Othello Act 4

1. In Act 4 we learn the character of Desdemona. Choose two quotes that you believe best illustrate her character.

"So would not I. My love doth so approve him

That even his stubbornness, his checks, his frowns—

Prithee, unpin me—have grace and favor."

"And his unkindness may defeat my life,

But never taint my love."

2. How is Othello changing in Act 4? What is the effect of his public humiliation of Desdemona by slapping her?

Othello has drastically changed in Act 4 due to Iago's evil plan. He has become more ill tempered and jealousy has gotten the best of him. Othello's anger now overflows from the once suttle man. His anger runs so deep that he actually slaps Desdemona, which brings him a great deal of public humiliation because the others who witnessed it (aside from Iago) did not know of why he would commit such a harsh act of cruelty to a perfect and faithful wife, such as, Desdemona. He is publicly viewed as a crazed man who is losing his head and the people are questioning if he is really fit to govern.

3. At the end of Act 4 we get a glimpse into the private world of women. How does Shakespeare portray this world?

Given the time period, Shakespeare takes a deep risk, meaning that women were viewed as a prize and not really treated as they should be. Shakespeare depicts how women take advantage of their husbands without their knowing and get away with it. This was very risky considering that this is indeed a play, which was on stage with an audience watching. He shows the world that this does indeed happen and that women are capable of being regular people rather than just prizes; I also believe he raised a couple eyebrows of the men watching the play.

4. Analyze "The Willow Song". What is the literal meaning of this song? What does this song symbolize?

The Willow Song is about how both men and women are unfaithful to each other. Desdemona sings this song because she seems to feel weak and is promptly accepting the fact that the man she loves is slipping away from her, sort of like an acceptance. This song also leads the two women, Desdemona and Emilia into talking about the private world of women.

Othello Act 3

1. What is a tragic flaw? What do you believe is Othello's tragic flaw? What is your tragic flaw? Explain.

A tragic flaw is flaw in the character of the protagonist of a tragedy that brings the protagonist that brings about his/her downfall. I believe Othello's tragic flaw is being conceited, in that he is very overly confident and trusts everyone to much. My tragic flaw may be that I hold myself to such high standards, that when I do come short of my goals, I am distraught, but on the other hand after the failure I do everything in my power to be better as a result.

2. Examine the quote about a good reputation. What does Iago mean through this quote? How valuable do you believe a reputation is? What is your reputation? What kind of name do you have amongst others?

     Iago means that a reputation is very valuable, and that whatever someone may take or provoke him about, if it be money it is nothing but a material possession, that is needless to the persons true nature. Although if one shall take one's reputation, they shall be stained, and left hollow because they then have nothing left to live for.
     I believe a reputation is valuable to certain people, but for others like me who are confident and know who they really are it doesnt mean that much, beacuse reputation is only what a collection of people think they know about you.
     Although it does not matter to me, I believe my reputation is good, becuase of the way i carry myself, the people I associate with, and the high standards in which I hold myself. I also have a good name among others, by being a leader, peer, and hero amonst others and for others.

3. Connect this quote to another film/movie/book or to your own personal life.

Ideas can be like poisons. At first they hardly even taste bad, but once they get into your blood they start burning like hot lava. Dangerous conceits are in their natures poisons. Which at the first are scarce found to distaste, But with a little act upon the blood Burn like the mines of sulfur.

 

Ideas can be like poison to you, if you let others infect your mind. I choose to selectively hear certain "ideas" of others or friends beacuse I know whats best for me, but if one does not selectively hear their peers, the ideas can quickly become poison to the ear, mind, and heart. I am not one to let things get to me, but this quote is a great teacher of how many people do. Their so called "friends" will poison their mind with thoughts that are untrue and you will think no more of it, but once it enters your thought and they advocate it, the accusations or whatever it may be seemingly appear true and it corrodes the inside of your mind, then eventually you end up doing something that you will regret.

 

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.