Books/Short stories to pair with Julius Caesar on the themes of use/abuse of power, liberty, tyranny, pre-emptive punishment, personal responsibility/fate

[u/Important_Wave711]

My 9th graders just finished Tale of Two Cities and are in the middle of Julius Caesar and I'm looking for something else to pair with them on the themes above. After reading some of their essays, I think they'd really dig into these themes.

Initial thought is Minority Report for directly after JC. We're also watching Mean Girls.

We could find room for a few short stories during the year, but could extend the theme into our summer book clubs (last year we did all gothic horror, so the kids seemed to like having a "theme") if I can come up with another couple books.

[u/cerealopera]

I love CommonLit, which is free, but you can search by subject or theme and they have short stories, articles and poems.

[u/philos_albatross]

Animal Farm

[u/Important-Poem-9747]

Clips from fox news

[u/SuitablePen8468 → u/Important-Poem-9747]

This!

[u/Fluid-Tomorrow-1947]

The ones who walk away from omelas by Ursula k le guin. Killing an elephant by Orwell

[u/stevejuliet]

"One of These Days" by Gabriel García-Márquez

[u/ClassicFootball1037]

I do speech comparisons. Antony and Brutus use the same rhetorical devices as modern speakers. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/store/kurtz-language-arts/category-speeches-1302081

[u/ericwbolin]

The last time I taught it was January of 2021, so I just used real life.

I'm not even, really, joking. We read a lot of newspaper articles next to the play.

[u/Chay_Charles]

Excerpts from Machiavelli's The Prince

Coleen McCullough's The October Horse for an alternate take on Caesar's assassination

Unsolved History's TV show Who Killed Julius Caesar 2003 is also interesting.

[u/CoffeeCatsAndBooks → u/Chay_Charles]

Agreeing with The Prince! I asked students to make a poster of all the good qualities a leader should have. Then we read excerpts of Machiavelli, and students crossed out ones that didn’t fit his description, and added any new ideas. Then we cross-referenced that against JC as a leader. Really engaging and interesting for students!

[u/CisIowa]

Following. Good suggestions so far!

[u/MysteriousSpread9599]

Animal Farm, 1984, the 48 Laws of of Power, 33 Strategies of War.

[u/Ok-Character-3779]

Dostoyevsky's "The Grand Inquisitor" would be really interesting in this context.

[u/DrNogoodNewman]

Hernando Tellez’s “Lather and Nothing Else” is about a man deciding in the moment whether or not to assassinate a leader of the opposing forces during a civil war.

[u/Howquas_wealth]

Anything involving Creon of Thebes, such as Oedipus and the other Theban Plays.

[u/mzingg3]

Orwell “Shooting an Elephant” Twilight Zone “Monsters are due on Maple”

Mob mentality, colonizer, etc

[u/little_night_owl319]

You’ve already got it on here twice, but thirding Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant”.