Lesson video

Hello and welcome to the Oak National Academy for English.

My name is Mr. James, and we're continuing with our lessons on Julius Caesar.

Now as I told you last lesson, these two lessons that we're doing are my favourite in the whole play.

So, it's the second lesson on Mark Antony's speech to the citizens of Rome.

But before we get going, let's have a look at what we're going to learn in today's lesson.

So, first of all, we're going to learn about repetition.

Second of all, we're going to learn about rhetoric.

Thirdly, we're going to read the text.

Fourth, we will answer some questions on the text.

And number five, as always, we're going to complete a quiz.

But before we do any of that, we need to make sure you have the correct equipment.

So if you're missing a pen, some paper, or your brain, please pause the video now, go and get them, and come back when you are ready.

Okay, welcome back.

So now you have your equipment.

The first thing I would like you to do is write the title of today's lesson on your paper, So do that now, pause the video, and come back when you're finished.

So, as I've already said, we're going to begin today's lesson by looking at repetition.

Now, as always, we're just going to recap persuasion.

persuasion is about trying to get people to change what they think or how they behave in a way that you would like them to.

Now we've already looked at rhetorical questions, which are an example of persuasion, and emotive language, which is another example of persuasion.

But today, we're going to look at repetition and how repeating things can be used to persuade people.

So, repetition is a word, phrase, or a full sentence that is repeated.

Now it could be repeated throughout a speech, throughout part of a text, throughout the poem even.

But repetition is when something is repeated more than once or a few times throughout part of a text, and it is used to emphasise that an idea is significant.

Emphasise that an idea is significant means show that an idea is important.

Okay.

So let's have a look at an example.

In his speech, Antony often repeats that Brutus is an honourable man, and we're going to see that later in today's lesson.

Now it's difficult for me to actually show you an example right now of repetition because it usually involves looking at quite a lengthy piece of text.

So we're not going to look at an example from a different text right now, but we're going to remember what repetition is, and we're going to make sure we're thinking about it when we're examining today's extract from Julius Caesar.

But before we move on, we do want to make sure we know what repetition is and can remember what it means.

So pause the video now, copy and complete the sentences, filling in the gaps.

And when you're done, return to I can give you the answers.

Off you go.

Okay, welcome back.

So let's have a look at what you should have written, and hopefully you wrote this.

Repetition is a word, phrase, or full sentence that is repeated.

It is used to emphasise that an idea is significant.

And remember, that means to show it is important.

I'm sure you did really well on that, and we're going to come back to repetition later in the lesson.

Now we're going to have a look at this word, rhetoric.

Now, sometimes people mispronounce rhetoric as rhetoric.

And occasionally we might say that, but usually we're talking about rhetoric.

Okay.

So rhetoric is the skill of using speech effectively.

So if you're skillful your speech, you could say you're good at rhetoric.

If you refer to someone's speech as rhetoric, however, you also might be saying you disapprove of it because it is persuasive but not sincere or honest.

So there's two meanings that we need to be aware of of rhetoric.

One is that you use speech very skillfully to persuade people, and that's a good thing, but sometimes if people are saying you've used rhetoric they might be suggesting that you've managed to persuade people only because you spoke well, but not necessarily because your ideas were good or genuine.

You perhaps we're trying to manipulate them dishonestly using speech, rather than good ideas.

So I want you to tell me, which two of these are examples of rhetoric? I'm going to read through them, then we're going to decide or you're going to decide which two are correct.

So number one says someone gives a persuasive speech on a subject they're very passionate about.

Could that be an example of rhetoric? Number two.

When someone talks to you about something they enjoy, is that an example of rhetoric? Number three.

When someone tries to manipulate you by using skillful speech, could that be an example of rhetoric? Or number four.

When someone tells you a lie, could that be an example of rhetoric? So I want you to think about this now.

I'm going to give you about 10 seconds.

Think about which two you think are correct.

Then I'm going to tell you the correct answers.

Okay, so hopefully you have made your choices now, and let's have a look at which two are correct.

Well, the correct answers are one and three.

Yeah, someone gives a persuasive speech about something they're very passionate about.

That would be the example of rhetoric that's good.

They skillfully give a speech about something they're passionate about, but the bad type of rhetoric would be someone tried to manipulate you by using skillful speech.

