Othello Act: 2

1. Choose one of Iago's soliloquies (end of 2.1 or end of 2.3) and thoroughly analyze it.

Iago is conversing to himself about how his plan is going to pan out. He demonstrates his willingness to do anything to get revenge on Cassio and Othello, although praising them for being good people. Iago discusses how he believes both Othello and Cassio has slept with his wife and how he will not stop until he gets revenge. Iago's tone is one of hate and bitterness; he is very conceited, thus doing all of this evil to better himself and no one else by being manipulative.

 

2. In Act II Iago launches his plan to destroy Othello. What is his motive? Jealousy? Racism? Is he opportunistic? A sociopath? All of the above? None of the above? Use TEXTUAL SUPPORT.

 

I feel as if Iago's motives for destroying Othello are more directed towards jealousy and racism. Iago says he believes Othello has slept with his wife, would indeed make him jealous of Othello. Iago also calls him a worthless moor, which is a racial slur in those times. Iago is so self-centered that all his motives are agianst any others and for the benefit of himself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Choose another character (from film, books, etc) that reminds you of Iago. Explain

 

Loki from the movie Thor reminds me of Iago becuase he is selfish and self-centered. Like Iago, Loki just looks out for himself and acts as if he is friends with others (like his brother Thor), but he actually plots against him. Loki also manipulates others for his own good and for his personal benefit, just like Iago does to the other main characters in Othello.

3. Create two discussion questions from Act II that you would like to discuss with the class

 

How does Iago's motives affect the other characters besides Othello?

 

Is Othello overconfident in himself? If so, How?

No Fear Shakespeare

1. What conflicts do you already see beginning to emerge? Choose two quotes from Act I that expose these conflicts. Explain why each quote is significant and what it reveals about the characters.

 

One conflict involves the womans rebellion against her father, in marriage to the black man, Othello.
"My noble father, I do perceive here a divided duty.To you I am bound for life and education.My life and education both do learn me how to respect you. You are the lord of duty. I am hitherto your daughter. But here’s my husband." - DESDEMONA

Another conflict emerging is the brink of war between the Turks and Cyprus.
"Of thirty sail. And now they do re-stem, their backward course, bearing with frank appearance.

Their purposes toward Cyprus." - MESSENGER

 

2. Create three discussion questions of your choice based on Act I

 

Why do you think Iago left before Brabantio came down to speak to them?

Why does the Duke so readily accept Othello’s version of what happened, despite his race?

How do you think Iago and Roderigo are connected, is one of them corrupt? How?

 

3. In a paragraph each, analyze the character of Othello and Iago (so far).

 

     The character Othello seems to be a very diligent, noble, and hard-working man. Although he has been troubled all his life, mostly because of his race, he has made the most of it and continued on helping others as well. He is a highly regarded military officer and will do anything asked of him in order to better of keep Cyprus safe from harm. He has married a noble's daughter, which brought the wife's father great despair. Despite certain accusations and threats, Othello keeps his composure and calmly pleads his case as well as his wife Desdemona. In my opinion, Othello is a trusted man of color and is willing to do what is asked of him, but is somewhat gullible.  

 

     The character Iago is potrayed at first as a normal, hard-working man just looking out for himself, but as Act I is laid out in full he appears more and more corrupt. Iago is a very self-centered man who is looking to stir up trouble. I believe he is using his friend Roderigo to better himself. He also seeks to destroy Othello's career somehow by acting as his good friend, but only soon to betray him to get what he wants. Iago manipulates others and tells them what they want to hear, in order to get his way. I believe as the story continues he will continue his evil ways.

How To Read Lit Pro 25-27

Chapter 25-

Edgar Allan Poe's short story, The Black Cat, is about a man who loves his wife and animals. However, he ends up killing his wife and try’s to kill his cat. Poe says this man is an alcoholic. The difference in this fact of the story is that a contemporary reader would assume the reason the character is acting violent is because of his abusive drinking problem, as for a person living before the twenty-first century would not focus on his alcohol problem. The man abused his wife and cat when he became drunk during the story. Today, a reader would consider abusing a wife unacceptable, but not before the twentieth century where women were more often abused. Another difference between the time period readers would be the reference to the gallows on the second cat that he took in. Earlier readers would perceive the horrific feat because the gallows was a weapon to kill people, but a reader today would not get the same effect because we do not use them anymore.

