-inch margins all the way around, NO EXTRA SPACES AFTER

LINE BREAKS.

• You DO NOT repeat the heading on pages after the first (just put the last name and page number in the upper right)

• DON’T FORGET YOUR WORKS CITED PAGE!!!!!!!!!!

Structure• Most people who had errors in structure didn’t have

completed outlines or didn’t get their outline signed off by me.

What’s more frustrating are the people who had COMPLETED outlines and ignored them!

Structure• Topic Sentence: A hero is someone who is honorable as well as loyal much like

Brutus himself.

• Support (Claim): Brutus follows through with his promises, which is essential for not only a leader, but a hero as well.

• Example (Evidence): Brutus and Cassius made a pact agreeing to both commit suicide by the end of the day if they were not winning the battle: “If we do lose this battle, then is this / The very last time we shall speak together” (V.I.106-7). By the end of the first day of battle Cassius already committed suicide, although Brutus had not yet taken his life.

• Analysis (Reasoning): However, since he made a promise with Cassius he follows through with it and kills himself even though his side has the upper hand in the battle at that point. This selfless devotion to a promise he made to his friend proves his loyalty and heroism.

Topic Sentences• Because your MAIN IDEA is to prove that BRUTUS OR CAESAR

is the HERO of the story each of your topic sentences should PROVE this by:

1. DEFINING WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A HERO (THEME)2. OUTLINING SUPPORTS (Explaining how Brutus or Caesar FIT

this definition)

A hero illustrates how they care and how compassionate they are by the actions that person takes towards others (claim). Caesar does this by giving up his personal things (support 1), doing things for others (support 2), and relating to others (support 3).

Topic Sentences• Positive Examples:

• A hero illustrates how they care and how compassionate they are by the actions that person takes towards others. Caesar does this by giving up his personal things, doing things for others, and relating to others.

• Heroes would do anything for the good of their people, similar to what Brutus did for his people Brutus illustrates this trait by putting his own friendship aside to think of what is best for Rome, by not easily being convinced by others to make vital decisions, and by ending his own life to ensure that others would not have to fight in a battle he caused.

• A hero is one who does things for others by giving up personal things, doing things for his or her people to make them happy, and is kind and respectful to their loved ones.

Topic Sentences• Fix the following Topic sentences so they address the prompt:

• Caesar is power hungry because he is committed.

• The reason I believe Caesar showed us he was a great leader is because he believes greatly in loyalty.

• Caesar had never done anything wrong, not once in the story (for the short part of the story he was in, because of his so called “best friend) does it say he did!

• One of the strongest traits of Julius Caesar was his courage.

Supports• Excellent Supports Statements do THREE things:

1. They present an argument that can be proven2. They SUPPORT your Topic Sentence by clarifying or defining the idea

in question.3. They SUPPORT your MAIN POINT by addressing the prompt

• The best support statements are specific and detailed.

Supports• Effective Supports prove BOTH your claims in your Topic Sentence AND the

overall point of the paper (prompt)

• Main Point: Julius Caesar is the hero of the story

• TS: A hero would put himself or herself into harm’s way in order to save others or stand up and make a change that would result in the best interests of others

• Support #1: Brutus illustrates this characteristic by making a change for Rome, a change that needed to happen because Caesar was becoming uncontrollable while he was in charge.

• Support #2: Brutus looked at his surroundings and realized the path Caesar was taking Rome down and he did not like it.

• Support #3: Odysseus is wise due to his articulation because of the respect and trust it earns him from potential allies

Supports• “Vanilla” Supports• Caesar is generous• Brutus was also honorable by being dependable• Julius Caesar is a good leader• Brutus is honorable

Spice it up?

Weak Claims• Make sure that you are actually making CLAIMS about the text

and not just pointing to EXAMPLES

• The first time Caesar sheds light to his arrogance is when he is at a party

• Caesar is also Brutus’ best friend.

• The people were sad, but then became happy when Anthony told them about the will

Specific vs. Non-specific Examples• Make sure that all of your examples are SPECIFIC• Specific Examples utilize TEXTUAL EVIDENCE to SHOW rather than

TELL

• Caesar stood up for what was right, regardless of how powerful “The Great Pompey” was.

• Caesar said that he was constant in the senate.

• Brutus made a promise with Cassius that they would kill themselves if they were going to lose.

Quotes• When using quotes, you should need to do the following IN

ORDER:

1. Introduce the quote with SPEAKER and CONTEXT• A note about context: Your reader should be able to find where in

the book the quote occurs BEFORE reading the quote.

2. Provide the quote.3. Properly CITE the quote.4. Summarize the quote

• This means you need to translate or paraphrase what the character is saying. Remember, you have to pretend as if your reader hasn’t read the book!

5. Explain how the quote proves your point.

Quotes

Rules of thumb:• NEVER start a sentence with a quote without introducing it

first. • Explain where in the plot it occurs (Context) and who is speaking

(SPEAKER)• NEVER end a sentence with a quote without explaining it.• Don’t QUOTE AND RUN

Using ANALYSIS• What is Analysis?

• Analysis is YOUR PERSONAL INSIGHT into what the book has to say about a given topic. Analysis often follows TEXTUAL EVIDENCE in the form of explaining significance. Strong Papers follow up examples with analysis of how those examples PROVE THE ARGUMENTS THAT THEY MADE IN THE SUPPORTS.

• Where do I include analysis?• After breaking down an example from the text. It’s important to use

analysis because otherwise the example might not fit with your argument.

• Why include Analysis?• Without Analysis, your examples do nothing else beside summarize

the plot. With analysis, your paper shows your thinking and demonstrates how YOU read the text.

Quote Examples• Argument: Brutus was open to risking his life for Rome, and he

trusted Cassius with his arrogant plan.

• Quote: “Into what dangers would you lead me Cassius, that you would

have me seek into myself / For that which is not in me” (I.II.63-65). Even

though Brutus knew that he might die in the process, he stil had faith in

the plan and the Conspirators.

Quote Examples• Claim: Marcus Brutus shows his benevolence because he keeps his plans of

killing Julius Caesar a secret from his wife, Portia, to protect her.

• Quote: When Brutus tells Portia how dear she is to him, she replies with, “If this were

true, then should know this secret. / I grant I am a woman, but withal / A woman that

Lord Brutus took to wife” (II.I.314-316). In response Portia’s comment, Brutus says, “O

you gods, / Render me worthy of this noble wife! […] Portia, go, in awhile, / And by and

by thy bosom shall partake / The secrets of my heart” (II.I.326-330). In this scene,

Portia begs Brutus to tell her his secrets and Brutus agrees to telling his wife, but at a

later time. This dialogue between Brutus and Portia discloses how kindhearted and

well-meaning Brutus is because he is willing to keep such an important secret from his

honorable wife to protect her, no matter how much his heart aches to do so.

Concluding Paragraph• Did you Restate Thesis?• Did you use one of the strategies from “Things to Do in a Concluding

Paragraph?”

• Use a Quote• Ask a Question• Connect to Today• Universalize• Suggest a Practical Application• Provide a Warning• Call to Action• Paint a Vivid Picture

• Did you leave your reader with something to think about?