OTHELLO - SHAKESPEARE - ESSAY EXAMPLE

Here is an example of an essay on Othello. Please note, it is not written in the modern PEEL style of analytical essay, but nevertheless, has some good points which may be helpful in your exam.

It deals with the characters, Iago, Othello, Desdemona, Cassio.

 OTHELLO ESSAY

Written in 1604, Othello is one of Shakespeare's most highly concentrated, tightly constructed tragedies, with no subplots and little humour to relieve the tension. Othello is one of Shakespeare's four great tragedies and is unique among these tragedies. Unlike Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth, which are set against a backdrop of affairs of state and which reverberate with suggestions of universal human concerns, Othello is set in a private world and focuses on the passions and personal lives of its major figures. Indeed, it has often been described as a "tragedy of character"; Othello's swift descent into jealousy and rage and Iago's dazzling display of villainy have long fascinated students and critics of the play. The relationship between these characters is another unusual feature of Othello. With two such prominent characters so closely associated, determining which is the central figure in the play and which bears the greater responsibility for the tragedy is difficult.

More than anything else, what distinguishes Othello from its great tragedies' peers is the role of its villain, Iago, whose diabolical role is confusing to say the least. What motivates this character to bring about the downfall of the main characters? Iago is a character who essentially writes the play's main plot, takes a key part in it, and gives first-hand direction to the others, most notably to the noble Moor, Othello. The play presents us with two remarkable characters, Iago and his victim, with Iago as the dominant force that causes Othello to see the infidelity of his young and beautiful wife, Desdemona, with his favourite lieutenant, Michael Cassio. Indeed, not only is "seeing" and the gap between appearance and reality a central theme of the play, it overlaps with other major thematic strands (trust, honour, and reputation) and sheds light on still others, including the theme of patriarchy and the political state. Shakespeare related almost every incident directly to the development of Iago's schemes and Othello's escalating fears. This structure heightens the tragedy's ominous mood and makes the threat to both Desdemona's innocence and the love she and Othello share more terrifying.

Although narrow in scope, Othello, with its intimate domestic setting, is widely regarded as the most moving and the most painful of Shakespeare's great tragedies. The fall of a proud, dignified man, the murder of a graceful, loving woman, and the unreasoning hatred of a "motiveless" villain—all have evoked fear and pity in audiences throughout the centuries. It possesses a power that is perhaps more immediate and strongly felt for operating on the personal, human plane.

http://www.enotes.com/topics/othello

I have edited the full essay.

THE MERCHANT OF VENICE - SHAKESPEARE - PLAY - EXAM PRACTICE QUESTION - ANALYTICAL ESSAY

WRITING AN ANALYTICAL ESSAY ON 'THE MERCHANT OF VENICE' using PEEL structure: go here to learn more about this structure.

Considering most exam questions require approximately 600 - 700 words, break it down something like this -

INTRODUCTION - 150 words
BODY PARAGRAPHS - 150 words each
CONCLUSION - 70 words

PRACTICE QUESTION:

Shakespeare wrote many romantic comedies which usually followed a formula. How did he use characterization and conflict in The Merchant of Venice to follow his common theme of 'love overcoming all obstacles'?

INTRODUCTION: (This is what you're going to do...)

C - Context
T - Thesis
A - Argument/s

BODY PARAGRAPHS: - This is how you do it...

P - Main Point of paragraph
E - Further explanation of main point
E - Example/s, Evidence - QUOTE/S
L (3 times) - Linking sentence - link to thesis and next paragraph opening sentence

CONCLUSION: - This is how you've done it...

T - Revisit thesis
A - Summarise your arguments
G - General statement about the question

CONTEXT: (Use some of this information in the INTRODUCTION - background information, opening to essay). Maybe first two sentences.

The Merchant of Venice is one of Shakespeare's romantic comedies, probably written between 1594 and 1596, and forming one of a group of such comedies - Two Gentlemen of Verona, As You Like It and Twelfth Night. Romantic comedy was a popular and much-performed type in the Elizabethan theatre: certain characters and situations, and a certain kind of plot development were conventional and expected by the audience. The chief element and central motive was love - besides the hero and heroine there were often two and even three subsidiary couples who are in love. In Merchant of Venice we have Portia and Bassanio in the centre, flanked by two other couples, Jessica and Lorenzo, and Nerissa and Gratiano. The comic elements used by Shakespeare often include disguise, through situations, by wit (usually the heroine is cleverer than the men in the play), and by a clown (often providing farce).

