ENGLISH 213—JUNIOR ENGLISH - Alan...

JUNIOR ENGLISH 231 Name: WEBSITE: http://www.alanreinstein.com email: [email protected]

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William Shakespeare’s OthelloREADING ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONSReading #1: Act 1, Scene 1—Act 1, Scene 21.1[Follow along to find out the “this” that Rodrigo is surprised to learn that Iago “shoudst know of this” (1.1.3). You’ll answer it in Question #4.]

1. In lines 8-35, Iago explains his unhappy situation. Why is he angry at Othello (the “him” in “thou didst hold him in thy hate” (1.1.7)) and what negative comment does he make about Michael Cassio’s “soldiership”?

[Note: An incidental description of Cassio is that he is a “fellow almost damned in a fair wife” (22). Later, he does not appear to be married at all. This could be an error of Shakespeare’s or something intentional that reveals Iago’s understanding of marriage.]

2. How does Iago respond to Rodrigo’s suggestion that Iago “not follow” (1.1.43) Othello? (Hint: Iago compares himself to the others, in “Others there are / Who…” (53).)

3. Iago’s speech to Rodrigo, 44-71, ends with a famous line from the play, “I am not what I am” (71). How does the Folger editor translate this and what significant information accompanies this translation?

[Pay attention to the animal imagery Iago uses in referring to Othello as “an old black ram” (97) and Brabantio’s daughter, Desdemona, as a “white ewe” (98). This continues during the scene and throughout the play.]

[OPTIONAL] In lines 106-111, why does Brabantio suspect Rodrigo has come to wake him up in the middle of the night?

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4. In lines 135-155 (“Sir, I will answer anything…” (135)), Rodrigo tells Brabantio the news that is referred to in the play’s opening lines. What is it?

5. What is Iago’s reasoning for leaving the scene (“Farewell, for I must leave you” (161))? [Note throughout the play how Iago skips out when significant actions take place.]

6. Before leaving to search for Othello and his daughter, Brabantio wonders how Desdemona might have been tricked by Othello in lines 191-196 (“O heaven! How got she out?”) How?

1.2[Iago, speaking ill of Brabantio and of the senator’s response to Othello’s marriage, tells Othello that “I lack iniquity” (1.2.3), or wickedness, to kill Brabantio. Note throughout the play the dramatically ironic references to Iago’s integrity and honesty, made by Iago himself and others.]

7. Write down Othello’s first line of the play:

8. How does Othello respond to Iago’s concern that Brabantio is a respected man in the community (“as double as” (16) the Duke)?

[OPTIONAL] In lines 46-55, Othello’s lieutenant, Cassio, gives Othello the news for the Duke’s desire to see him right away. What is the reason?

[Note Othello’s poetic and confident language in his response to Brabantio’s threat: “Keep up your bright swords, for the dew will rust them. / Good signior, you shall more command with years, / Than with your weapons” (76-79). Othello is extremely eloquent, even though he comments throughout the play that he thinks he does not speak well.]

9. How does Brabantio reason in lines 82-90 (“Damned as thou art…”) that Othello must have put Desdemona under a magical spell in order to have gotten her to marry him?

10. What news to Brabantio changes his plan to have Othello arrested right away? Where is everyone headed as the scene ends?

Passage of Interest

Look back at the questions and choose ONE question that you think represents the most interesting or significant moment of the reading. Explain your reasoning.

OR choose ONE phrase or sentence from the reading that interests you for ANY reason and that you want to discuss with a classmate, the teacher, or the entire class. Maybe it’s a line that you don’t understand. Write it down, along with the page number and the explanation for your choosing it. FILL THE GIVEN LINES BELOW.

Reading #2: Act 1, Scene 3[OPTIONAL] In the opening lines of the scene, what do the various conflicting reports received by the Duke and the First and Second Senators “confirm” (1.3.9)?

1. When the sailor reports that the Turks are heading for Rhodes, the skeptical First Senator says, “’Tis a pageant / To keep us in false gaze” (23-24). Paraphrase this line, which is significant because it might apply to various other scenes throughout the play.

