Grade 8 Humanities: Week of 5/28/2018 Frenemies AF

Dear Families,

Friendships, even strong ones, only flourish in particular contexts (especially as we get a little older!). Here are five basic rules that everyone should follow:

• #1: Don’t become roommates. Remember that time you got in that fight about pardoning Lucius Pella but were fine just a few hours later when you saw each other next? The two of you probably got over it so quickly because you didn’t have to spend your cool down time crammed in the same tent, with your armies amassed outside.
•  #2: Benjamin Franklin once said, “guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days.” True, it’s a blast to stay up until the early hours playing Tesserae or dissing Lepidus, but the best part is that tomorrow night you know you’ll be able to make up that lost sleep in your own tent. Slumber parties are only fun because they end; it’s not a sustainable source of enjoyment, especially when civil war is impending.
• #3: You love your best friend for all they are: fortes and faults. Sometimes, though, faults are easier to love at a distance. You’ve kidded each other about your bad habits in the past, but what about when you have to live with them? Your friend’s bribery-taking-and-giving addiction might have seemed like a joke to the both of you, but it won’t be when it’s time to raise an army and you need some gold.
• #4: Don’t plan and execute an assassination together. Setting aside morality, the law, and logistics for a moment, the duo-led assassination idea has some other truly obvious drawbacks.
• #5: Ghosts

We noticed that the brotherhood between Brutus and Cassius became more evident only after they started to argue vehemently.  This power play was preparation for our final essay project exploring other complex love-hate relationships — the role of the common citizen in the lives of powerful leaders.

Yours,

Ms. Sacilotto

“Strike, as thou didst at Caesar. For I know when thou didst hate him worst, thou lovedst him better than ever thou lovedst Cassius.” — Cassius  Act IV, iii