That's a bad kind of rhetoric.

So one and three.

Now let's have a look at some of the things we have learned in this lesson.

So, repetition is a word, or phrase, or sentence that is repeated.

Is that true or false? You've got five seconds to make up your mind.

Okay, what did you choose? Well, the answer is true.

Repetition is a word, phrase, or sentence that has been repeated.

Well done.

What about this? Repetition shows an idea is significant.

Is that true or false? Five seconds.

And that is true.

Repetition does show that idea is significant.

I'm sure you did that well.

What about this one? Rhetoric is a skillful use of speech.

Rhetoric is speech that is skillful but dishonest.

We've got two sentences there, one and two.

Which sentence is correct? is sentence one correct? Is sentence two correct? Or are both sentences correct? Or perhaps neither sentence is correct? So there's a bit more information here.

you need to read both sentences and choose the option below.

Do you think one is correct, two is correct, both or neither? I'm going to give you a few seconds to make your choice.

Okay, so hopefully you made a choice, and the correct answer is they are both correct.

Yes, rhetoric is the skillful use of speech and rhetoric is speech that is skillful but dishonest.

Both those things are correct.

So what I would now like you to do is copy and complete these sentences about rhetoric, in the same way you did for repetition.

When you're finished, unpause the video, come back to me, and we'll go through the answers.

Off you go.

Okay, welcome back.

So let's have a look at how you did.

Well, hopefully you got this.

Rhetoric is a skill of using speech effectively.

And secondly, hopefully you said, if you refer to someone's speech or the rhetoric, you disapprove of it, because it is persuasive, but not sincere or honest.

And if you've got both of those answers correct, I'll be really impressed because that one is a little bit more difficult.

So it's now time to have a look at the play.

And we've learned about rhetoric, we've learned about repetition, and we're going to use both those concepts as we talk about today's extract.

Now, before we do, what I would like you to do is fill in the gaps in these sentences.

We went through the last lesson.

It's simply about what happened in today's scene.

So I'd like you to pause the video, write the sentences out, fill in the gaps, and come back to me when you are done.

Off you go.

Okay, welcome back.

So let's have a look at how you did.

Well, number one should say Antony speaks to the citizens.

Remember Brutus has already spoken to them.

Secondly, he praises Caesar.

Thirdly, he doubts that Caesar is ambitious.

Number four, he questioned Brutus' honour.

And number five, he turns the citizens against Brutus.

And we're going to be focused particularly on how he questions Brutus' honour today.

Now usually, what we would do is we would read through the passage together or I would read through the passage with you, but today I'm going to do it slightly differently.

What you're going to see is me performing this scene.

Now, I'm not going to dress up as Mark Antony and get on stage and do it, but you'll see me performing Antony's speech to the camera.

And the reason we're going to do it this way is because what I really want you to think about is how Antony makes Brutus sound dishonourable or how does he question Brutus' honour.

Now when you just look at this speech on the page, it's actually quite difficult to work that out.

So I want you to pay attention to how I'm delivering the scene, and pay attention in particular to how the way I deliver the speech shows that Antony thinks Brutus isn't honourable and is really dishonourable.

friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.

I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.

The evil that men do lives after them.

The good is oft interred with their bones.

So let it be with Caesar.

The noble Brutus have told you Caesar was ambitious.

If it was so, it was a grievous fault, and grievously has Caesar answered it.

Under leave of Brutus and the rest, for Brutus is an honourable man, so are hey all, all honourable men.

Come I to speak in Caesar's funeral.

He was my friend, faithful and just to me: But Brutus says he was ambitious, and Brutus is an honourable man.

He has brought many captives home to Rome whose ransoms did the general coffers fill.

Did this in Caesar seem ambitious? When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept.

Ambition should be made of sterner stuff, but Brutus says he was ambitious, and Brutus is an honourable man.

You all did see that on the Lupercal I thrice presented him a kingly crown, which thrice he did thrice refuse.

Was this ambition? Yet Brutus says he was ambitious.

And, sure, he is an honourable man.

I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke, but here I am to speak what I do know.

You all did love him once, not without cause.

What cause withholds you then to mourn for him? O judgement , thou art fled to brutish beasts, and men have lost their reason.

