Nidia Lopez
Mrs. Schneider
English II per A2
May 25, 2018
There are times when actions don’t matter more than words. Good persuasion can get one out of so many situations. In the play “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar” by William Shakespeare, Caesar, Brutus, and Antony were great friends. They trusted each other. Brutus was afraid that Caesar might become King and the country would be back to a monarchy. Antony on the other hand believed that Caesar would be a great king, he offered Caesar the crown three times. Cassius, another friend of Caesar was able to convince Brutus that Caesar should be killed. At first Brutus was reluctant to kill Caesar but with enough persuasion from Cassius he was convinced that it was the right choice. Once Caesar was dead both Antony and Brutus made a speech. Brutus talked about how Caesar was not an honorable man, while Antony use sarcasm to make the crowd believe Caesar did not deserve to die. Although Antony was able to get the crowd to revolt against the conspirators, Brutus was a more effective speaker because he appealed to their love of Rome, he used rhetorical questions, and he gave reasons why Caesar was ambitious.
For example in the beginning of the speech Brutus tried to relate with the citizens. He tried to make them feel like one of them. He called himself their friend. The citizens loved Caesar, Brutus knew that very well so for him to change their minds would not be easy. Brutus also knew that the citizens loved Rome, so he used that to his advantage. In the play Brutus said “Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more. Had you rather Caesar were living and die all slaves, than Caesar were dead to live all freeman?” (Lines 21-24) This is where he uses pathos to his advantage, he knows that the citizens wouldn't want to be slaves. He proved that he didn't kill Caesar just because he wanted to but because he was thinking about his Citizens. This was his first step to persuade them about that wasn't all.
In fact he also used rhetorical questions to his advantage. He asked the citizens questions that would be hard for them to answer and it made them evaluate their feelings. For instance Brutus asked the crowd “Who is here so rude that would not be a Roman? If any, speak, for him have I offended who is here so vile that will not love his country?” (Lines 31-34) He knew that they all loved their country and he knew t...
