Unit Overview
Essential Question:
How is rhetoric used to uphold tyrants or incite rebellion?
DAY 1 - SEED 1
DAY 2 - SEED 2
DAY 3–5 - SEED 3
DAY 6-10 - SEED 4
Day 11-12 - SEED 5
Day 13-15 - PLAN 1
Day 18-20 - PLAN 2
Day 21-23 - SEED 6
Day 24-25 - SEED 7
CCSS Standards for this Unit
Monitoring Templates
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Lesson seeds are ideas that can be used to build a lesson aligned to the CCSS. Lesson seeds are not meant to be all-inclusive, nor are they substitutes for instruction. When developing lessons from these seeds, teachers must consider the needs of all learners. It is also important to build checkpoints into the lessons where appropriate formative assessment will inform a teachers instructional pacing and delivery.
This unit is a study of how rhetoric is used to uphold tyrants or insight rebellion. Using William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, students are challenged to understand and apply the persuasive effect of language and rhetoric on an audience. Through analysis of key moments in each act, students develop a more extensive appreciation of language and its power. The activities require students to go beyond translation and paraphrase to analyze the complexities of the play. The unit begins with an introduction to rhetoric through commercials which also builds students capacity for media literacy. Throughout their reading, students examine figurative language, portents, characterization, and rhetoric. For the final act, students are required to create their own rhetorically persuasive political ad advocating for Brutus or Mark Anthony’s rule. The final lesson is a close read of an excerpt from Machiavelli’s the Prince.
TEXT MODELS FOR LESSONS AND LESSON SEEDS
IMPORTANT NOTE: Consider the need for Accessible Instructional Materials (AIM) and/or for captioned/described video when selecting texts, novels, video and/or other media for this unit. See “Sources for Accessible Media” for suggestions at http://marylandlearninglinks.org/
Interdisciplinary Connections
Additional Resources