[OPTIONAL] For what job does the Duke need to “employ” Othello, the “valiant Moor” (56)?

2. How does Brabantio accuse Othello of having “stol’n” and “corrupted” (73) Brabantio’s daughter, Desdemona? (He makes the same accusation in 1.1.)

[OPTIONAL] Noting that all he knows is being a soldier, “in the tented field” (100), how old does Othello say he was—an unbelievably young age—when he began his life as a soldier? [Note that this is why Othello says he is not well-spoken (“Rude of speech” (96)) when in fact he is considered to be among the most eloquent of all Shakespeare’s great protagonists.]

3. Responding to Brabantip’s accusation, Othello promises that he “will a round unvarnished tale deliver / On [his] whole course of love” (107), how he “won his daughter” (111), and begins his tale in fact on line 149 (“Her father loved me…”).

a. Give several “wondrous” (186) details of Othello’s story, which woos Desdemona.

b. In lines 193-194—“She loved me…And I loved her…”—Othello describes the two lovers’ attraction to the other. Why, specifically, does each love the other?

4. What is the “divided duty” (209) that Desdemona refers to?

[OPTIONAL] Brabantio responds to the Duke’s advice about not crying over spilled milk by commenting on “words” (249) of advice in general. Paraphrase the following sentence: “But words are words. I never did yet hear / That the bruised heart was pierced through the ear” (249-50):

5. Desdemona wants to go to Cyprus to join Othello after the battle (and Othello agrees). How does Desdemona make her case in her lines that begin with “I saw Othello’s visage in his mind” (287)? [Extra: And what is the significance of her seeing his “visage in his mind”?]

[OPTIONAL] How does Othello describe his ancient (ensign) Iago, who will look after Desdemona, in line 323, “A man he is…”?

6. What is Brabantio’s warning to Othello, just before he exits, and how does Othello respond (lines 334-335)?

[Note that the discussion between Iago and Rodrigo that follows is all in prose, except for Iago’s soliloquy that ends the scene.]

7. Iago tries to encourage Rodrigo in his pursuit of Desdemona (whom Rodrigo sees as being lost to Othello) by telling him repeatedly to “put money in thy purse” (382) (have cash ready to use on Desdemona). In his speech from lines 377 to 404, what comes through as Iago’s reasoning for Desdemona’s soon being available again?

8. Iago tells Rodrigo to “cuckold” Othello, in “If thou canst cuckold him, thou dost thyself a pleasure, me a sport” (411-12). What does it mean to “cuckold”?

9. In his soliloquy, Iago mentions another reason he hates “the Moor,” something that “is thought abroad” (430). What is it?

10. Why does Iago think that Othello is susceptible to being set up to believe that Cassio might be “too familiar with his wife” (439)?

Passage of InterestLook back at the questions and choose ONE question that you think represents the most interesting or significant moment of the reading. Explain your reasoning.


Reading #3: Act 2, Scene 1

1. What is the news from the Third Gentleman about the naval battle that is discussed by the Venetian official, Montano, and the First and Second Gentlemen?

2. From lines 28-44, give the language that is used to describe Othello—as we see how he is perceived by an objective population.

3. Now pay attention to how Desdemona is described by Cassio in his following three short speeches. Give two examples of his praise of her.

4. And give attention to Iago’s criticism of his wife, Emelia, and to all women.a. How does Iago respond to Cassio about Emelia, after the lieutenant gives Emelia a mannerly

kiss? [Extra: how would you stage Cassio’s kiss? A polite peck on the cheek, or something more…gratuitous?]

b. And how does he criticize women in his line that begins, “Come on, Come on! (122) and finishes with “You rise to play and go to bed to work” (128).

[Note: Desdemona, worried about Othello and asking whether his ship has come (“There’s one gone to the harbor?” (135), says to herself, “I am not merry, but I do beguile / The thing I am by seeming otherwise” (137-38). Here is another character announcing to the audience that she is not who she seems to be.]

