Term Paper on "Othello Iago's Soliloquies in Othello (Act I.3.375-396)"

Quoted Instructions for "Othello Iago's Soliloquies in Othello (Act I.3.375-396)" Assignment:

I will fax you text for othello as it states it is from First Folio, and has some variations by the author of the text. Text: Literature An introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and writting by: X.J. Kennedy, Dana Gioia tenth edition.

Specifications from instructor.

English 104, Section 6 Your Name ______________________________________

Composition and Literature Fall Semester 2007

Third Paper: On Othello

Emailed: Saturday, October 6

First draft due: In class on Monday, October 15

Please bring a hard copy, with your passage and the assignment sheet attached. If you will not be on campus during the week, also email your first draft as an attachment.

Length: 4-6 pages Value: 100 points

Directions

1. Sign your name at top and attach this sheet to the front of your performance review with a staple or paper clip. (Hard copy only)

2. Your essay should be typed or word-processed (double spaced, with standard

margins, 1 inch from top, sides and bottom; 12-font type).

3. Number all pages in the upper right hand corner. Put your name before the page number.

4. Include direct quotations from the text of Othello; follow MLA formats: passages of one, two, or three lines of poetry are incorporated into your paragraph; line breaks for verse (poetic) passages are indicated by slash marks. Reference the quotation with Act, Scene, and line numbers (NOT page numbers!), which are placed at the end of the passage but inside the terminal punctuation.

For prose or verse passages of four lines or longer, indent 10 spaces and type the passage (double space) exactly as it appears in the text-- don't add quotation marks. The page reference with long quoted passages comes after the terminal punctuation.

SEE KENNEDY AND GIOIA, *****HOW TO QUOTE A POEM***** AND *****HOW TO QUOTE A PLAY***** (in Part IV, Writing)

5. If you interpolate words into a passage (e.g., by substituting a name for "he"), or change punctuation (e.g., by capitalizing the first letter of a passage that's not capitalized in the text), use brackets, not parentheses. Use three ellipsis dots [...] if you omit one or more word from inside a sentence or passage; four ellipsis dots [....] if you omit more than one sentence. Don*****t place ellipsis dots at the beginning or end of a quoted passage.

6. Add a Work Cited list to the end of your essay. Follow MLA formats used in the sample student essays in the textbook.

7. If you consult secondary sources (books, articles, web pages etc.) from which you quote, paraphrase or summarize in your essay, include these sources in your Works Cited list and acknowledge the borrowing using internal documentation, following MLA formats. Consult The St. *****s Handbook (used in English 103) or another handbook for more specific information on MLA formats and avoidance of plagiarism.

9. Your essay will be graded for content, organization, language use (expression), and

mechanics (spelling, grammar, punctuation etc.). A well-written essay will be

organized in Introduction/ Body/ Conclusions structure, and will have a thesis

statement, unified, well-developed paragraphs, logical order of ideas, smooth transitions, and effective supporting evidence drawn from the play itself.

10. In writing about a literary text, use present tense verbs when describing the action;

don*****t shift between past and present tense. Iago takes Desdemona*****s handkerchief from Emilia; later, Othello sees (not saw!) Bianca with the handkerchief.

The Paper Topic

Value: 100 points; about 4-6 pages (NOT counting your passage)

Address the following in an essay.

Select a passage from Othello (approximately 100 to 500 words long) that sheds light on something in the play that you regard as important. This should be one continuous passage, with a starting point and ending point. Don*****t delete words, sentences or sections of dialogue from the passage. The passage may involve words spoken by one character (e.g., a soliloquy) or it may involve a conversation between two or more characters.

Don*****t select a passage that*****s too short, or you won*****t be able to write four pages of commentary on it. If your passage is too long, you won*****t be able to cover all the elements of importance in the passage in four pages. Like *****, select a passage that is *****just right*****!

Whatever approach you take, the passage you select should help focus your attention (and your reader*****s) on (at most) a couple of key points, themes, issues, ideas etc. that will be showcased in your thesis statement.

Photocopy your passage and place it on top of your essay answer (and underneath this assignment sheet). Be sure to specify page number(s) of the passage; use a pen or marker to specify the beginning and the ending points of your passage. Please number EACH LINE of your selected passage and specify the Act, Scene and Line numbers of your passage and the page number in the textbook where it is found.

If you are emailing your first draft, please type the passage or, if possible, scan it into your MS Word document.

Needless to say, there are many possible approaches to this assignment and any number of passages that will be appropriate and effective, depending on your approach and focus. Possibilities include:

Why does Desdemona fall in love with Othello?

Is Othello guilty of hubris*****”overweening (excessive) Pride?

Does Othello qualify as a tragic hero, in *****s definition of the term?

(Hubris is part of the definition, but not all of it.)

Brabantio*****s warning to Othello

Why does the Duke of Venice overrule the objections of Brabantio and allow

Othello to marry Desdemona?

Iago*****s motive(s) in seeking revenge against Othello (jealousy? Misogyny? Is

Iago gay?)

The role of a "minor character": Roderigo, Cassio, Bianca, Emilia

Othello's status as an outsider: he's a black man, a Moor (North African), a

mercenary; he's not a member of the Venetian aristocracy)--how this

affects his behavior, thought processes etc.

The suggestion (racist?) that a black man should not be marrying or having

sexual relations with a white woman. (Keep in mind that this play was

written over 400 years ago)

A major soliloquy (Iago has the best ones)

A passage that dramatizes an important turning-point or epiphany in the play;

e.g., Iago steals (or Othello asks Desdemona about) the handkerchief;

Iago warns Othello to beware the "green-eyed monster" of jealousy;

Iago convinces Othello that Desdemona is sleeping with Cassio;

Othello decides to murder his wife (or the murder itself); Othello*****s

response to discovering Iago*****s treachery; his final words before he

kills himself.

Organizing your paper:

In your introduction and thesis statement, explain what it is about the passage that you view as important*****”both substantively (thematically) and stylistically (i.e., Shakespeare*****s use of language: his poetry).

In the introduction or the body of your essay, identify the place or point in the play where the passage occurs: the context. (Where do the events etc. in the passage take place? What has come, or happened, just before? What immediately follows?)

Does the passage address an important turning point, an epiphany (or moment of insight or self-realization), something else that you view as notable?

How, in what ways, is the passage important in relation to your thesis, and in relation to the play as a whole? Be concrete and specific.

Finally, in the body of your essay, do a *****close reading***** of the passage: Work your way through the text line by line*****”even word by word*****”not only to illuminate important themes, issues, conflicts etc., but also to draw the reader*****s attention to distinctive, poetic uses of language: imagery, figures of speech (such as metaphor, simile), symbolism, alliteration, assonance , euphony, cacophony etc. Also address tone: Is the tone sad, happy, anguished, melancholy, bitter, sarcastic, ironic etc.?

Your conclusion will sum up and restate your thesis and main ideas.

DON*****T SUMMARIZE THE PLOT! INCLUDE ASPECTS OF THE PLOT IN YOUR EXPLICATION ONLY IF THEY ARE RELEVANT TO AND HELP DEVELOP YOUR THESIS STATEMENT.

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