Eng2800: The Ancient World

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Final Exam Structure:

We are reviewing this in class today (Wed, 5/14), but here it is for your future reference. The exam is taking place Monday, May 19 3:30-5:30 PM in our classroom

Passage Section, Part 1 70%:

Because we have only read Othello and The Confessions since the midterm, this exam is a bit different than the midterm. In the passage section you will be asked to close read three passages (taken from The Oresteia and The Confessions). You will have choice, but it will not be possible to write only on one of the two texts. This is different than the midterm: The idea here is that this is a close reading (and so you should be using the techniques that you learned in writing your two close readings). This is not just passage ID and discussion of general themes (as it was on the midterm).  You should be talking about the meaning of the passage, its significance to the rest of the text and its language. Thus you are being assessed not only on your knowledge of the texts, but on your ability to close read. Obviously though the expectations are not as high as your out of class close readings! You should plan to write one or two detailed paragraphs for each passage, and plan to spend about 20 minutes on each. This DOES NOT mean the expectation is that you spend 20 minutes furiously writing, but rather you should take the time to really read and think about the passage (underlining, etc) before you begin writing.

Interpretative Short Answer Questions, Part II (30%):

You will be asked two short answer questions here (in a style similar to the ‘creative’ short answer questions on the midterm). While it will be possible to write only on Othello and The Confessions here (as the exam is not intended to be cumulative), you will have some question choices that incorporate material from earlier in the semester. Thus you will have the option to talk about the other texts that you might want to talk about – so if there is anything you know well, you should go back and look at it!

Othello revolves around a couple of themes such as racism, gender roles, jealousy and revenge. Iago is motivated by his hatred towards Othello to manipulate him into ruining his own life. Three of the most prominent arguments as to what motivates Iago include his jealousy of Othello, Othello’s race, and also revenge. Othello’s race is something that is of interest throughout the whole play. While he is called “The Moor,” which is a reference to his skin color, Shakespeare never directly says where he was from. Phyllis Natalie Braxton, author of “Othello: The Moor and the Metaphor” argues that this was done on purpose.

Discussion Questions:

What reasons could Shakespeare have had in making Othello black? Does it matter what part of the world Othello came from?

Do you think that Othello’s race was supposed to be the focal point of the story or was it supposed to add fuel to the fire?

In Othello, a Shakespeare’s play, there are a lot of themes in it but one of the biggest themes that it has is jealousy. Jealousy comes in different ways in this play for example; jealousy shows up in term of professional position and in term of romance. The characters Othello and Iago are the ones most influenced by this horrible feeling of  jealousy. They both put jealousy to the extreme especially, Othello who end up killing his wife and himself. In an article written by Jimmy Breslin, Monster of Heart, it focuses on the case of O.J. Simpson and other crimes of passion and jealousy. it analyzes the anger of jealousy.

discussion question:

knowing that every bad event that happened against the relationship of Othello and Desdemona was manipulated by Iago, do you think these events accomplish Iago’s objective, because Iago was a master on manipulating things or because Othello was a fool who didn’t perceive Iago’s plot and why?

is jealousy an evil force that totally blind people and control their actions and why?

source:  Oct94, Vol. 122 Issue 4, p92. 6p. 2 Color Photographs, 1 Black and White Photograph.

Monster of Heart by Jimmy Breslin.

Summary of Othello: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp6LqSgukOU

Article: http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/lnacademic/?verb=sr&csi=10939&sr=HEADLINE%28Othello%29%2BAND%2BDATE%2BIS%2B2002

Clearly, throughout the entire book we see that Iago is the person who sets forth the play. With Iago’s hatred for Othello, he plots Othello’s fall.

Here is an analyzation Of Iago’s character:

According to Harold Bloom, Iago can be considered a “artist of evil”. Iago clearly finds enjoyment plotting against the characters we see in Othello.  We can also assume that Iago is one of the most mysterious villains throughout the play. Throughout the entire play Iago dedicates his entire time plotting against Othello and Cassio. Clearly Iago is jealous of both Othello and Cassio because Othello is Iago’s general and Cassio was his lieutenant. He was able to convince Othello, that his wife, Desdemona, was cheating on Othello with Cassio. Iago end the end convinced Othello to murder his wife. Iago was also able to convince Roderigo to fight Cassio and both end up being wounded. However through all the tragedies that were caused by Iago, Iago didn’t get any benefit from all the deaths of the characters. Some argue that Iago had no motives and that he is pure evil, we never really find out why Iago wants to plot against Othello because he does not gain anything from killing Othello. Iago might be in lust with Othello because it seems throughout the play, he is plotting against Desdemona and trying to eliminate her from Othello, in the end he never killed Othello, it was Othello himself decided to suicide.

Discussion Question:

1.  In most Shakespeare plays, usually characters plot villainous things in order to receive something in return, or do it out of revenge, clearly we never really find out why Iago hates him Othello so much, could it be that he is pure evil? Or could it be that Iago wants Desdemona?

2. If Iago isn’t in lust with Desdemona what could be his objectives for plotting against Desdemona and Othello?

Here is a link to my handout on MLA guidelines (also will be distributed in the workshops): MLA Guidelines

And here are the instructions for your final paper: Final Paper Instructions

<Characters>

Othello– A Moor(an African), a general in the defense forces of the city state of Venice. He is a military man, with a reputation for courage in battle and good judgment in military matters. Othello falls in love and marries Desdemona, but during the campaign against the Turks, Othello is tricked by Iago into believing that his wife has been unfaithful with his lieutenant, Cassio.