5. Note the puns in Iago’s playful praising of Desdemona, specifically in lines 147-48: “If she be black, and thereto have a wit, / She’ll find a white [a man] that shall her blackness hit.” What two meanings are played with in the terms black and white?

[OPTIONAL] What is the meaning in Iago’s aside that begins, “He takes her by the palm” (182) as he responds to Cassio holding Desdemona’s hand?

6. “It stops me here; it is too much of joy” (215). a. What is “too much of joy”?

b. And what does Iago mean in “O, you are well tuned now” (218)?

7. According to Iago (speaking to Rodrigo) in lines 242-256, Othello is defective in “loveliness in favor, sympathy in years, manners, and beauty.” On what evidence is Iago basing his judgment of Othello and Desdemona’s relationship?

8. What inspires Rodrigo to say to Iago, “I cannot believe that in her” (271)?

9. In lines 285-298 (“But sir, be you ruled by me…”), Iago explains his plan to entrap Cassio and bring him down. Briefly, what’s the plan?

10. In Iago’s final soliloquy, find the two places in the text where Iago suspects both Othello and Cassio of sleeping with his wife, Emelia.



Reading 4: Act 2, Scene 2—Act 2, Scene 3[This is a particularly good section to listen to, if just for the pub scene and the fight scene in 2.3.]

2.21. Paraphrase the news of the Herald.

2.32. When Othello gives directions to Cassio to be on guard tonight, he cautions, “Let’s teach ourselves that

honorable stop / Not to outsport our discretion” (2-3), what is he saying and why is it ironic now to a reader who knows how the play will end?

[Note: When Othello beckons Desdemona to come with him, that “The purchase made, the fruits are to ensue” (11) he is suggesting of course that they sleep together for the first time and consummate their marriage. Now if they have by the end of the scene, then Othello would know that Desdemona was virginal up to then. However, the play ends with Othello mentioning Desdemona’s “chastity” in death. If this is true, why doesn’t Othello sleep with Desdemona?]

3. Describe briefly how Iago and Cassio are differently describing Desdemona’s character in lines 15-30.

[OPTIONAL] What does Cassio express as his problem with alcohol, and then what is Iago’s plan, which he lays out in soliloquy in lines 49-66?

4. What is Montano referring to in his conversation with Iago, when he says, “It were well / The General were put in mind of it” (137-38)?

5. Describe briefly the fight scene: Who is involved and hurt before Cassio tells Othello, “I pray you pardon me; I cannot speak” (201)?

6. What is Iago referring to in “But men are men; the best sometimes forget” (256)?

[OPTIONAL] Where does Othello go, after he is woken up by the brawl (not back to bed with his wife)?

7. For Cassio, in losing his reputation, what does he say he has lost—and what remains?

8. Describe briefly Iago’s “plan” for Cassio’s revival of his station, in lines 333-345, which begin, “I’ll tell you what you shall do.”

9. Explain Iago’s line in his soliloquy, “So will I turn virtue into pitch” (380).

10. After Iago placates Rodrigo, who has lost confidence in his suit of Desdemona, he continues his soliloquy and his plan. What “Two things are to be done” now (404)?



Reading #5: Act 3, Scene 1—Act 3, Scene 23.11. Comedy. “Some critics argue that the dramatic function of the Clown’s punning is to foreshadow the

misunderstandings that are shortly to come” (Cambridge School Shakespeare—Othello, 92). Some productions cut this section from the scene.

Make a quick decision. Why would you keep it or cut it?

2. What is Emilia—Iago’s wife and Desdemona’s attendant/companion—being asked to do by Iago and Cassio? What is your first impression of her? Give two details that support this impression.

3.23. Scan the events of 3.3 and review the brief events of 3.1. Now, consider and discuss what you think is

the dramatic purpose of the extremely short 3.2.



