B r u t u s ’ S p e e c h a t J u l i u s C a e s a r ’ s F u n e r a l P a g e

Lesson Plan Based On Movie Clips

Brutus’ Speech at Julius Caesar’s Funeral

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wM6X-8dokRE

All the dramas written by Shakespeare have had a great appeal in the field of English language and literature since ages. They are widely used in schools and colleges across the world for the same. They have become quite resourceful to the English researchers, teachers and students in terms of learning a refined English language besides relishing the taste of drama and poetry. Films and videos based on Shakespearean dramas, for example, are very effective ways of both motivating the students and helping them to understand and learn English language. However, they do need to be used with care and an understanding of some of the potential dangers involved at this advanced stage of information and technology. Here we deal with the use of movie clip from a Shakespearean play/movie named “Julius Caesar” to learn and understand English language with various learning skills involved.

Procedure:

I. Preparation by Teacher:1. View the movie clip – for class 102. Identify the exact portion to be viewed – Brutus’ Speech at Julius Caesar’s

Funeral from the movie “Julius Caesar” from Act III Scene II of the original play.

3. Caution:i. Regarding scene – teacher needs to view the clip at least twice before

actually showing it to the students to make sure that there are no offensive scenes in the clip.

ii. Language – make sure that the language of the movie clip is not offensive or objectionable.

iii. Time – 4:58 Minutes.

B r u t u s ’ S p e e c h a t J u l i u s C a e s a r ’ s F u n e r a l P a g e

iv. Technical assistance to be checked and arranged – teacher will contact the lab technician and ask him/her to prepare the viewing of the movie clip in the AV room well before hand.

II. Objectives:1. Students will be provided with an excellent example of public speech

transposed to the movie “Julius Caesar”. The movie clip will provide opportunities for listening, oral and writing projects that can sharpen research and listening, speaking and writing skills.

2. Students will be able to create dialogues as per the characters and situation based on the movie clip “Brutus’ Speech at Julius Caesar’s Funeral”.

3. Students will be able to comprehend the ideas and thoughts of Brutus as well as the civilians communicated through the clip “Brutus’ Speech at Julius Caesar’s Funeral”.

4. Students will be able to review or critique the clip “Brutus’ Speech at Julius Caesar’s Funeral”.

5. Students will be able to relate costumes, language, accent, behavior and mood of the crowd, etc. of the Roman society through the clip “Brutus’ Speech at Julius Caesar’s Funeral”.

6. Students will be able to compare and contrast the English language pattern of the movie clip with the present day English language.

7. Students will be able to comprehend the ideas of the writer, William Shakespeare, through the movie clip “Brutus’ Speech at Julius Caesar’s Funeral”.

III. Steps:1. Instructions:

i. Teacher will show the movie clip to the students and monitor the whole proceeding which follows review and criticism, question – answer, new ideas and thoughts of students, etc.

ii. Students of 10th standard will be shown the movie clip “Brutus’ Speech at Julius Caesar’s Funeral”. This is an abstract from one of Shakespeare’s plays, “Julius Caesar”.

iii. Teacher will show the movie clip to the students twice for a better comprehension in terms of language and setting.

iv. Students are supposed to pay attention to the characters, for example, Brutus, Antonio, Roman Civilians, etc.

v. Students should pay a greater attention to the dialogue delivery, language and accent of the characters, especially that of Brutus.

vi. Students should grasp the context upon viewing the movie clip.

B r u t u s ’ S p e e c h a t J u l i u s C a e s a r ’ s F u n e r a l P a g e

vii. After viewing the movie clip students will be asked to review and critique it.

viii. Students will be divided into groups of 4 students for discussion on the movie clip.

ix. After viewing the movie clip students will be given some time to recollect the scene, setting, dialogue, characters, costumes, etc. of the movie clip.

x. The students will be discussing the above mentioned points of the movie clip in the respective groups for 10 minutes.

xi. Students will be given 5 minutes each for the presentation of their views and comments on the movie clip to the whole class for a better comprehension and understanding of the movie clip.

2. Points/Questions to be discussed:i. Who are the main characters in the movie clip “Brutus’ Speech at

Julius Caesar’s Funeral”?ii. Who is the leading character in the movie clip?

iii. What is the scene or occasion on which the movie clip is based?iv. What is the matter of speech or dialogue the main character and

civilians engage in?v. How do you describe the mood of the scene of the movie clip?

vi. Characteristics of the characters.vii. Can you put your own dialogues or speech in the place of the original

one?

3. Tasks for Students:i. Getting students role-play the movie clip will be a real fun along with

motivation and learning:a. Run through the movie clip once or twice with the whole class

to get the gist and understand setting.b. Students, in their own respective groups, will prepare a role

play, wherein each will be assigned the roles of Brutus, Antonio, and civilians. The students can be as creative and imaginative as possible in terms of formulating dialogues, acting and creating scenes.

c. Students will practice their roles, using their scripts in their respective groups. Then they will perform without scripts.

d. Students not keen on role-play can be directors/prompters with the whole script.

e. Students will be given 10-15 minutes for preparation.ii. Another task could be to predict language:

B r u t u s ’ S p e e c h a t J u l i u s C a e s a r ’ s F u n e r a l P a g e

a. Getting students to predict the language being used can be useful and motivating.

b. Give students the script with key items removed e.g. expressions/verbs/key words/questions.

c. View the movie clip with sound off and students use the visual clues to brainstorm the missing items such as dialogues and background music, etc.

d. View with sound to check predictions and complete. View again if needed.

N.B.: students will be given 7 minutes each to perform their creative play/drama.

IV. Evaluation Criteria: students will be evaluated on the basis of the following criteria. The more they touch upon these points the better their performance will be considered.1. Creative imagination2. New creative ideas and thoughts3. Theme based performance4. Creative dialogue delivery5. Proper use of English Language, clarity, voice modulation and pronunciation6. Acting performance7. Team work8. Overall presentation9. Time management

V. Conclusion: how it will help students to learn English:

The above mentioned movie clip, “Brutus’ Speech at Julius Caesar’s Funeral”, is taken from a movie adaptation of Shakespearean drama titled “Julius Caesar”. The main character of the movie clip is, of course, Brutus. It deals with the speech he delivers at the funeral of the slain Julius Caesar. Upon viewing this movie clip students benefit a lot in terms of learning various English language skills, besides effective presentation of public speaking.

The movie clip provides examples and opportunities to the students for listening, oral and writing skills which will sharpen their knowledge of English language. Students will be able to practice their speaking skill through their own creative dialogues based on the movie clip. Their comprehension of English words, sentences and paragraphs will enhance and they will be able to generate new ideas and thoughts when they do brainstorming after watching the movie clip. Besides, they will also learn to review and critique movie clips and other literary works too. They will also be able to compare between the present day English

B r u t u s ’ S p e e c h a t J u l i u s C a e s a r ’ s F u n e r a l P a g e

language with the classical English of the olden days. Moreover, they will also develop some idea about the thinking pattern of the English writers and dramatists at the same time.