All drama, however, must have conflict. In romantic comedy the conflict is between the lovers on one hand and some barrier to the fulfillment of their love on the other. This barrier may take the form of social rule, a parent, or any combination of things which initially prevent the course of true love running smooth. In The Merchant of Venice the barrier is Shylock's hold over Antonio, which in turn involves his friend Bassanio. The plot of the play consists simply in overcoming the barrier, bringing about a celebration at the end, often several celebrations in the form of marriage.

MORE ABOUT SHAKESPEARE'S ROMANTIC COMEDIES

Shakespeare's romantic comedies are in many ways related to the older medieval and Renaissance romances - stories in which the everyday world of cause and effect is suspended and where, as in fairy stories, we are not meant to worry over the plausibility of events and situations. The Merchant of Venice has much of this romantic quality - the suitor who seeks the hand of the princess has to pass a mysterious test to win it.

THESIS: Highlight KEYWORDS. Answer the question. Turn it around. What do you think?

THREE ARGUMENTS: There are three couples in this play. Perfect. A Body Paragraph on each - not all equal - more space given to Portia and Bassiano, the main couple.

While you are learning how to write an Analytical Essay, it may help to color code your INTRODUCTION like this to make sure you have included everything:

YELLOW - broad statement on the topic
BROWN - general statement on the topic
GREEN - plot summary
PINK - thesis
 BLUE - arguments (3) using characters (3)

OTHELLO - CHARACTERS - EXAM QUESTION

IAGO

Iago's capacity for cruelty seems limitless, and no motivation for his actions seems enough to explain the incredible destruction he wreaks on the lives of the people he knows best. Is Iago pure evil?

IAGO

Evil has nowhere been portrayed with such mastery as in the character of Iago.

IAGO

Iago is a being who hates good simply because it is good, and loves evil purely for itself. His motives spring from a 'motiveless malignancy', or a disinterested delight in the pain of others. Othello, Desdemona and Cassio are scarcely more than the material requisite for the full attainment of this delight. 

HAMLET - SOLILOQUIES - THE ASIDE

The SOLILOQUY was a very convenient device in the drama for allowing the audience, in the least possible time, to follow the inmost thought and purpose of a character. It was in constant use down to very recent times. Moreover, it is a fact and common practice that people do talk to themselves under stress of thought or emotion, usually in very short sentences, but nevertheless considerably self-explanatory. It was therefore legitimately based on human experience. Modern audiences will have none of it, however, except perhaps, as a series of swear words. The reason perhaps is that it seems too highly artificial to the majority who have not seen the phenomenon, and if they did see it, would consider it as a species of insanity. Their objection, too, is based on the 'realistic' conception of the theatre prevalent since 1900 and owing much of its spread to one David Belasco of New York, who tried to have everything 'real' on his sets, thereby ruining the plays, the actors and particularly the imaginations of his audiences. There can be no 'realism' about the theatre. It is all make believe, a fancy, a dream. The only realism it can have is the reality of illusion it creates in the imagination of the audiences.

SOLILOQUIES were useful for letting the audience know what was going on elsewhere or what some other character intended. They were sometimes long, as Hamlet's were, and, of course, modern audiences will not tolerate long speeches except under very unusual circumstances.

LIST OF HAMLET'S SOLILOQUIES

1. Act 1, Sc. 2, line 129
2. Act 1, Sc. 5, line 92
3. Act 11, Sc. 2, line 576
4. Act 111, Sc. 1, line 56--'To be or not to be...'
5. Act 111, Sc. 2, line 406
6. Act 111, Sc. 3, line 73
7. Act 1V, Sc. 4, line 32.

THE ASIDE

...a brief soliloquy while other characters were on the stage and not supposed to be heard by them. It served the same purpose as the soliloquy--to give the audience an idea of what was going on, or of the character's personal opinions. Asides are common enough in any assemblage today, but a curse to a theatre audience, because the actors have to speak so loudly for the audience to be able to hear, that it seems absurd to assume that those who are so much closer on stage have not heard. Also the modern audience takes the aside as an insult; it would rather judge action, personalities and issues itself. There is only one Aside in Hamlet--Laertes' speech (Act V, Sc.2, line 306).

