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Set Othello, Assignment #1 with Options Kubus English 4, Othello, Assignment #1 Options To assist your study of Othello and to think about some issues in the play we won’t have time to cover together in class, I am giving you a choice of short assignments designed to look at either text or performance. These options range from those more creative in nature to those a little more academically traditional. You’ll also have the choice, depending on the option you choose, to work on your own or in pairs. Regardless of which option you choose, the assignment is due on the same day and is worth 100 points. OPTION 1: Performance comparison Due Dates: Friday, April 6, 2018 Length: 500-750 words Value: 100-pt essay grade Submission: Submit to turnitin.com by 3:30 pm, 6 April 2018. Normal late policy applies. Method: On your own Your first option is to compare two performances of an early speech in Othello, interpreting cinematic and narrative techniques and constructing an argument about how each interpretation of the character differs from the other. You’ll first choose the speech and then choose the two versions of that speech to write about. *** 1.3 (“Thus do I ever make my fool my purse”) 1.3 (“Her father loved me, oft invited me”) Performance #1: Othello (1990), performed by Ian McKellen, Performance #1: Othello (2007), performed by Eamonn directed by Trevor Nunn (Begin at 5:00) Walker, directed by Wilson Milam (Begin at 3:45) Performance #2: Othello (1995), performed by Kenneth Performance #2: Othello (2009), performed by James Earl Branagh, directed by Oliver Parker Jones at the White House Performance #3: Othello (1981), performed by Bob Hoskins, Performance #3: Othello (1951), performed by Orson Welles, directed by Jonathan Miller directed by Orson Welles *** How’s it done? 1) Watch all six clips. Then choose the one that most inspires you. Mine, for instance, is Ian McKellen’s “Thus do I ever make my fool my purse.” Choose one of the other two versions of the same speech, taking notes on the performance choices by both director and performer. What conversations do you imagine them having, and what decisions do they come to about the character at this moment in the play? 2) Rather than offering a catalogue of your observations regarding the films’ similarities and differences, your essay should pose an argument about the significance of the connection. The structure of your argument could be the same as always: “I want to show you these elements of performance in order to argue that Branagh’s Iago is…, unlike McKellen’s Iago who understands…” 3) Although the comparison/contrast essay examines a large-scale question, close “textual” analysis will serve as your main source of Kubus English 4, Othello, Assignment #1 Options evidence. In supporting your argument, you will need to pay attention to how the films interpret the speech through narrative and/or cinematic techniques. Focus on specific shots, movements, intonations, pauses, the cinematic codes at work in these scenes that give insight into emotion and motivation. You’ve done a great job of this in class already; now we want to translate our discussions to our essays. We’ve been closely reading texts; now we’re closely reading film – same methodology, different types of evidence. 4) While you can organize your comparison/contrast essay in several ways, you should avoid discussing one film in full, then turning to the other. This format relegates the comparison/contrast to the second half of the paper. Instead, you can structure the first part of the essay around similarities, moving from one film to the other, and the second part around differences, discussing each film in turn. You can also focus each paragraph on one similarity or difference, discussing examples from both films. Explore, discover, be delighted. Don’t even think about googling. My office door is always open if you have any questions. Aggressively search and destroy errors with extreme prejudice. I want to see you take more pride on your work. Proofread, proofread, proofread. Review your MLA rules. Don’t lose easy points. Also, check this site out for help with citing film. OPTION 2: What ’s in a word? Due Dates: Friday, April 6, 2018 Length: 500-750 words Value: 100-pt essay grade Submission: Submit to turnitin.com by 3:30 pm, 6 April 2018. Normal late policy applies. Method: On your own Another option for the next writing assignment of the term is a short one, delving deep into the denotations and connotations of a single word in what we’ve read so far of Othello. You’re to choose one word in Othello that strikes you, that you’ve noticed recurs again and again. Then, you will write a 500-750-word essay about the significance of the word as it pertains to the larger themes in the play. How’s it done? 1. Choose a word. You might consider using one of the following, or you might be more adventurous and go in search of one of your own: ’Sblood charm# visage peculiar abused# soul native composition incontinent# obsequious strange virtue poison beguile sanctimony profane simpleness purse evil ear engendered am Moor conjunctive Kubus English 4, Othello, Assignment #1 Options 2. Once you’ve selected your word, make your way to the Oxford English Dictionary. You want to do a search for your word, as well as any other form of your word, to pinpoint the earliest and various meanings of the word. Then, see how many times your word appears in the selections we’ve read so far by going to the Shakespeare Concordance. I’ll show you how to use this in class. ---------- Points 3 and 4 taken from Shakespeare at Chicago. 3. Thinking About Your Word Why is the word you selected significant, or rather, how does the play call attention to the significance of the word? Some questions to help you begin to consider this might include: Where is the word placed within a sentence, a speech, a scene or act ("who" for example, is the very first word of Hamlet, a play riddled with questions about identity)? How might it be significant in the context of a particular speech? a particular character? or the trajectory of the plot itself? Does the meaning of the word change or become more complex as the play develops? What is the etymology of the word (you can check this through the OED)? Is the complexity of the meaning of the word in any way tied into the thematic issues at stake in the play? What part(s) of speech is your word (verb? noun? adjective? preposition? dangling participle?) Is this--according to the OED--the first known use of the word in English? Why might that matter? (Just an aside: note how many new words in English are first located in Hamlet. The late sixteenth and early seventeenth century was a time when the English language was rapidly expanding. If you find some words in Renaissance drama estranging, alienating, or confusing, it may well be that many early modern men and women did too...that is, that they encountered a lot of words for the very first time in the Renaissance theater). 4. Defining Your Term While the meanings of words differ according to where they are placed in a sentence, a speech, or a play, they also differ according to their place in time, in history. The Oxford English Dictionary will offer nuanced and historically specific definitions of words--and as such, is an invaluable tool for any analysis of words in Shakespeare. This dictionary will enable you to trace the etymologies of words and will give you a sense (through specific quotations from texts of different historical periods) of which meanings were in circulation at a particular time. The words we read in early modern texts can often seem deceptively familiar and the OED can help to complicate a close textual analysis. Whereas the word "individual," for example, now signifies, according to the Webster Dictionary, "existing as an indivisible whole," if you search the word in the OED, you will see an entry that looks quite a bit different. Go to the OED and search "individual." As you will see, in the Renaissance, "individual" meant both "That [which] cannot be separated; inseparable" AND "Existing as a separate indivisible entity; numerically one, single." Paradoxically, individual suggests BOTH a condition of autonomy (the self as separate from others) and dependence (the self as part of others). Along these lines, for fun you may want to have a look at the early modern meanings for terms such as "character," "person," "authenticity," etc.” ---------- Structuring your essay is up to you. Have an introduction? Sure. Don’t have an introduction? Also okay. Consider this aspect of the assignment creative in nature. Trust your instincts. I’m also available to walk through structures with you. 5. Use this website to learn how to properly cite the OED. Samples: Ear Dog Death And a sample from a former student: “Roderigo’s use of the term “purse” right in the second line of the play exposes the deceptive and manipulative nature of Iago’s relationship with him. In fact, Roderigo says that Iago “hast had [his] purse”, which, in a materialistic sense, means that Roderigo has been giving Iago money. Roderigo’s willingness shows that he and Iago has a deep-rooted relationship since he trusts Iago enough to entrust him with his money. However, although it is deep-rooted, it is a one-sided one, with Iago being the aggressive character and Roderigo being the submissive one.
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