Reference no: EM133287481

Assignment:

Overall Question: What makes Mark Antony's funeral speech so politically effective?

Act three, scene 2 is a climatic moment in Julius Caesar. Caesar has been assassinated by the conspirators, and Rome's political stability hangs in the balance. At Caesar's funeral, Brutus, one of Rome's most respected statesmen, tries to explain and justify the assassination. Mark Antony, a loyal ally of Caesar, having received Brutus's permission to speak after him has other plans. Antony hopes to move the crowd against the conspirators, but he must do so carefully--at least at first. He doesn't want to immediately arouse the suspicions of the conspirators, who already don't trust him.

1.) How does Antony pull off this trick?

2.) How does he use language in ways that sway the crowd against Brutus and the conspirators, while repeatedly praising Brutus?

3.) If Brutus relies on logos in his funeral speech, to what extent does Antony rely on pathos?

4.) How does Antony effectively use repetition or rhetorical questions? How does he appeal to the Roman public's sense of loyalty, or guilt?

5.) How does Antony present himself as someone who's speaking from the heart and not from partisan politics?

6.) How is the speech effectively crafty, or craftily effective?