Bear with me.

My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar.

And I must pause till it come back to me.

Now, hopefully, my wonderful acting made me seem like this guy, delivering that speech to the citizens of Rome.

More likely, I just looked like I was acting very badly in my living room, but well brush past that.

But hopefully you were thinking about how when I delivered the speech made Brutus seem dishonourable, rather than honourable.

And we're going to have a look at the way Antony did that.

So we're thinking now about how Antony was able to make Brutus seem like he wasn't honourable or dishonourable.

And the first question really quickly.

Does it seem like Antony really believes that Brutus is honourable? Yes or no.

What do you think? Well, hopefully, my acting skills were good enough, and you all think that, no, it doesn't seem like Antony really believes Brutus is honourable.

Well, if that's the case, the next question we need to ask is, so why does Antony keep repeating that Brutus is honourable? Well, Antony keeps repeating that Brutus is honourable because what he wants to suggest is that Brutus' reasons for killing Caesar are bad, and the only reason that people believe Brutus is because they think he's honourable.

So Antony's trying to say to the citizens of Rome actually, if you really think about what Brutus said to you, his reasons for killing Caesar, that Caesar was ambitious, wasn't very good.

And you only believe him because he's got a reputation for being honourable.

But is he really honourable? And were his reasons really honourable? So Antony's trying to disprove that idea to make the citizens think, actually, Brutus' reasons were bad and we shouldn't just believe him because he says or other people say he's honourable.

So here's some examples of how Antony do it.

First, Antony says to the citizens, "He was my friend, faithful and just to me." he saying, "Caesar was my friend faithful and just." So he gives a reason why Brutus was wrong.

Remember Brutus claimed that Caesar was ambitious, but Antony says, "Well, he was my friend and he was faithful to me.

He was honest and just," So he means he was honest and fair.

Well, that doesn't seem like someone who's ambitious and wants power for themselves.

So he gives a reason why Brutus was wrong, and then says, "Well, but Brutus says he was ambitious, so we better believe Brutus because he's honourable.

Even if the reasons don't seem support Brutus, he's honourable so we have to believe him." And then he does it again.

He says he, meanings either, have brought many captives home to Rome, whose ransoms did the general coffers fill.

Did this seem ambitious? So he gives a reason why Caesar wasn't ambitious and well after he came from war, he shared all the loot.

He shared all the money that he gained from war with the people of Rome.

Tat doesn't sound like someone who was ambitious.

And then he gives another reason.

He says, "When the poor have cried, Caesar have wept." Caesar cried with the poor.

He says ambition should be made of sterner stuff.

Well, ambitious people who just want power for themselves, they shouldn't be bothered if the poor people are crying, Why would they be bothered about that? They're only interested in power for themself.

And then he ends by saying, "But, you know, Brutus said he was ambitious, so we better believe him, because Brutus is honourable.

So even though I've now given you two more reasons why Caesar wasn't ambitious, we're just going to have to forget about them because Brutus as he was ambitious, and Brutus is honourable" so Antony is trying to make Brutus seem ridiculous by giving lots of reasons why he's wrong, and then say, "Oh, but we better believe him, because it's Brutus." And then finally, Antony says, "You all did see see on the Lupercal, I thrice presented him a kingly crown, which thrice he did refuse.

So I tried to give him a crown three times to make him king, and three times Caesar said 'No, no, no, I don't want to be king.

'" And then Antony says, "Was this ambition?" Another rhetorical question.

So he gives yet another reason why Brutus is wrong, and of course he finishes it again by saying, "But you know, we must believe Brutus because the people say that Brutus is honourable." And by now it seems completely ridiculous that we would believe Brutus simply because he's honourable, because we've had so many reasons why Caesar, in fact, wasn't ambitious.

So, Antony is manipulating the crowd and persuading them that Brutus is wrong.

And he keeps repeating this idea that brute is honourable to make it seem like Brutus really isn't honourable.

Well, if Brutus told all these lies, and has all these reasons why Brutus is wrong, it seems ridiculous to keep repeating this idea that he's honourable.

So the repetition of this word honourable makes Brutus sound ridiculous and dishonourable.

So it's quite complicated but very clever, what he's doing.

