Question

brutus. words before blows: is it so, countrymen? octavius. not that we love words better, as you do. brutus. good words are better than bad strokes, octavius. antony. in your bad strokes, brutus, you give good words. witness the hole you made in caesar’s heart, crying ‘long live, hail caesar!’ —the tragedy of julius caesar, william shakespeare what does shakespeare mean by the phrase “bad strokes” as spoken by antony in this passage? ○ weak hits ○ poor shots ○ evil deeds ○ harmful words

Explanation:

To determine the meaning of "bad strokes", we analyze the context. Antony refers to the act of killing Caesar (the "hole you made in Caesar’s heart") when talking about Brutus' "bad strokes". "Strokes" here relates to actions, and "evil deeds" fits as killing Caesar was a wrongful act. "Weak hits" and "poor shots" don't match the violent, immoral action. "Harmful words" is incorrect as "strokes" refers to actions, not words.

Answer:

C. evil deeds