Reading 6: Act 3, Scene 3

1. Describe the level of commitment of support Desdemona expresses to Cassio just before—and right after—she tells him to “be merry” (28).

[Note Iago’s subtle initial remark to Othello, just as he and Othello enter and Cassio leaves, which begins the casting of the net that will ensnare Othello.]

[OPTIONAL] How does Desdemona initially reason with Othello to reconcile with Cassio?

2. After Othello agrees to reinstate Cassio (to Desdemona, “I will deny you nothing” (93)) and Desdemona and Emilia leave, he foreshadows his downfall. Explain.

3. Othello to Iago: “As if there were some monster in thy thought too hideous to be shown” (122). Read over Othello’s words that follow. Does Othello suspect Desdemona’s infidelity already, as he responds to what Iago is saying—or is this simply an honest question about Iago’s comment? Briefly express your thinking.

[OPTIONAL] When Othello says to Iago, “For I know that ‘rt full of love and honesty” (136), how does he then ironically distinguish Iago from a knave and give credit to Iago’s words?

[Note Iago’s line “Men should be what they seem; / Or those that be not, would they might seem none!” and remember his line in 1.1, “I am not what I am” (71). See how reputation and appearance continue to make their way into the play.]

4. How does Iago cleverly reason that he should not be required to “Utter my thoughts” (159)?

[OPTIONAL] In the passage that begins with “O, beware, my lord, of jealousy!” (195), Iago describes two cuckolds. Which is the one who is “damned” and why?

5. How does Othello reason, from line 220—“ No, Iago”—about his process for investigating a rumor?

6. “And so she did” (241): Othello is hooked. What’s the final trick Iago uses to get it done? [Note that just

a moment later, Othello seals his commitment to Iago, in “I am bound to thee forever” (249).]

[Note: When Othello defends Desdemona with “I do not think but Desdemona’s honest” (265), he is referring to her sexual purity; honest in this case means chaste.]

[OPTIONAL] In Othello’s soliloquy of lines 299-318, what is the “curse of marriage” (309)?

7. Emilia picks up the handkerchief. What does she say that makes the handkerchief significant to Desdemona? And what is her reasoning for taking it? And then, when Emelia leaves, what does Iago explain to be his plan for the handkerchief?

8. Explain the “sweet sleep” (381) Iago refers to when looking at Othello, who has just re-entered the room.

9. Othello beside himself: I had been happy if the general camp, / Pioners and all, had tasted her sweet body, / So I had nothing known” (397-99). What is Othello’s point here?

10. “Give me the ocular proof!” (412). When Othello challenges Iago to have some proof (441), what bold suggestion does Iago offer?

[OPTIONAL] What is the initial proof Iago offers to Othello, when he begins, “Pricked to’t by foolish honest and love, / I will go on” (469-470)?

[OPTIONAL] In the final sequence with Othello and Iago, what is the plan for Cassio—and how does Othello reward Iago for what he thinks is honesty and allegience?



Reading 7: Act 3, Scene 4

1. The Clown again. Explain the pun on the word lie that is used playfully with Desdemona, who is looking for Cassio.

[Speaking of lies, note Emelia’s unabashed lie, her response to Desdemona’s question of the handkerchief’s whereabouts.]

2. Paraphrase Desdemona’s response to Emelia’s question about Othello, “Is he not jealous?” (30).

3. How does Othello respond to Desdemona when he takes her hand beginning at line 41?

4. Give several details of both the family significance and the magical qualities of the handkerchief that Othello over and is of course missing.

5. When Desdemona says, “Then would to God that I had never seen ‘t!” (90), she appears to suspect that Othello is trying to trick her. What is this “trick to put me from my suit” (101)? [Note how Iago has set up this perfect convergence of competing passions in Othello and Desdemona.]

6. Paraphrase Emelia’s comment on men, spoken when Othello leaves in anger, that begins, “’Tis not a year or two shows us a man. / They are all but stomachs, and we all but food” (120-21).