Chapter 26-

1984 by George Orwell contains irony throughout the whole book. In the novel there is a governed rule of “doublethink”, which is “basically the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.” This is irony at its most literal sense in that it is impossible to act upon. The character Winston is surrounded by irony. For example, he feels he is out of harm’s way when he rents an apartment with Julia from a guy he thinks is like him and can trust. It turned out that the man renting them the room was actually a member of the thought police, which ultimately led to his acceptance of Big Brother. Winston demonstrates irony from beginning to end because he wanted to overthrow and destroy the Party at the start, but by the conclusion he becomes like every other member. Overall the irony is prevalent in Orwell’s novel, but despite it the reader can sense his warning to those in future generations.

Chapter 27-

1)      The short story, "The Garden Party" focuses on social classes. Laura's social class looks upon the lower classes as if they are nothing. Her class doesn’t help the lower class and allows the lower class to perish. In the text, Laura faces a gap between her life and others. She doesn’t know how to deal with the social difference. The short story shows one girl coming into maturity from an upper class family who has reached the age of maturity, though she often recounts and has second thoughts about certain things.

2)   Laura faces a social gap in the text and wants to be more than a material seeker. The representation of flight is prevalent and characters are given certain qualities, such as, Jose, the butterfly. These qualities are also consistent in the dialogue, as Laura goes to meet the workers – “away she flew” and “skimmed back to the house”.  All of these flights of fancy represent the society as sophisticated and graceful, which is consistent with the upper-social class they represent. Although Laura is an upper-class dweller, she enjoys the simple thing in life, such as, nature, unlike her family.

I think I did well on my perception of the short story and some details of my answers are somewhat resemble the books examples.

It doesn’t really add to my appreciation, because I appreciated Laura by just reading the short story. I already felt as if she was different from the others in the upper-class and thought she was a good character to use in such a symbolic text.

 

How To Read Lit Pro 22-24

Forrest Gump - Jenny is the woman in whom Forrest falls in love with. Jenny has had an uneasy life, from childhood on and struggled with severe drug abuse. Combined with bad decisions and her drug usage, she contracts a virus, most people suggest AIDS. When she realizes her predicament, it altered her life and shined a light on what really mattered in life, this led to her realization that Forrest is the only person who had been there for her no matter what the situation. The contracting of her disease made her recognize that the life she was living was not right and found her only happiness in Forrest, who had always loved her. Jenny soon dies after their brief marriage and Forest is left with his intelligent son whom gives him comfort to help ease the pain of his father’s loss.

To Kill a Mockingbird - Ms. Dubose is very ill and became addicted to the morphine she was taking to relieve the pain of her illness. Her neighbor Jem Finch ruined her flowers one day and as a punishment he had to read to her every day, which lessened her pain therefore decreasing her addiction to taking the morphine.  Everyday Jem started to read less and less to Ms. Dubose and soon Ms. Dubose died. This instance is very important because upon her death, Jem took great insight in what Ms. Dubose stood for as a person. He realized how courageous she was in starting a new goal even though she knew she was going to die soon. Ms. Dubose didn’t want to take that part of her life with her to the grave, so she tried her hardest to stop before she “left”. By her death, Jem realized that the racism taking place in the community had to ended before it became worse and then it would never end, courage, and ultimately decided to help/support his father.

How to Read Lit 20-21

Chapter 20

A Late Walk by Robert Frost

When I go up through the mowing field,
The headless aftermath,
Smooth-laid like thatch with the heavy dew,
Half closes the garden path.