Iago– Othello’s ancient(captain) in the Venetian defense forces. He had hoped for promotion, but Othello passed over him in favor of Cassio, and Iago works revenge on them both.

Desdemona– A noble Venetian lady, daughter of Brabantio. She organizes her life intelligently and shows courage, love , and loyalty in following her husband into danger. She accompanies Othello to Cyprus on the campaign against the Turks but finds him becoming distant and making wild accusations against her.

Cassio– Othello’s lieutenant in the Venetian defense forces. Cassio accompanied Othello as his friend when he was courting Desdemona. He is popular, he speaks well, and he is lively and trusting. Iago eventually convinces Othello that Cassio is Desdemona’s paramour.

Emilia– Desdemona’s lady-in-waiting and Iago’s wife. She knows Iago better than anybody else and is suspicious of his actions and motives. She does not realize until too late that the wicked person who has poisoned Othello against Desdemona is Iago, her own husband.

<Summary of Act 3(Scene 1-4)>

Scene1– Desdemona has a meeting with Emilia and in between Cassio’s presence is stumbled upon.  The musician and clown he paid himself was a reminder for Desdemona to remind her husband for his title back.

Scene2– Iago is ordered to send his Turkish war report to the senate and Othello offers his help

Scene3– Iago claims that Othello’s wife is cheating on him with Cassio.  After hearing Iago’s rumor Desdemona confronts her with her presence and Othello is very unhappy.  Desdemona feels discomfort while he tries to comfort Othello’s headache with her handkerchief which was her first gift from Othello.  The handkerchief was a symbol of Othello’s happiness with his wife.  As soon as he discarded the handkerchief his happiness no longer existed by the corruption of Iago’s rumor.

Scene4– Othello is in rage and confronts his wife with the rumor he has been told by Iago.  She rejects of any such action and mentions about Cassio’s title to be reinstated.  Othello ignores the subject and does not give her an answer.  Desdemona still insures him his position and tells Cassio to be patient.  While this scene is going on Bianca confronts Cassio for his absence the past couple of days and is not pleased.  Cassio promises to make up for his absence but demanded to be left alone.  While going back to his room the handkerchief is stumbled upon that Emilia, Iago’s wife found and placed in Cassio’s room.

<Questions>

1. What do you think the symbol of the handkerchief in Act 3?

2. There are many irony plays an important role in Othello. Do you remember any irony in Act 3?

Saint Augustine began the book by examining his unwavering faith in God, then searched to answer  what  he loved about God.  He began to look inward for answers on memories and its relationship to God, discovering philosophical dilemmas and paradoxes.  Augustine realized sensing God wasn’t necessarily the knowledge of God, there are five spiritual senses we embrace the Lord, light, voice, odor, food, embrace.  Memory is believed to be something vast and infinite was always there waiting to be assembled yet the person can never grasp the totality of oneself .  The images in our minds can be retrieved it may hold various senses, skills, ideas, and emotions.

1.  What does Augustine say about the paradox of memory and self-identity?

2.  How does Augustine distinguish between memories of physical phenomena and conceptual information?

3.  How does Augustine describe forgetfulness?

4.  How does he describe the phenomena of recall?​

Book X Augustine questions what he loves when he loves God, so he searches in his own mind to reach god. Augustine describes memory  as a “storehouse.” According to Augustine images are created through the five senses (sight, taste, smell. touch, and hearing) then stored in the memory. The images can then easily be recalled, even if it is not physically there. Augustine talks about skill memories. They are stored in an interior place “that is not actually a place.” The actual skill is stored and not images of the skill because skills do not enter though the five senses. Augustine then talks about ideas. Ideas are a separate type of memory and it is stored the way they are learnt. Augustine also talks about emotional memories. Emotions could be recalled without actually experiencing the emotion again by just thinking about past experiences.

Discussion Questions:

1. Do you think Augustine’s explanation of how memory works is accurate?

2. What does Augustine say about forgetfulness?

Book 8 can be seen as the buildup to the overall theme of the first 3 books, good vs. evil. Saint Augustine is at a crossroads right now, he is continuously tempted by women all around him, and because of this he seeks out the advice of those he believes to be wiser Christians like Victorinus. These wise Christians all tell tales of their journey and what they’ve faced for the sake of religion. This idea of Religion vs. Lust revolves around the idea of good vs. evil, where religion can be seen as a new spiritual good and if we give in to lust we fall to evil. Gilbert Meilaender believes that this thirst is shackling us to the chains of necessity and diminishes pleasure.The lust for the flesh can be seen as our Human Nature and the teachings of Christianity are the tools we use to fight against our human nature.  Augustine realizes that the doubt itself is holding his faith back and stopping him from reaching spiritual truth. This christian truth can be achieved by anyone, meaning human nature, through christianity can be subdued, shown by Victorinus, who was previously a roman theology follower and converted to Christianity and is considered to be a full fledge Christian.

Discussion Questions:

1. Does our need for sex destroy the truth? or is truth subjective to whoever is trying to find it?

2. If sexual urges are part of human nature, are we inherently evil?

3. Is it possible to reduce or subdue our sexual urges? if not, is Augustine’s version of the truth false?

4. It’s not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me. Does this statement hold any truth?