CXC ENGLISH

Hello there, students. We continue working on Julius Caesar this week, and we have a comprehension passage to challenge your English A skills. Read on, and enjoy!

English B—Julius Caesar Remember, if you are struggling with Shakespeare’s language, you can read a modern version of the play at this website:

http://nfs.sparknotes.com/juliuscaesar/

When you get the gist of the play, you can return to the original version and enjoy the splendid way that Shakespeare expresses things.

Points to look for in Act 1 Scene 1 The play gets off to a lively start with the rambunctious cobbler making cheeky and sexual jokes and being disrespectful to the two tribunes. We gather that the workmen are enjoying a holiday to celebrate Caesar’s victorious return, but Flavius and Marullus are not pleased: they feel that Caesar is too ambitious and needs to have some feathers pulled from his wings! They drive the workmen off and set about removing the decorations from the statues—an action that will later result in their being exiled.

Scene 2 Now we get to see Caesar. He seems a very powerful person because everyone is anxious to obey his commands. He arranges for Mark Antony to touch Calpurnia at the games in the hope that she will then become pregnant, so it is clear that Caesar likes Mark Antony. Caesar seems unmoved by the predictions from the soothsayer that something dreadful will happen on the Ides of March, so we see that he is very self-confident. As Caesar and his large following leave the stage Brutus and Cassius remain. Notice that the noisy, busy scene changes to one of secrecy and suspicion. Cassius presents Brutus with arguments to show that Caesar has no right to be superior to others, and urges him to join with the conspirators.

As the two men are talking, shouts can be heard from off stage. Of course Brutus and Cassius do not know what is happening over at the games. Soon Caesar and company return, and it is clear that something has annoyed Caesar. Again we sense how powerful he is because all his followers look like schoolchildren who have been scolded.

The procession leaves, but Cassius pulls Casca aside and asks him what the shouting had been about. Casca explains that Mark Antony (again we see this man’s close relationship with Caesar) three times publicly offered a crown to Caesar. Much to the delight of the crowd, Caesar put the crown aside each time, but Casca hints that he did so reluctantly. Caesar then fainted (or had a fit) when he realized that the crowd did not accept him as king, and after some more attempts to win over the crowd, he left—very angry, as we have seen.

With this new information about Caesar, Brutus is willing to think about joining the conspirators, but Cassius wants to force his hand: he says he will write forged letters to Brutus purporting to have come from various citizens and throw them in at Brutus’s windows. Maybe Brutus will be moved to action by public opinion.

Notice that Cassius is not totally ethical in his methods. Notice, too, that his motive for wanting to assassinate Caesar is one of personal envy whereas Brutus is concerned about the public good.

Scene 3 Notice that the supernatural plays an important part in the play. We have met the fortune teller, and now Cicero and Casca (and later, Casca and Cassius) talk about strange signs in the heavens and on earth. The message we get is that there is disorder in every part of Nature because of the plot against Caesar. Cassius uses the opportunity to win over Casca to the conspiracy. When Cinna turns up (he is already one of the conspirators) Cassius gives him the job of delivering the forged letters to Brutus. Notice that as the conspiracy grows in strength, the signs in the heavens warn that things may not turn out well.

For You To Do Make a list of important things that the audience learnt in Act 1 about the characters and their conflicts. Next week we will give you our list so that you can check to see how accurate you were.

Being a Good Reporter A The man said that he had taken the photographs.

Look at Sentence A. What were the exact words that the man said? His words must have been: “I took the photographs.” B The man said, “I took the photographs.”

Sentence B uses direct speech—the exact words that the man said. Sentence A uses reported speech—someone else’s report on what the man said.

All of the sentences below are in direct speech like sentence B. Put them all into indirect speech like sentence A. 1. “I sang at the wedding,” boasted the doctor. 2. “I wrote the letter,” confessed the spy. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

ANSWERS

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Reading With Comprehension. Read the following passage, and then answer the questions that follow it. “Blackpool is a famous seaside resort in England. Priestley chooses to describe the town as it looks in winter rather than as it looks in the tourist season).

Blackpool has a comparatively long season, but it does not include November. November is dead out of season. The great roaring spangled beast is hibernating. I came into the town near the South Shore, where the enormous amusement park, with its terrifying coasters and other fantastic idiocies, was submitting silently to the wind and the rain. As I intended to put up for the night at the other end of the town, I sent the car and my luggage along the length of promenade ahead of me and got out and walked. I realized then that no genuine fresh air had come my way for days. I had been living on stuff that had been used over and over again, thick warmed-up trash. Here there was air. It blew in great salty gusts. Within five minutes I felt half drunk. I was sober enough, however, to notice that Blackpool was deserted or asleep. Its bravery was very tawdry, after being neglected only a week or two in that Atlantic weather. They had all gone, the fiddlers, fortune-tellers, pierrots, cheapjacks, waiters and sellers of peppermint and pineapple rock. The three piers had done with frivolity for this year and were now engaged in their proper stern task of holding up against the dark raging sea. There was only a glimmer of light from the famous tower, and the great wheel was gone forever. Nobody was suggesting a nice hour’s sail. I was not asked to buy anything along the whole length of the promenade. Blackpool the resort was dead, and even the residential town, which is of a considerable size, was moribund. Only the weather was awake, and that was tremendously alive. The sea roared in the deep dusk and sent sheets of spray over the glistening wet railings and seats. (J.B. Priestley—English Journey)

1. Identify THREE features of Blackpool in the summer time 2. Identify THREE features of Blackpool in the winter time

3. “The great roaring spangled beast is hibernating.” Identify and explain the figure of speech used here.

4.

Find FOUR descriptive details from the rest of the passage that show what Priestley means by “the great roaring spangled beast”.

How does Priestley describe the air he has been breathing before coming to Blackpool? Explain why the air was like that.

6. Give synonyms for all the words in bold type. 7. The writer says he was drunk. What had made him drunk?

ANSWERS

Reading With Comprehension. 1. Amusement park features including the great wheel, vendors, sailing trips.

2. Absence of people, harsh weather, rough sea.

3. Metaphor comparing the town to a circus animal (spangled). Suggests that during summer the town was alive, noisy, wild, gaudily decorated.

4. Details: the entertainers, the vendors, the great wheel, the sailing trips

5. He describes the air as “stuff that had been used over and over again, thick warmed-up trash.” Apparently he had come from an industrial centre with air pollution.

6. “I swore to hound the enemy,” asserted the terrorist leader. “We struck a blow for liberty,” shouted the freedom fighters. “I rode my sister’s bicycle,” admitted the teenager. “We sank the enemy ships,” rejoiced the pirates. “I swam the distance in less than two minutes,” insisted the contestant. “I spoke to the boy’s parents,” explained the headmaster. “I tore my new dress,” sobbed the little girl. The doctor boasted that he had sung at the wedding. The spy confessed that he had written the letter. The terrorist leader asserted that he had sworn to hound the enemy. The freedom fighters shouted that they had struck a blow for liberty. The teenager admitted that she had ridden her sister’s bicycle. The pirates rejoiced that they had sunk the enemy ships. The contestant insisted that she had swum the distance in less than two minutes. The headmaster explained that he had spoken to the boy’s parents. The little girl sobbed that she had torn her new dress.

comparatively—compared to other towns, hibernating—sleeping through the winter’ deserted—abandoned, frivolity—superficiality, silliness, engaged—busy with/occupied, moribund—dying, glistening—shining

The fresh air makes him feel light-headed.