 

And when I come to the garden ground,
The whir of sober birds
Up from the tangle of withered weeds
Is sadder than any words

 

A tree beside the wall stands bare,
But a leaf that lingered brown,
Disturbed, I doubt not, by my thought,

Comes softly rattling down.

 

I end not far from my going forth
By picking the faded blue
Of the last remaining aster flower
To carry again to you.

 This poem by Frost regards autumn because the vivid descriptions he portrays in the work. Frost describes the elements in which, the tree becomes completely barren, the garden full of withering weeds, and the brown leaves. Frost attempts to carry an aster of a flower to someone he loves. The aster, which symbolizes death, coincides with the fall season where everything is withered and dying off. He uses all these seasonal traits to show how he loved and wishes to take the flower to them, but maybe they passed away, based on the season.

 

Interlude-

Archetype- a common example of a person or thing; common reappearance in different pieces of literature in which an auother expects a reader to recognize

There are many different types of archetypes, one in particular is a superhero archetype, in which there is a hero that faces many challenges but ultimately defeats whatever stands in his/her way or in an attempt to help others. This archetype is commonly used and one great example is the Bible in which Moses is the savior of the Isrealites. He faces many perils, but with good will and guidance Moses, the hero, saved the Isrealites from slavery and corruption.

Chapter 21-

Harry Potter has a scar on his forehead that resembles a lightning bolt. The scar symbolizes a past event that he has to carry with him. Therefore Harry’s scar is like a burden he constantly has to carry, which can become difficult. This forms a connection or bond between the reader and Harry because everyone has burdens to carry or past events that influence their lives, whether big or small.

 

 

 

 

How to Read Literature Pro 18-19

Chapter 18

In the Notebook it rains on the two characters, Allie and Noah, which are just friends at this point, but soon after they frolic around in the pouring rain Noah picks Allie up and carries her inside, as if everything between them had changed and became in love in an instant. The rain cleansed the two by instilling love and allowing the two to be together, which is a very crucial point in the literary work.

Chapter 19

Foster would classify geography as any setting, detail, or surroundings characters. Geography in literature is very symbolic.

1)      No Country For Old Men was in a desert which is desolate, dry, and unsettling, all of which help shape the story itself. For example, Chigurh was quite disturbing and unsettling, which without such a desolate and isolated area may have not been plausible. The dryness of the desert also symbolized how times have changed or “dried up” and there are far worse threats in the world today than in the past.

2)      In the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, the geography matters because of the big city feel and sense of loneliness, fright, and distance from the world the book presents. Without the geography, Holden, would not have realized that a lot of people are uncaring and willing to leave you behind for their own personal needs and use you, even though they are so called friends; which basically is the moral of the story.

3)      In the short story, A Rose for Emily, the geography helps influence the meaning of the work as a whole. Without the small town feel and the mostly white community, in a predominantly racist area the reader could not connect to Emily or the rest of the characters. From the geography the reader can sense that something serious and unusual is going on.

4)      Forrest Gump is vastly influenced by geography, which in this case is constantly shifting. Although the geography shifts from place to place, Forrest Gump and the rest of the movie is greatly influenced by the different geographies which is directly correlated to Gump’s many experiences. The geography connects the viewer closer to Forrest and feel as if they enjoy the story with him.

How To Read Lit Chp. 16-17

In the movie, Maid in Manhattan, the maid (Jennifer Lopez) falls in deep love with a wealthy man running for governor. While cleaning a suite one day, she tries on another woman’s expensive dress and suddenly there was a knock on the door, which was the rich man. The man was led to believe that the maid was actually a wealthy woman herself, living in the suite. One day the man running for governor, Chris, invites her to a formal dinner, but the maid, Maria, did not want to attend, she was eventually urged to go. Things escalate between the two and they both end up in Chris’s hotel suite. By this point in time one may think that some sexual intercourse would take place, but instead the movie switches to the next morning with Maria waking up in bed with Chris and has to get dressed for work. Overall this keeps the viewer tuned in and non-complacent with the movie. One can imply that the two had intercourse but the movie did not directly demonstrate it.