(All of the following activities are easily adaptable to any age group.)

Brainstorming List

Have students list power-hungry characters from popular fiction, films, television, and comic books. Based on the list, have students generalize and discuss the characters' personalities.

Role Playing

Have students discuss or role-play following situations:

• A friend is trying to persuade you to do something that is both dangerous and illegal--to drive without a license. Your friend says he has to take care of an emergency, and he knows you can drive, even though you are not allowed to do so legally. What will you do? What will you tell your friend?

• A good friend of yours has been made hall monitor (or other school position of authority). Soon, you notice that he or she is taking advantage of the position by telling other students what to do and choosing which students can have special breaks. How would you deal with this situation? Would you tell the teacher? Would you try to persuade your friend to behave differently?

You Dirty, Rotten . . .

Tell students that they have been hired to do public relations work for either Brutus and Cassius or Antony and Octavius. Tell students to conduct a “negative” ad campaign criticizing their opponents. Small groups of students can create radio spots that advertise their point of view and exaggerate their opponents’ flaws. Encourage students to work together on writing the scripts for their radio spots. Have the groups rehearse their negative ads before presenting them to the class.

Press Conference

Have a group of students stage a press conference that takes place shortly after Caesar's death. The “reporters” should have their questions written down ahead of time to ask the students who play the roles of Brutus, Antony, and Cassius. These questions should focus on the key events in the play, as well as the characters’ intentions.

Who’s In What Faction?

Cast one student as Caesar, and three to five others as his supporters. Have the remaining students portray senators of Rome. As these senators walk past Caesar and his friends, establish the “given circumstances”: some of the senators are friends of Caesar and others are conspiring against him. How can Caesar and his supporters tell who’s friendly and who’s not? The participants are not allowed to touch or talk to each other. They must communicate their feelings through body language, facial expression, etc.—they can linger, even circle each other, but they cannot touch or talk. You should continually coach from the side. Points you may with to discuss include the importance of concentration; the action/reaction dynamic; the notion of living truthfully under imaginary circumstances; and using emotional memory as a trigger for substitution.

Julius Caesar in the Comics

Have students draw a comic book illustration of Julius Caesar using “thumbprint” characters. They may use unlined paper and black ink or colored pencils for their illustrations, as well as top bars to advance action and balloons for dialogue.

A Roman Alphabet Book

Have students prepare an alphabet of terms, etc., that have to do with Julius Caesar. They must use each letter of the alphabet from A to Z. In order to receive maximum points, the alphabet must be in dictionary form—definitions for the word, phonetic spellings, part of speech, and an illustration for each entry.

Analyze This!

From an online exercise by Sheryl Lee Hinman, English /journalism instructor, Galesburg High School

1. Have the students read Act 3, then instruct each student to pick one conspirator to psychoanalyze: What type of personality does the conspirator have? What are his motives? Etc. (They can look back at Acts 1 and 2, if they’re so inclined.)

2. Now what? Before reading the rest of the play, have the students predict behavior of their characters. Which ones will emerge as leaders? What regrets will surface? What flaws will contribute to the tragedy?

Politics, Patriotism, and Protest Opinionnaire

From the NCTE Online Discussion Group

1. In light of the 2000 presidential election controversy, have the students mark “Agree” or “Disagree” for each of the following statements, before reading the play.

a. It is never right to kill another person.

b. Political leaders usually act in the best interests of their countries.

c. If a political leader has done something wrong, it is all right to get rid of him or her by whatever means necessary.

d. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

e. In certain situations it may be justified for a political leader to bend or break the law for the good of the country.

f. People should never compromise their ideals or beliefs.

g. My country right or wrong is not just a slogan; it is every citizen’s patriotic duty.

h. No cause, political or otherwise, is worth dying for.

i. Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant taste of death but once.

j. The evil that men do lives after them; the good is [often buried] with their bones.

2. Now, have the students read the play and answer the questions again. Discuss any changes. Are the answers dependent on the country and period of history? the character? the motivation?

What If Brutus . . . ?

The following questions all focus on Brutus and are designed to take his character out of context of the play and put him in new situations. Read each of the following statements and circle the letter that best completes the statement in terms of what you think would fit the character of Brutus. Be prepared to defend your answers with reasoning based on evidence from the play.

1. If Brutus had been a general in Adolf Hitler's Secret Service, he would have
A. waited until the right opportunity and then shot Hitler.
B. hired someone to assassinate Hitler.
C. worked to overthrow Hitler.
D. praised Hitler.

2. If Brutus were at a baseball game, he would
A. be a pitcher
B. be an umpire.
C. sit quietly and enjoy the game.
D. sit near the opposing team's dugout and harass players, coaches, and umpires.

3. If people started a campaign today to elect Brutus president, he would
A. pretend that he didn't want to run.
B. try to talk them into running a better candidate.
C. make deals with other political leaders to make sure that he won the election.
D. refuse to run.

4. Today if Brutus were at a large family picnic, he would most likely
A. go off by himself, sit under a tree, and read a book.
B. organize and participate in contests and games.
C. stand around and sulk until someone asked him to participate in the activities.
D. have long talks with anyone who might give the family a bad name.

5. Brutus would most admire
A. George Washington.
B. General George Patton.
C. Jack the Ripper.
D. the Beatles.

6. In school Brutus's favorite course would be
A. philosophy.
B. English.
C. political science.
D. speech.

7. If Brutus were alive today, he would most likely live
A. in a mansion.
B. in a monastery.
C. in an apartment.
D. on a farm.

8. Brutus would probably most enjoy a social gathering of . . .