Excerpt from "The Tragedy of Julius Caesar"

"Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears." And try to keep your eyes dry when you read this list of words spoken at the funeral of Julius Caesar (based on William Shakespeare's dramatized version of history).

Here are all the word lists to support the reading of Grade 10 Unit 4's texts from SpringBoard's Common Core ELA series: Romeo and Juliet, A Sport of Nature, Julius Caesar, Les Miserables, Oedipus Rex, Antigone
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. praise
    express approval of
    I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.
  2. inter
    place in a grave or tomb
    The evil that men do lives after them;
    The good is often interred with their bones.
  3. ambitious
    having a strong desire for success or achievement
    The noble Brutus
    Hath told you Caesar was ambitious.
  4. grievous
    causing fear or anxiety by threatening great harm
    If it were so, it was a grievous fault.
  5. honorable
    not disposed to cheat or defraud
    But Brutus says he was ambitious,
    And Brutus is an honorable man.
  6. coffer
    the funds of a government, institution, or individual
    He hath brought many captives home to Rome,
    Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill.
  7. stern
    not able to yield, relent, or forgive
    When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept;
    Ambition should be made of sterner stuff.
  8. thrice
    three times
    You all did see that on the Lupercal
    I thrice presented him a kingly crown,
    Which he did thrice refuse.
  9. mourn
    express grief after the death of a loved one
    What cause withholds you, then, to mourn for him?
  10. brutish
    resembling a beast; showing lack of human sensibility
    O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
    And men have lost their reason.
  11. pause
    stop an action temporarily
    Bear with me;
    My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar,
    And I must pause till it come back to me.
  12. prepare
    make ready or suitable or equip in advance
    If you have tears, prepare to shed them now.
  13. rent
    the act of ripping or splitting something
    See what a rent the envious Casca made.
  14. vanquish
    defeat in a competition, race, or conflict
    This was the most unkindest cut of all.
    For when the noble Caesar saw him stab,
    Ingratitude, more strong than traitors' arms,
    Quite vanquished him.
  15. treason
    an act of deliberate betrayal
    Then I, and you, and all of us fell down,
    Whilst bloody treason flourished over us.
Created on Wed Oct 15 11:27:08 EDT 2014 (updated Wed Oct 15 15:47:17 EDT 2014)

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