Othello Socratic Seminar Questions

Be prepared to discuss these questions in class on Wednesday, March 23, 2011.


WORLD CONNECTION QUESTIONS
Which is more important, friendship or money? --J.H. 1st

How would you react if your family rejected you because of the person you chose to love? --Y.T. --3rd

How do you think you'd feel if someone gave you something that has been passed down from generation to generation? --L.G. 8th



CLOSE-ENDED QUESTIONS
According to Gratiano in the final scene, how did Brabantio die? --O.G. 8th

When confronted with your guilt -- and you are guilty -- how would you react? --N.G. 7th

How was the Turkish fleet defeated at Cyprus? --Mr. Mikesell

How old was Iago? --Mr. Mikesell



OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS
In 3.3.117, Iago says he loves Othello: Why does he do that when it is obvious he hates him? --L.M. 3rd

Why did Iago kill Roderigo? --P.H. 7th

Why did Desdemona fall in love with Othello? --Y.C. 8th

What is Iago's beef with Cassio? --Mr. Mikesell



UNIVERSAL THEME / CORE QUESTIONS
If someone conned you into doing something foolish or criminal, what would you do? --A.V. 1st

After reading Othello, will you guard against being ruled by your emotions, why, and if so, how? --L.A. 1st

Iago goes back and forth on the value of reputation: what value do you place on it and why? --K.M. 3rd.



LITERARY ANALYSIS QUESTIONS
What tone(s) does Shakespeare use when Iago presents his asides/soliloquies detailing his scheme? --A.S. 1st

How does Shakespeare employ irony in the play? --G.O. 8th

What fatal flaw did Shakespeare give Othello? --Mr. Mikesell

Socratic Seminar Question Types: Othello

In class Mondday, March 21st, you will be creating Socratic Seminar questions (one for each of the following); the class will respond to on Wednesday, March 23rd. They will be due Tuesday, March 22nd.


WORLD CONNECTION QUESTION
Write a question connecting the text to the real world.

Example: How do you deal with jealousy?


CLOSE-ENDED QUESTION
Write a question about the text that will help everyone in the class come to an agreement about events or characters in the text. This question usually has a “correct” answer.

Example: How was the Turkish fleet destroyed at Cyprus?


OPEN-ENDED QUESTION
Write an insightful question about the text that will require proof and group discussion and “construction of logic” to discover or explore the answer to the question.

Example: What reason(s) does Iago give for wanting to destroy Othello?


UNIVERSAL THEME/ CORE QUESTION
Write a question dealing with a theme(s) of the text that will encourage group discussion about the universality of the text.

Example: When circumstantial evidence points to your guilt, how do you prove your innocence?


LITERARY ANALYSIS QUESTION
Write a question dealing with HOW an author chose to compose a literary piece. How did the author manipulate point of view, characterization, poetic form, archetypal hero patterns, for example?

Example: What "fatal flaw" does Shakespeare give Othello?

All questions must be accompanied by a valid answer or no credit will be awarded for those questions. Questions that can only be answered with evidence from the movie will receive no credit. Questions that can be answered with evidence from the movie that also appears in the play will receive 14 points each (for a maximum of 70). Questions that can be answered with evidence only from the play will receive 19 points each (for a maximum of 95). If all five of your questions can only be answered with evidence from the play you will receive an extra 5 points (for a total of 100).

Othello Acts I-III Test Preview

You should know the following for tomorrow's quiz on the first three Acts of Shakespeare's Othello:

Scenes

• Act I, scene ii
• Act III, scene iii

Literary Terms

• Allusion
• Anaphora
• Apostrophe
• Parallelism
• Soliloquy
• Synecdoche

Mythological Characters

• Janus

Tone/Mood

• Disinterested
• Magnanimous
• Objective
• Paradoxical
• Partial

Vocabulary

• Contradict
• Gullibility
• Oratorical

Pre-AP: Literary Devices in Othello

Find examples of each of the following literary devices in the text of Othello. Quote the entire sentence it appears in. Cite the speaker and reference for each (either the traditional II.i.37 or the contemporary 2.1.37).

For example, if the literary device was Tactile Imagery, you might select the following line:

Othello: No, my heart is turned to stone: I strike it and it hurts my hand. (IV.i,179-180)

If you do not cite the speaker and the act, scene, and line numbers, you will not receive credit for your work.

The List:

• Adage/Aphorism/Axiom
• Alliteration
• Allusion
• Apostrophe (NOT the punctuation; this is the direct addressing of a personified idea or a person not present)
• Flashback
• Foreshadowing
• Irony
• Metaphor
• Oxymoron/Paradox (pick one and use it properly)
• Personification
• Pun
• Simile

You may use the same quote more than once if the literary devices are present in different parts of the quote. For instance if a simile contains alliteration, you may use the quote for one or the other, but not both; on the other hand, if the simile appears at the beginning of the quote and alliteration elsewhere, you may use the full quote twice.

Googling or visiting Yahoo Answers (or other web source) will not lead to success. Do the work. There are plenty of examples of each literary device in the play. Find them.

Free Othello Text/Audio

There are several versions of the text available free from Project Gutenberg. (Julius Caesar, too.) Please make sure you download a "by William Shakespeare" edition.

There is also a free recording from LibriVox. (Julius Caesar audio.) Note: the free audio recordings aren't great. Check Learn Out Loud for discount-price options. (There are 99-cent options at the iTunes store, but I suspect it's the LibriVox recording; let me know if you download it and it's not.)

If you come across any other free (or low-cost) resources, please leave a message in the comments section.

Iago's Web

Place the following character names in a circle extending to near the edges of your paper.

• Brabantio
• Cassio
• Desdemona
• The Duke
• Emelia
• Othello
• Roderigo

Draw lines citing the relationship between the characters prior to Iago’s campaign of manipulation.

Then place Iago somewhere within the web you’ve made and in a different color, list the relationships he has with the characters and how his involvement has tainted the other characters’ relationships.

Here's an example of a "web in progress." (Note: this is only the beginning of a web. There are many more "before" relationships to be shown, as well as many "afters.")

Free Weekend of Shakespeare

Target is sponsoring a free weekend of Shakespeare Dallas, July 16-18, at the Samuell-Grand Amphitheater east of Downtown. On the 16th either "Comedy of Errors" or "Cymbeline" will be performed. "Cymbeline" will be the play on the 17th and 18th. The plays will begin at 8:15 PM each day.

As suggested by the title, "Comedy of Errors" is a comedy, as opposed to the tragedies we'll be reading in class. If you thought "Romeo and Juliet" was a bummer your freshman year, this should be a more enjoyable experience.

"Cymbeline" is also non-tragic and presents a number of similarities to "Othello," a play we will be reading next school year. Get a jump on it by seeing this play ahead of time.

I plan to be there on the 18th. Hope to see you there.