McGuffey's Sixth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson LXI · Part 7: Lessons LXI-LXX: Brutus and Cassius to Hayne
67. The Quarrel of Brutus and Cassius (William Shakespeare)
Goal: Your student reads a famous dramatic quarrel in two voices and explains what divides the two friends and how they make peace.
You'll need
- The book, or the scan beside this guide
- A notebook and pen
- A dictionary
What's in the book
The quarrel scene from Julius Caesar, Act IV, Scene III, between Brutus and Cassius, with notes on the Ides of March, the triumvirate and old words.
The lesson, step by step
Words and meanings
Read the book's notes: the Ides was the 15th of March, May, July and October and the 13th of other months, and Caesar was murdered on the Ides of March, 44 B.C.; indirection means dishonest means; Antony, Octavius and Lepidus formed the triumvirate marching against Brutus and Cassius; Plutus was the god of wealth.
Before reading, find these words in the selection and look up any your student does not know: condemned, bribes, chides.
Read it aloud
Two readers take the parts. Cassius begins:
That you have wronged me doth appear in this:
You have condemned and noted Lucius Pella
For taking bribes here of the Sardians;
Brutus answers him later:
There is no terror, Cassius, in your threats;
Talk about it
SayWhat is Cassius angry about at the start? What does Brutus accuse him of in return?
SayWhy does Brutus remind Cassius of the Ides of March?
SayWhich of the two is more in the right? Find a line to support your answer.
SayHow do they make peace at the end? Read Brutus's last lines again.
Tell it back
Your student tells the quarrel as a story: the cause, the rising anger, and the reconciliation.
Copywork and memory
Copy and learn:
When you are over-earnest with your Brutus,
He'll think your mother chides, and leave you so.
Afterwards
Read the scene again as a play, with two readers, standing.
Tip
Long and rich. Two days is about right.