So, we've got a question here, and it says, why is it strange that Antony keeps repeating that Brutus is honourable? And we've got four quotations that you could use at the top.

It says, when the poor have cried, Caesar have wept.

Another, you all did see that on the Lupercal I thrice presented him the kingly crown, which thrice he did refuse.

We've got a rhetorical question.

Did this in Caesar seem ambitious? Remember we've learned about rhetorical questions in the past.

And then we've got this, I'm sure he is an honourable man, this phrase he keeps repeating that Brutus is an honourable man.

So what I would like you to do now then is answer this question.

Why is it strange that Antony keeps repeating that Brutus is honourable? And say why he's doing it, not only why it's strange.

What's he trying to achieve? What's he trying to make the citizens of Rome think about Brutus.

Now you've got the four quotations at the top that you can use if you want, and there's some vocab on the right to help you write your answer.

And the more of that vocab you can use along the way, the better your answer will be.

So I'm going to give you a few minutes, because this might take a while.

This is quite a long big question.

But think of all the things I've just explained to you about Brutus' reasons, and how he keeps giving reasons, and how he keeps repeating at the end of those reasons that Brutus is honourable to make it sound ridiculous.

And also, think about how I delivered the speech when you saw me do it.

So take a few minutes to answer this question.

Come back when you're done, and we'll go through the kind of thing you might have written.

Off you go.

Okay, welcome back.

So let's have a look at the kind of thing you might have written.

Well, if you've got something like this, I'll be seriously, seriously impressed.

It says, it is strange that Antony keeps repeating that Brutus is honourable because Antony actually wants to suggest that Brutus is not honourable at all.

In fact, Antony is trying to suggest that Brutus' reasons for assassinating Caesar were bad, and that Brutus has been able to get away with it because he has a reputation for being honourable.

Antony does this by giving lots of reasons that challenge Brutus' claim that Caesar was ambitious.

For example, Antony says when the poor have cried, Caesar have wept, and that Caesar did thrice refuse a kingly crown.

After giving a reason against Brutus, so Brutus has claimed that Caesar is ambitious, Antony often uses a rhetorical question, such as, did this in Caesar seem ambitious? He does this, to persuade the citizens to think that, no, Caesar was not actually ambitious.

Finally, Antony repeats that Brutus is honourable until it seems ridiculous to believe Brutus.

The citizens are persuaded.

It is ridiculous because they have heard so many reasons against Brutus's claim that Caesar was ambitious.

Antony cleverly makes Brutus seem dishonourable and a liar without actually saying it.

Instead, he makes the citizens think it for themselves.

Now if you've got anything at all like that, I'll be seriously seriously impressed.

And you can see all these things we've learned over the past few lessons we've brought together in one answer.

We've talked about persuading, reasons.

We've talked about rhetorical questions.

We've talked about repetition.

The only thing we haven't actually talked about is emotive language, and we could have done that as well if we wanted to, but we just don't have enough space here, really.

So if you've got anything like that, great work, well done.

If your answer isn't quite as good as this one, maybe pause the video now, take your pen, and use what's on screen to improve your answer, then come back when you're done.

Off you go.

Okay, so let's move on to the next question.

Now we've got two quotations here from Antony.

One says, "I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him." Remember praise mean say good things about someone.

And he also says, "I speak, not to disprove what Brutus spoke," meaning I'm not here to argue against what Brutus was saying.

I'm not disagreeing with him in any way.

But the question says not everything Antony says is true.

Why are these quotations, why these two quotations not true? So you need to tell me why these two things that Antony says here are actually false.

Okay, so pause the video now, have a go at that question, and come back when you are done, and we'll go through the kind of thing you might have written.

Okay, welcome back.

So let's have a look at the kind of thing you might have written for your answer.

Well, hopefully, you wrote something along the lines of this.

Neither of these quotations are true.

In the first quotation, Antony claims he is not going to praise Caesar, because he doesn't want the citizens to think he is going to try and persuade them into changing their minds about Caesar, but that's exactly what he's just about to do.

In the second quotation, he claims he's not trying to disprove anything Brutus has said.

But again, that's exactly what he has just done.

He begins by saying, "I'm not going to praise Caesar," and then he goes on to praise him.

