Introduction
In 60 BC, three rivals for control of the Roman Republic, Pompey, Crassus and Caesar, formed the Triumvirate, an uneasy alliance. Crassus died in 53 out in Syria. Caesar defeated Pompey in Greece in 48, and Pompey’s sons in Spain in 45. He returned home to popular adoration, and in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar Marullus was disgusted by this celebration of victory for Roman over Roman.
WHEREFORE rejoice? What conquest brings he home?
What tributaries follow him to Rome,
To grace in captive bonds his chariot wheels?
You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things!
O, you hard hearts, you cruel men of Rome,
Knew you not Pompey? Many a time and oft
Have you climb’d up to walls and battlements,
To towers and windows, yea, to chimney-tops,
Your infants in your arms, and there have sat
The live-long day, with patient expectation,
To see great Pompey pass the streets of Rome;
And when you saw his chariot but appear,
Have you not made an universal shout,
That Tiber trembled underneath her banks,
To hear the replication of your sounds,
Made in her concave shores?
And do you now put on your best attire?
And do you now cull out a holiday?
And do you now strew flowers in his way,
That comes in triumph over Pompey’s blood?
Be gone!
Run to your houses, fall upon your knees,
Pray to the gods to intermit the plague
That needs must light on this ingratitude.
Précis
In William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Marullus berated the Roman crowds welcoming Caesar after defeating his rival Pompey. The public were fickle blockheads, he said: Caesar’s only achievement had been to destroy the very man they had worshipped as a hero so recently. The gods punished such treachery with plagues, and they should pray earnestly to be forgiven. (57 / 60 words)
In William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Marullus berated the Roman crowds welcoming Caesar after defeating his rival Pompey. The public were fickle blockheads, he said: Caesar’s only achievement had been to destroy the very man they had worshipped as a hero so recently. The gods punished such treachery with plagues, and they should pray earnestly to be forgiven.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 60 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 50 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: about, although, besides, if, not, otherwise, until, who.
Archive
Word Games
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Battlement. Follow. Well.
2 Blood. Bring. Do.
3 Chimney. Not. Sit.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Verb and Noun Find in Think and Speak
Many words can serve as noun or verb depending on context: see if you can prove this with the examples below. Nouns go well with words such as the/a, or his/her; verbs go well after I/you/he etc..
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Man. 2 Bank. 3 Make. 4 Block. 5 Arm. 6 Run. 7 Light. 8 Wheel. 9 Tower.
Variations: 1.if possible, use your noun in the plural, e.g. cat → cats. 2.use your verb in a past form, e.g. go → went. 3.use your noun in a sentence with one of these words: any, enough, fewer, less, no, some.
Add Vowels Find in Think and Speak
Make words by adding vowels to each group of consonants below. You may add as many vowels as you like before, between or after the consonants, but you may not add any consonants or change the order of those you have been given. See if you can beat our target of common words.
frms (5)
farms. firms. forms. forums. frames.
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