Act 4 & 5 - Meeting 4 - Comic Commentator

Act 4 &5 - Comic Commentator

How is the mood or tone shown in the comic book?
You can see the human emotion, so you can relate better to how they are feeling. The background and sky colours are always matching the tone of the scene. For example, when Caesar's ghost comes, the mood becomes more gloomy and the background becomes black making it come off as a terrifying scene. At the beggining of the battle, the sky is more friendly, but as the battle progresses, the sky becomes dreary because there are more people dying.

How are the transitions effective in the comic book?
The transitions of the scenes are effective because each scene has some information on what is happening and has some quotes from whoever is speaking. This proves to be effective because it is easy to follow and you can inderstand what is going on with the visuals and quotes.

In our group, we discussed the events that have occured in the past two acts. The original play described Act 4 as being preparation for the battle from both perspectives - the rebels/conspirators versus Octavius, Lepidius, and Antony. Also, we think that Portia feels lonely and troubled because Brutus has been ignoring. She "resolves" this by burning herself to death in her room.

Act 5 is the battle, and how things fall into place in the end. With the many deaths that take place in the battle, there is all kinds of emotions that are expressed. Obviously, Octavius, Lepidius and Mark Antony are all happiest because they got what they want, even though Caesar is gone. They hope continue to serve Rome as well as Julius did.

Act 3 - Third Meeting - Connector

Act 3 - Connector

Some connections that I have made throughout Act 3 was mistaken identity. When Cinna the poet gets killed by angry mob because the mob thought he was one of the conspirators, that is a case of mistaken identity. A story that I can relate this to is a couple years ago, a van holding 9 people was hit head on by a tractor trailer. Five people had died, and one of them the doctors thought was Laura Van Ryn. After realizing their mistake, they found out the one in recovery was actually Whitney Cerak. Thus meaning Laura Van Ryn was buried as Cerak. This event brought some faith for the Cerak family, but sorrow for the Van Ryn family.



URL: http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2008/05/31/laura_wideweb__470x302,0.jpg

As we discussed in the group, we think that Caesar's death could have been avoidable, and as well as Cinna the poets. Cinna's death was very unfortunate because it was a simple case of mistaken identity. The angry mob that killed Cinna the poet were angry because they read Julius Caesar's will and he gave money to Romans, obviously meaning that he had good intentions and would've been a great king. Our group decided that the conspirators should be punished for the actions, and the Romans should be the ones to do so. They shouldn't be viewed as heroes for what they have done, and unfortunately Antony is stuck on what to do. He is friends with the conspirators but we think it is only out of the safety of his life.

Act 2 - Second Meeting - Discussion Director

Act 2 - Discussion Director

Who are all the conspirators against Julius Caesar? Who is the newest member and why did he decide to be a conspirator?
All the conspirators are Cassius, Casca, Decius, Cinna, Metellus and Trebonius. The newest member of the conspirator party is Brutus. The reason Brutus joined is because he received a letter urging him to rebel against Julius. After much contemplation, he agrees to do so and the conspirators approach him to join; he obliges.

Do you feel that Julius Caesar would let the power "go to his head" like all the conspirators think he will?
Aaron and I think that there was a possibility it would have gone to his head, but they never gave him the chance. Julius could have done wonderful things for Rome and wanted help from all the senators, the opposite of what the conspirators thought would happen.

What happened in Calpurnia's nightmare that was a bad omen?
In Calpurnia's dream, she dreamt of Julius' statue with blood running down it. The Romans were all bathing their hands in it. She sees this as a bad omen and wants him to stay home for the day.

As stated above, Julius Caesar's wife, Calpurnia, has had many signs that symbolize death for Julius, she grows strongly scared and doesn't want him to go to the Senate that day. What event happened that made Julius changed his mind?

The event that happened that made Julius change his mind about staying home was Decius came to bring him to the Senate that day, where the conspirators wanted to kill him, and Caesar rejected his help because he was going to stay home. Julius explained Calpurnia's dream and Decius explained that that was showing the Romans love for him rather than it being a bad omen. Julius agreed and proceeded to the Senate.

In our group, we discussed that Julius should have stayed home because of the overwhelming bad omens from Calpurnia and others. Julius was far too proud to want to stay home in the first place but he should have realized the danger. Another aspect that should have changed his mind was when Artemidorus wrote him a letter of warning and gave it to him before he went to the Senate. Julius refused to read it because he felt his personal problems could wait until after. If he would have read it, he would have still been alive.

Act 1 - First Meeting - Summarizer

Act 1 - Summarizer

Who are the characters introduced?

Caesar - leading character, and most powerful
Tribunes - Flavius & Murellus
Conspirators against Julius Caesar - Marcus Brutus, Cassius, Cascus & Cinna
Julius Caesar`s wife - Calpurnia
Senators - Cicero, Brutus, Cinna, and Cassius
Some commoners - A carpenter and cobbler are introduced at the start, and the tribunes are upset that they have made a holiday because Caesar has returned.

The characters have already showed some change. For example, some of the senators are suppose to be loyal to Julius Caesar but show hate towards him by plotting to kill him.

What are the important events?

Carpenter and cobbler are celebrating the return of Julius Caesar, but the tribunes, Murellus and Flavius, don't like that they are celebrating.

After walking through the crowd, Cassius trys to test Brutus' loyalty for Julius Caesar and he hopes he will help him in his plan to kill Julius.

Casca thinks that bad omens are occuring and the omens mean that Julius Caesar is thinking about ruling by himself, and wants no help. Casca tells Cicero this and they think of a plan to kill Julius. they approach Cinna in an attempt to get his help in plotting Julius' murder and he obeys.
Tone - The tone changes throughout the Act 1, it is sunny and triumphant because Julius returns, but towards the end of the Act it is thundering and lightning.

As Aaron and I discussed, the graphic novel is a lot different than the orginal copy. The comic book has a page for each scene, and highlights the important quotes given. The transition between each scene can be a little confusing but the pictures and heading helps you determine what is happening in the scene. The comic book shows pictures of the tone changing well because as the Act goes on, the weather gets darker, matching the tone. We found comparing our versions helped us understand what were the important events.