HAMLET - SHAKESPEARE - PLAY - NOTES ON THE PLAY

• Shakespeare's immediate source for Hamlet was a lost play, probably by Thomas Kyd, known as the Ur-Hamlet.
• At the end of the sixteenth century, when Hamlet was written, England was a country undergoing change, a country where the old assumptions no longer applied.
• The Hamlet story dealt with a country in turmoil after a change of monarch, and the contrasts in Shakespeare's play between the Elder Hamlet and Claudius have obvious relevance to contemporary issues of the sort.
• There were intellectual changes. The old medieval order was passing away. The new age of scientific thought and rational inquiry was beginning. Galileo and Descartes were on the horizon. 
• Hamlet himself was an intellectual trying to make sense of the world--the confused end of one era and the painful birth of another.
• Hamlet is one of Shakespeare's most complex and intriguing characters. He is a man of contradictions, who undergoes a remarkable change during the course of the play. Whatever his character was before the play begins, we understand that he changes when faced with the moral shock at the beginning of the play.
• The central theme of Hamlet is REVENGE and Hamlet is the REVENGER.
• 'To be or not to be...' is a fine instance of a Hamlet beset with doubts and faced with choices.
• Hamlet chooses madness as a disguise--madness becomes a reaction to, and an escape from, the world around him, as it does for Ophelia, who is unable to cope with the results of the chain of circumstances in which she is wrapped.
• Death is a major concern of Hamlet and it reverberates through the play. 
• There is a great deal of imagery in Hamlet--cosmetics to cover up. An emblem both of the human attempt to avoid the approach of physical decay and the tendency to cover things up. Ulcers provide a striking picture of how the corruption within the Danish court is superficially concealed.
• The imagery of the play is dominated by the idea of disease--decay, rotting, infection and corruption are common. Hamlet sees his country as a vast garden gone to seed.
• Keywords in the play are mostly to do with disguise--Apparition, seems, seeming, assume, habits, put on, shape, play, act, show. 
• Hamlet changes a great deal through the play. To demonstrate this, his language alters markedly, indicating his shifts of mood. He employs many puns, appropriate in a world where nothing is what it seems. He is fond of questions and bitter riddles.

HAMLET - SHAKESPEARE - PLAY - QUESTIONS

After reading the play, Hamlet, answer the following questions.

1. Why does Hamlet delay in carrying out the Ghost's instructions?
2. Do you agree with Ophelia's comment about Hamlet in Act Three, Scene 1 - 'O, what a noble mind is here o'erthrown'?
3. Why do you think that Hamlet has always been one of the most popular of Shakespeare's plays on the stage?
4. What is your view of the Ghost?
5. How far do you sympathise with Ophelia?
6. What do we learn about Hamlet from his soliloquies?
7. '...So shall you hear/Of carnal, bloody and unnatural acts,/Of accidental judgements, casual slaughters,/And, in this upshot, purposes mistook/Fall'n on the inventors' heads.'                                                                       How far do you find Horatio's words a fair summary of the play?
8. Does Polonius deserve his death?
9. What changes do you notice in Hamlet after his return from England?'
10. What have you learnt from Hamlet, as a result of your experience of the play?

TIME MANAGEMENT - SCHEDULING FOR HIGH SCHOOL

THREE KEY STEPS TO TIME MANAGEMENT

•        Develop a Weekly Schedule

–       to provide an overview of free and committed time

•        Write a Daily To-Do List

–       to provide daily reminders to assure key tasks are not forgotten

•        Prepare a Long-Term Plan

–       to promote overall organization and future planning

STEP ONE

•        Use a weekly schedule template, a student agenda, or a computer program to:

–       Organize your regular activities

–       Determine your available free time

–       Look at hours spent on extra-curricular activities

–       See how much time you study

–       Know how and where you tend to waste time

•        Fill in the weekly schedule in this sequence:

–       Personal Maintenance (i.e. eating, sleeping, getting ready, travel)

–       Your classes

–       Your work commitments

–       Other Commitments (volunteer, extra-curricular etc.)