7. When Iago says to Cassio, “There is no other way; ‘tis she must do ‘t” (125), he is protecting his plan. Why does Iago need Desdemona to speak with Othello about Cassio and not Cassio himself?

8. How does Desdemona reason/explain Othello’s behavior in her response to Iago’s comment of surprise that Othello is angry (“—and is he angry? / Something of moment then” (157-58))?

9. How does Emelia respond to Desdemona’s claim that she “never gave [Othello] cause” (178) to be jealous?

10. Finally, describe the interaction between Bianca, a Cyprus prostitute (and girlfriend of Cassio) and Cassio.



(CONTINUE >)


1. Iago continues to bait Othello with comments about Desdemona and Cassio. Note the conversation that leads up to Othello’s falling into a “trance” at line 52. What is the likely effect of the epileptic trance on the audience?

2. Paraphrase Iago’s calm response, which begins, “Work on” (53).

[Look to the left of the page in the Folger text to the note on Othello’s response to Iago—“Dost thou mock me” (72)—who in the previous line asks Othello, “Have you not hurt your head.]

3. How does Iago reason to Othello that he should take his cuckolding like a man, in the passage that begins “Good sir, be a man!” (79)?

4. Describe Iago’s plan that follows, which he describes to Othello and then confides to the audience when Othello withdraws.

5. How would you stage the following section of the scene so it’s believable—that Othello is not able to hear the conversation between Cassio and Iago but can see it so that he will believe that they are discussing Desdemona?

6. “But yet the pity of it, Iago! O, Iago, the pity of it, Iago!” (215). What is significant of Othello’s emotional comment here?

7. After Bianca leaves, Othello is full of rage and plans first to kill Cassio before planning his murder of Desdemona. List the possible means by which he plans to kill Desdemona before he is pleased with the “justice” (228) of Iago’s suggestion. And what is Iago’s suggestion?

8. As Lodovico, an officer from Venice, questions Othello about Cassio—and Desdemona shares the news of their fallng out—Lodovico gives the news of the letter, in lines 261-262, which begins a line earlier, with “Maybe the letter moved him” (260). What is the news?

9. After Othello strikes Desdemona and then calls her back on Lodovico’s request, how does he play with the word turn, in his speech that begins with “And you did wish that I would make her turn” (284)?

10. How does Lodovico describe Othello, beginning with “Is this the noble Moor” (297), by which the audience can both be reminded of what Othello’s reputation is and also how far he has fallen?




1. There is dramatic irony in several places in this scene in Emeila’s comments on Othello’s suspicions. Give an early example, in her lines that begin, “I durst [I do] my lord, to wager she is honest” (13).

2. When Desdemona stands up and asks Othello directly, “With whom? How am I false?” (49), how does Othello respond. Give a brief explanation why Othello does not here answer her directly by saying Cassio’s name.

3. How is Patience personified in Othello’s speech that begins, “Had it pleased heaven / to try me with afflction” (57-58)? And why does it look “grim”?

[Note that Desdemona asks Emelia to “Lay on my bed my wedding sheets” (122), another suggestion perhaps that she and Othello have not consummated the marriage.]

4. Emelia recounts the sacrifices that Desdemona has made (“noble matches” (146) forsaken) to marry Othello. What are they?

5. What is the differing opinion between Desdemona and Emelia on how the “villainous knave” (164) who is responsible for Othello’s misunderstanding should be punished? Briefly comment on the significance of this.

6. How does Iago, in his effort to comfort Desdemona to “be content” (194), explain Othello’s behavior?

7. Explain Roderigo’s frustration is his complaints to Iago.

8. How does Iago reason with Roderigo of the necessity of killing Cassio, or “knocking out his brains” (263)?




1. Paraphrase Desdemona’s three-line response to Emelia, who, still upset with Othello’s treatment of her mistress, says, “I would you had never seen him” (19). (The response begins “So would not I” (20)).

2. Describe the foreshadowing that goes on in the next two passages from Desdemona, first in a request she has for Emelia and then in a story she tells of her mother’s maid. Then briefly discuss the dramatic effect of this foreshadowing.

