Question

flavius. go, go, good countrymen, and for this fault
assemble all the poor men of your sort;
draw them to tiber banks, and weep your tears
into the channel, till the lowest stream
do kiss the most exalted shores of all.
—the tragedy of julius caesar,
william shakespeare
read the passage. what is the best paraphrase of the text?
○ go, go, citizens. to make up for doing wrong, gather up all the poor men like yourselves. lead them to the river and cry into it until it overflows.
○ go, go, citizens. it’s your fault that the poor men are assembled. weep your tears into the river to bless the shore.
○ countrymen, it’s your fault for bringing all these poor men together. the stream is so low, you should weep your tears into the river.
○ countrymen, gather at the banks of the river. kiss the shores until the water begins to rise.

Explanation:

To find the best paraphrase, we analyze each option:

• First option: "Go, go, citizens. To make up for doing wrong, gather up all the poor men like yourselves. Lead them to the river and cry into it until it overflows." matches the original text's meaning: "good countrymen" becomes "citizens", "for this fault" becomes "to make up for doing wrong", "Assemble all the poor men of your sort" becomes "gather up all the poor men like yourselves", "Draw them to Tiber banks, and weep your tears Into the channel, till the lowest stream Do kiss the most exalted shores of all" becomes "Lead them to the river and cry into it until it overflows" (as weeping till the stream overflows matches "till the lowest stream...kiss the shores" in a paraphrased way).
• Second option: Incorrectly interprets "for this fault" as blaming the citizens for assembling the poor, which is not the case. The original "for this fault" is about the fault (reason) for the action, not the citizens' fault in assembling.
• Third option: Misinterprets "for this fault" and the rest of the meaning, and the "stream is so low" part is not in the original.
• Fourth option: Misinterprets "kiss the most exalted shores" as literally kissing, and the overall meaning is distorted.

Answer:

A. Go, go, citizens. To make up for doing wrong, gather up all the poor men like yourselves. Lead them to the river and cry into it until it overflows.