Eng2800: The Ancient World

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?