3. What is significant in line of the song “Willow” that comes just before Desdemona corrects herself by saying, “Nay, that’s not next” (57)?

4. What follows the song (to the end of the scene) is a discussion between Desdemona and Emelia in response to the song’s final line, in the voice of the male character—“If I court more women, you’ll couch with more men” (61)—in which Desdemona wonders if there are women who “do abuse their husbands / In such gross kind” (68-69).

a. First, what is the well-known double-standard that Desdemona invokes through this question?

[Note Emelia’s bawdy joke, responding to Desdemona, who, not wanting to commit adultery, exclaims, “Not by this heavenly light!” (74)]

b. Explain Emelia’s reasoning in “It’s a great price for a small vice” (78-79), when she begins, “In troth, I think I should” (80).

c. Read carefully through Emelia’s long speech on women (If you read The Merchant of Venice, you might recall Shylock’s “Hath not a Jew eyes” speech.), beginning with “I do think it is their husbands’ faults / If wives do fall” (97-98). Jot down a few notable points.

d. Read Desdemona’s final couplet (and also, if you need to, the paraphrasing on the left side of the Folger edition). Briefly comment whether you think this response makes the MODERN reader more or less sympathetic to her.



Reading #11: Act 5, Scene 11. What is meant by Iago’s line to Roderigo, urging him to successfully kill Cassio, “It makes us or it mars

us” (5). Also, wait until the end of the scene to write down Iago’s final line.

[Interesting note: This line precedes an identical line, written three years later, from the Porter in Macbeth (“It makes him and it mars him”), about the use of alcohol and desire.]

2. What does Roderigo mean by “’Tis but a man gone” (11)” as he justifies his planned attempt to kill Cassio?

3. How does Iago reason the preferable deaths of both Roderigo and Cassio?

4. When Othello hears the cries of Cassio, he speaks an aside—first to Iago and then to Desdemona. a. Why is Iago his teacher, in “Thou teachest me” (34)?

b. What does he have to say about Desdemona’s “charms” (38)?

[Extra: Examine the significance of the following: “Thy bed, lust-stained, shall with lust’s blood be spotted” (40).]

5. Describe briefly the events of the plan, just before Bianca arrives, regarding Roderigo, Cassio, and Iago.

6. What is behind Iago’s motivation to “suspect this trash (Bianca) / To be a party in this injury” (99-100)?

[Note Iago’s line to Bianca, “Nay, gultiness will speak, / Though tongues were out of use” (129-30) foreshadows Iago’s line at the end of the play, “From this time forth, I never will speak a word” (5.2.355).]

7. How does Bianca defend herself against Emelia, who curses her with “Oh, fie upon thee, strumpet!” (142)?

8. Now, write down Iago’s final line in the space at Question #1.



(Final) Reading #12: Act 5, Scene 2[Note that throughout the scene, Othello uses language of compassion, honor, and love, not vengeance or anger, as he prepares and succeeds to kill Desdemona. As you read, ask if this elevates Othello for the audience or reduces him, revealing his ignorance or selfishness and arousing pity or disdain?]

1. Read Othello’s speech to sleeping Desdemona slowly. Write down several key moments of love and justice that are in this speech.

2. Othello asks Desdemona if she has “prayed” (28) for forgiveness and that he “would not kill thy unprepared spirit /…I would not kill thy soul” (36-37). Then what is he killing? Comment on the significance of Othello’s concern.

[Note: In Hamlet, which you will read next year, Hamlet decides not to kill Claudius while Claudius is confessing his crime, for fear that Claudius will get rewarded with Heaven.]

3. In responding to Desdemona cries of innocence, Othello, in lines 78-80, says, “O perjured woman, thou dost stone my heart.” What is the effect, according to Othello, of his hardened heart?

Optional: When Othello tells Desdemona in line 85 that Cassio “hath confessed,” what confession is Othello thinking of?

