Julius Caesar Webquest

Rome’s Reality

The Tragedy of Julius Caesar

A webquest that acquaints students with the time period of Julius Caesar

Written by: Moselle Domingue
Lake Travis High School
English 2

INTRODUCTION

The world of Julius Caesar was quite different than the world that you live in today. In order to fully understand and enjoy Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, you need to become acquainted the reality of Rome.

TASK

You will work in five groups of three to six individuals. Each group will select a specific topic to research via the internet. A series of PowerPoint slides will be created by each group to share with the class.

PROCESS

First your teacher will introduce The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. You will also learn some interesting facts about William Shakespeare. Read the play by act synopsis of the play so that you will have a general understanding of the plot.

Did Shakespeare present the time period accurately? Find out! With your group members, research one of the following topics:

Economy
Entertainment
Government
Religion
Social Structure

Use a minimum of four different websites. Feel free to explore, follow links, and use websites not specifically listed under Resources. There’s a plethora of material available – enjoy!

Prepare five PowerPoint slides that cover your topic thoroughly. Cite direct quotes using parenthetical notation (author’s last name and page number) and include a Works Cited as a separate, sixth slide. Make sure that you format your citations correctly.

Make sure that the information on your slides is:

accurate– mechanics and content
colorful, but not cluttered
itemized in a bullet type format (NO complete sentences)
parallel in structure

Supplement your slideshow with appropriate oral commentary. Do NOT just read your slides for your presentation.

Each group member needs to type a paragraph detailing his/her part in the group

RESOURCES

You may use the following links as a starting point to finding information about Julius Caesar.

EVALUATION

You will be evaluated using the following criteria:

Julius Caesar Rubric

	Fundamentally Lacking to Non-existent	Seriously Limited	Inadequate	Adequate	Effective	Outstanding
Slide One + Commentary	Fundamentally lacking, disorganized, pervasive errors	Seriously limited, insufficient, poorly organized, serious errors	Inadequate, limited, accumulation of errors	Adequate, some errors, lapses in quality	Effective, generally appropriate, occasional errors or lapses in quality	Effective and insightful, clear and appropriate, minor errors
Slide Two + Commentary	Fundamentally lacking, disorganized, pervasive errors	Seriously limited, insufficient, poorly organized, serious errors	Inadequate, limited, accumulation of errors	Adequate, some errors, lapses in quality	Effective, generally appropriate, occasional errors or lapses in quality	Effective and insightful, clear and appropriate, minor errors
Slide Three + Commentary	Fundamentally lacking, disorganized, pervasive errors	Seriously limited, insufficient, poorly organized, serious errors	Inadequate, limited, accumulation of errors	Adequate, some errors, lapses in quality	Effective, generally appropriate, occasional errors or lapses in quality	Effective and insightful, clear and appropriate, minor errors
Slide Four + Commentary	Fundamentally lacking, disorganized, pervasive errors	Seriously limited, insufficient, poorly organized, serious errors	Inadequate, limited, accumulation of errors	Adequate, some errors, lapses in quality	Effective, generally appropriate, occasional errors or lapses in quality	Effective and insightful, clear and appropriate, minor errors
Slide Five + Commentary	Fundamentally lacking, disorganized, pervasive errors	Seriously limited, insufficient, poorly organized, serious errors	Inadequate, limited, accumulation of errors	Adequate, some errors, lapses in quality	Effective, generally appropriate, occasional errors or lapses in quality	Effective and insightful, clear and appropriate, minor errors
Parenthetical Notation + Works Cited	Less than four sources and pervasive errors	Less than four sources or serious errors	Incomplete, accumulation of errors	Not alphabetized or indented, minimal errors	Alphabetized, indented, minimal errors	Four sources, no errors
Oral Commentary	No or inappropriate commentary	Stated the obvious, some inaccuracies	Stated the obvious, accurate	Somewhat insightful, some inaccuracies	Somewhat insightful, accurate	Insightful and accurate
Individual Contribution X 3	Fundamentally lacking to non-existent	Seriously limited	Inadequate	Adequate	Effective	Outstanding

CONCLUSION

NoNow that you are acquainted with the Roman era, you should have a better understanding of Julius Caesar. What was the real tragedy?

CREDITS & REFERENCESspan>

Images were downloaded from:

Rubric categories based on College Board’s SAT Essay Scoring Guide.