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When: Due Date: April 19th

What: A five section essay on:
       Was Othello a good man?

How: Typed, 12 point font, double  spaced, header w/page number The paper should be approx. 500  words or about 2 typed pages. 

Special Instructions: Your essay MUST start off with an anecdote a small story / incident) either directly based on the play, or directly related to an illustration of Othello’s character.
Use all the tools you have: common sense 
and close reading of the play!
We have read Othello in class. Also easily available to you (if you want to lay down the big bucks, about $2.98 to rent and $14.00 to own) is the newest movie version. Using both or either of these, write an essay answering the following question:

        Was Othello a good man?

This play begins an approach to literature which I feel is extremely valuable to us as human beings who must understand and communicate with other human beings. 

Literature explores what it means to live as a thinking, feeling human being. If we understand how to look at the lives presented in literature (more specifically, what the author is trying to show us about these lives), we are far better equipped to understand our own lives. 

How do we go about answering this question? I think we should begin with the picture (the image) that Shakespeare is presenting. What he is trying to do is help us understand an abstract concept by making it concrete, by giving us a picture of human beings in action. So view or reread Othello, be entertained by what is going on, experience what Othello is going through, experience the motivations Iago has for wanting to destroy Othello. Focus on the characters -- what's going on inside of them. 

Now comes the hard part: understanding what Shakespeare is showing us about the way we are. To do this we have to stand back from the experience of the play. We have to try to objectively analyze what the characters say, what truth about human nature makes them do what they do. This process is what gives us insight, which is the whole point of the literary experience, as far as I am concerned. This process is also called understanding the theme (i.e., what the play/story/poem is about). 

In other words, 

PLOT leads to àCHARACTER leads to àTHEME.

Your essay assignment will illustrate the understanding I ask you to seek from reading and viewing Othello. It's not just about plot, or something like good/evil symbolism, or even Shakespeare's extensive use of metaphor or an image.

Just answer the question, "Was Othello a good man?" 

Here are some hints: 

    • There is a big difference between understanding something and emotionally responding to something. You may not like what happens, but don't write an essay saying what Othello should have or should not have done. Try to understand why Othello did what he did. Did he think what he was doing was right? Did Shakespeare?
    • In writing about literature, back up what you say with references to and direct quotations from the work itself. This does not mean that your essay must be overwhelmed with one quotation after another. But use as much evidence as you need to prove your observations. Also, do not go into detail about which act, scene, line number you are quoting. An example of a good use of a quotation from Othello is as follows: 
    • Iago knows that Othello, like most people, is easily convinced by circumstantial evidence. As he says, "Trifles light as air/Are to the jealous confirmations strong/As proofs of Holy Writ." 
    • Be sure you have an anecdote (illustrative story), introduction and a conclusion, and that you have a specific point (thesis) you are trying to make.