Optional: What should the audience make of Othello’s response to Emelia’s approaching the room: “My wife, my wife! I have no wife, / O insupportable! O heavy hour!” (121-22)?

4. When Emelia announces the “foul murders done” (132), what is the secondary meaning of Othello’s response, “What? Now?” (133)?

5. In her last lines, what is Desdemona’s final gift of love to Othello?

[Note that Othello’s blackness is invoked again, here by Emelia, who says, “O, the more angel she, and you the blacker devil!” (163).]

6. When Emelia insults Othello and Desdomona’s marriage by calling it a “most filthy bargain” (192), how does she then respond to Othello’s response, when he “draws his sword”?

Optional: How does Iago maintain his honesty in saying that he “told no more / Than what he found himself was apt and true” (212-13)?

7. When Emelia accuses Iago of “Villainy, villainy, villainy!” (227), she also says, “I thought so then. I’ll kill myself for grief!” (229). What does she mean by then?

Optional: What is the news that Gratiano—Desdemona’s uncle—gives about her father, Brabantio?

Optional: Why does Emelia cry out “O God! O heavenly God!” (258)? [Note (and hint): The handkerchief, the most well-known artifact of the play, is the undoing of not only Desdemona and Cassio but also, finally, Iago. Revealing it costs Emelia her life—but she is not undone.]

[Note: Once Othello sees Iago’s guilt, and before he calls him a “Precious villain” (282), he exclaims, “Are there no stones in heaven / But what serves for the thunder?” (281-82). Look to the left page of the Folger edition for the interesting translation.]

8. What is significant about Othello’s line to dead Desdemona, “Cold, cold, my girl? / Even like thy chastity” (326-27)?

9. Comment on the difference in responses of Othello and Iago, who are asked to account for their role in the tragic deaths.

a. How does Othello respond to Lodovico, who asks, “What shall be said to thee?” (344)?

b. How does Iago respond to Othello, who wants to know “Why he hath thus ensnared my soul and body?” (354)?

[Note: The letters found with Roderigo and the presence of Cassio help to clear everything up for the authorities, and for Othello.]

10. Read over Othello’s final speech, which amounts to his obituary. Find one part/line which is true—that he sees himself as the audience likely does; and find one part/line which is false—that he misrepresents or misunderstands himself.



OPTIONAL Reading Assignment Response (You may use this template for ANY reading assignment.)Name of Book: Chapter(s) and Pages Read:

Remember the common reading strategies among strong readers:

QUESTION: ASK QUESTIONS WHILE YOU READ—to check your understanding, or to further it.

CONNECT: CONNECT TO WHAT YOU ALREADY KNOW—about yourself, other books, the world.

VISUALIZE: Imagine the scenes you’re reading about; MAKE MOVIES IN YOUR MIND.

SUMMARIZE: Check that you can RESTATE WHAT YOU’RE READING IN YOUR OWN WORDS.

INFER: DRAW A CONCLUSION about the story based on what you read—EVEN IF IT’S NOT SPECIFIED.

REPAIR: Don’t be afraid to STOP IF YOU DON’T GET SOMETHING and try to figure out why you don’t.

1. Summarize List key moments while reading (in bullet points); then choose your top five to make questions about.

Reading Notes

2. 2. Question Write five plot-oriented/literal-level questions, with answers, that cover the whole of the reading that cover what you think are the essential moments/events (or key pieces of information, in the case of non-fiction) of the reading.

a.

b.

c.

d.

e.

3. Infer Write three inferential/analytical questions that ask for closer reading and deeper thinking on the part of the reader. Choose significant moments or difficult passages to ask readers to go beyond merely a literal-level response.

a.

b.

c.

4. Visualize Draw a memorable scene from the reading (stick figures are fine) with a caption below that summarizes the action.

In this scene…

5. Passage of InterestLook back at the questions and choose ONE question that you think represents the most interesting or significant moment of the reading. Explain your reasoning.


ENGLISH 213—JUNIOR ENGLISH - Alan...

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