Group+20


 * Minimum Project Requirements: **
 * 5 **//__IN__//** __DEPTH __ discussions with opposing counsel via class network. These discussions must present not only relevant and specific facts from the play, but also from your historical research.
 * Preliminary Draft of Closing Statement entered in your class network. Draft must contain **//__at least 5 detailed paragraphs__//**: 1) Introductory paragraph outlining the overall theme of your case - thesis statement; 2) //at least// 3 paragraphs which include **//__detailed__//** supporting evidence for your case - 1 piece of evidence with explanation per paragraph; and 3) a closing paragraph which ties all the evidence together and solidifies your case.
 * Peer editing of opposing counsel's statement following guidelines to be provided; plus an additional peer revision of your choice.
 * Works Cited page containing **//__at__//** **//__least three __//****//__(3) sources __//**: 2 book sources for each electronic source.
 * Final Draft of Closing Statement, typed, double-spaced at a 12-point font with 1-inch margins. Please no decorative fonts – use something easy to read.
 * Oral recitation of your Closing Statement before the court. Be sure to use your voice as a persuasive tool to effectively deliver your statement. Suggestions for oral interpretation to be provided.


 * Remember that the above represent the minimum requirements for this project, the completion of which will earn you a minimum average grade of 70%. You can improve this grade by going above and beyond these minimum expectations. **

One way to increase your points will be to complete more than five discussion posts with your opposing counsel. To post a discussion, click the DISCUSSION tab above; click NEW POST, label the subject with a specific name, and then type and post your comment. To reply to a comment, simply click on the post heading, scroll to the bottom of the page, and then type and post your reply. Ideally, discussion topics will reflect either specific research sources or ideas learned from your research. You must cite all sources within your discussions so that your opposing counsel can verify your information.


 * Post Prosecution Closing Statement Here:**

Prosecution The ambitious Brutus murdered the honorable Caesar out of personal motivation & jealousy. Brutus had a lot of ambition and jealousy built up inside of him that ultimately ended with the tragic murder of Julius Caesar.

The honorable Caesar was not an ambitious man. Ambition is something that can drives you to reach excellence. Some people tend to let ambition get the best of them and it overpowers them, such as Brutus. In the Tragedy of Julius Caesar, written by William Shakespeare, the character of Antony announces to the crowd at Caesar’s funeral, “Have patience gentle friends, I must not it. It is not meet you know how much Caesar loved you.” (824). Caesar loved the people of Rome with all of his heart and soul. He left the people of Rome in his will. This act does not seem ambitious to me, but quite honorable. The characterAntonyalso says in the play, “O mighty Caesar! Dost thou lie so low? Are all they conquests, glories, triumphs, spoils, shrunk to this little measure?” (Shakespeare 813). A man such as Caesar did so many things for Rome, such as win wars. Someone who had so many triumphs, such high glory, fantastic conquests, does not deserve to die at the hands of such an ambitious man.

The jealousy of the ambitious Brutus also led to the death of Caesar. In the Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Brutus states, “What means this shouting? I do fear the people choose Caesar for their king.” (Shakespeare 764). Brutus feared that the people of Rome would choose Caesar to be their king, meaning that he did not want Caesar to be king. We later discover that he denied the crown three times, but if Caesar were to be king, he would have reached greats heights for Rome, considering all the triumphs and glories he brought not as king. Brutus furthers his thoughts later in Act 1 by saying, “What you would work me to, I have some aim; How I have thought of this, and of these times I shall recount hereafter.” (Shakespeare 766). The big problem is where Brutus’s ideals and his actions fall into place. We have seen Brutus be persuaded by Cassius throughout the play & Cassius is very envious of Caesar.

Brutus was a very ambitious man. Ambition overpowered Brutus and in turn, Caesar paid for it with his life. Brutus says in the play, “Therefore think of him as a serpent’s egg which hatched, would as his kind grow mischievous, and kill him in the shell.” (Shakespeare 783). This shows that Brutus did not even want to give Caesar a chance to be a ruler, just stomp him out before he became what Brutus feared for his “friend” who was a great ruler for Rome. The character Antony says, “Through this the well-beloved Brutus stabbed, And as he plucked his cursed steel away, Mark how the blood of Caesar followed it, As rushing out of doors, to be resolved if Brutus so unkindly knocked, or no; For Brutus, as you know, was Caesar’s angel. Judge, O you gods, how dearly Caesar loved him!” (Shakespeare 826). This quote from Antony describes perfectly how much Caesar loved his best friend Brutus. Brutus killed his friend with the most unkindly cut of all, the last, and the final blow to his supposed friend, all for the “good of Rome.” This doesn’t seem like something a friend would to another friend.

The murder of the honorable Julius Caesar, who had so many triumphs for Rome, is at fault of the fault of the ambitious Marcus Brutus because of Brutus’s personal motivation & jealously of Caesar. This man is guilty of the murder of his best friend because he felt it was best for Rome. Did he ever give Caesar a chance to show what great feats he could add onto his achievements? Not if he put out the serpent’s egg before it could hatch, unknown of future and possibility.


 * Post Defense Closing Statement Here:**