And then after he's given the main body of his speech, he says, "I'm not trying to disprove what Brutus says," but we know that's exactly what he's just done.

He gave reasons why Brutus' claim that Caesar was ambitious was wrong.

That's exactly what he did, was tried to disprove Brutus.

So hopefully you got that.

If you didn't, you can pause the video now, and update your answer.

Okay then, so let's move on.

And now we're going to go back to rhetoric, and we're just going to remind ourselves what rhetoric is.

We said rhetoric is a skill of using speech effectively, and it's also when you disapprove of someone's speech, because it's persuasive, but not sincere or honest.

Now, the question I want you to think about is this.

Which kind of rhetoric does Antony use in his speech, and why? Does Antony use rhetoric that is, number one, the skill of using speech effectively, or number two, persuasive but not sincere or honest? So I want you to pause the video now, answer this question, giving reasons for what you think is Antony using speech effectively and skillfully, or is he being persuasive but not sincere or honest? Pause the video now, write your answer, give your opinions, and come back to me when you are done.

Okay, welcome back.

So let's have a look at the kind of thing you might have written.

Well, hopefully, you wrote something like this.

I think Antony uses both kinds of rhetoric in his speech.

He mostly uses rhetoric that is skillful speech, because he speaks very well and he believes in what he says.

Remember, he genuinely believes that Cesar shouldn't have been assassinated.

For example, he gives lots of reasons why Brutus is wrong, and he uses rhetorical questions and repetition effectively.

So it's genuine and also skillful, so the good kind of rhetoric.

But then we say, however, some of the things he said are not quite true.

For instance, he claims that he will not praise Caesar or try to disprove Brutus, but he does both things.

This demonstrates he is not being honest or sincere all the time, and sometimes tries to manipulate the Roman citizens.

So most of the time, he's using a good kind of rhetoric, but there are little times where he makes claims that aren't true.

So, hopefully, you got something like that.

If you didn't you can pause the video now and update your answer.

Okay, welcome back.

Now there is just one more thing we're going to do in today's lesson.

I'm going to just quickly think about what happens after Antony delivers his speech.

Because when we looked at it in modern updated English, we looked at how the citizens responded to Antony's speech.

But because we've gone into quite a bit of detail about Antony's speech today, we haven't looked at that.

So, these are the things that happened after Antony spoke to citizen, but they're in the wrong order.

So what I would like you to do is read through them, and then write them out in the correct order on your paper.

Do that now.

Then I'll put them in the correct order for you, and you can see whether you got your answers right or wrong.

Off you go.

Okay, welcome back.

So let's have a look and let's see if you got this right.

Well, the first thing is that the citizens think the speech sounds reasonable.

They're not immediately completely persuaded, but they think what Antony said sounds reasonable.

Then, Antony tells the citizens that he found Caesar's will, and that's the second thing that happens.

The third thing is that the citizens beg Antony to read the will.

After that, Antony shows the citizen Caesar's wounds.

He doesn't bother to read the will.

He just says, "Oh I'll come down and I'll tell you," He goes down, he walks to where Caesar is, and shows them their wounds, completely disregards the will.

Then last but not least, the citizens decide they want revenge against the conspirators.

Seeing what the conspirators have done to Caesars body is the final straw, and they want revenge.

And here you remember here is Antony speaking to the citizens of Rome, showing them the body of Caesar, and he's got the will in his hand.

Then we got this person lifting up the cloak to show them the stab wounds.

So guys, we've come to the end of today's lesson.

You've done really, really, really well.

And as always, I've been really privileged to teach you another lesson about Julius Caesar.

But of course, as always, there is one more thing for me to remind you of, and that final thing is, of course, the quiz.

So click the quiz button down below, so you can see everything you've learned in today's lesson.

Guys, as always, it's been such a pleasure, such a privilege to talk to you about Julius Caesar And we've actually come to the end of act three, which is the end of this unit, which means now is the perfect time for me to remind you that if you would like to, you can go online, and share your work with Oak National on social media.

If you would like to, please ask your parent or carer to share your work on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, tagging @OakNational and #LearnwithOak.

Guys, once again, it's been a real privilege to teach you this unit, and hopefully I'll see you next time for the final acts four and five, the very end of Julius Caesar, so you can find out how the play ends.