THEN fill in other OPTIONAL commitments

WHERE DOES THE TIME GO?

•        Approx. 110 hours of time is consumed by personal maintenance and class time

•        Work and other commitments may take up to another 14+ hours

•        That leaves approximately 44 hours remaining - this is YOUR time to spend how you see fit!

•        If you can’t figure out where that 44 hours goes every week, keep track of how you spend your time for the next 7 days – you’ll be amazed at how it gets used!

•        No one expects that a student will use every minute of their free time to do work – but it seems reasonable that at least half of it will be devoted to academics (and even more at very busy times)

 

STEP TWO

•        It’s helpful to create a list with the following headings as a way to organize your time:

Wednesday, February 26

Task                                Time Req.       Importance                     Other Notes

Math homework               1 hour                  Important

Debating                            2 hours                  Very important        Drama Room

Science Quiz                      ½ hour                  Very important        Cell structures

Geography mapping        ½ hour                  Important                 Extra help from

English Task                       2 hours                 Very important         Mrs. Belford

•        It’s even more effective to actually create a daily schedule and block out the time when events will happen

•        It’s important to tick things off on your daily to-do list as you complete them – gives you a sense of accomplishment

•        Try to put down a little more on your list than you think you can realistically accomplish

•        Breaking down large projects into smaller tasks that you can accomplish in small chunks of time is one of the most effective TM strategies

STEP THREE

•        Use a monthly calendar

•        Important to be able to look ahead by at least 4 weeks

•        As soon as you are informed of deadlines for assignments, test dates etc. put them on the calendar so you can ensure that you’re able to do some long-range planning

•        A very important step in preventing last minute cramming or rushed assignments

PROCRASTINATION

•        While procrastinating may give immediate gratification because it delays working on an important (but sometimes undesirable) task, it also brings:

–       Anxiety

–       Reduced sleep

–       Illness

–       Lower grades

–       Poorer quality of work

–       Less learning as a result of being rushed

–       A personal sense of disappointment

•        In the end, it hurts you more than it helps you!

THE IMPORTANCE OF SETTING PRIORITIES

•        At any one time, you may have 10 tasks that ideally you should be working on – it will be impossible to do them all!

•        Setting priorities means making a value judgment on each task you need to complete based on it’s worth and when it must be completed

•        In short:  the tasks that are worth the most and due the soonest should be your #1 priority!

HOW MUCH TIME SHOULD I BE SPENDING?

•        If you don’t know how much time a particular task should be taking up, here are some helpful suggestions:

–       Ask your teacher for some guidance

–       Speak to other successful students in the class

–       Break the task down into various stages and consider an appropriate amount of time for each step

–       Consider the value of and deadline for the task and weigh it against other priorities

WHAT IF I GET OFF SCHEDULE?

•        It’s important to prepare for the unexpected – things will always come up that you didn’t plan for…even after great planning!

•        When your plan is thrown into chaos:

–       List each necessary activity you need to complete

–       Define time limits for each activity

–       Set priorities within the list

–       Tackle assignments in that order

WHAT IF I JUST HAVE TOO MUCH GOING ON?

•        If you find that you have very few hours left in your day, week or month to relax, spend time with friends or family, or pursue your own interests, it’s time to re-evaluate your commitments!

•        If you spread yourself too thin, you won’t fulfill any of the commitments in your life to your level of satisfaction

•        Again, be sure to prioritize and don’t feel guilty if you need to drop an activity or two – your health and well-being is always your #1 priority!

IN SUMMARY

•        Time management is a skill that EVERYONE must work on in all areas of their life (personal, academic, work)

•        Successful time management requires self-evaluation and the desire to improve

•        Effective time management will require you to do things you don’t want to do when you don’t want to do them – you have to push yourself! 

•        The pay-off of good time management is ALWAYS worth the effort

NEED MORE HELP?

•        Talk to your teachers about their suggestions in how to manage the workload in the class

•        Let your parents, friends, coaches etc. know how you are feeling – their support is important

•        Book an appointment with your counsellor in Student Services to actually practice some of the time management techniques

•        If your mental or physical health is impeding your ability to manage your time effectively, see your family doctor