The Beginning of Othello

Today we jumped head first into Othello. To start, we did a tone exercise just to review. We went through the 6 basic human emotions and put each of those emotions on a scale. We then came up with more words for each emotion and put them on the scale from least intense to most. This was a great exercise because it made you come up with different words for emotions you feel every day and realize what level they sit at.

As I told you today, Shakespeare is not meant to be read, but to be heard and performed. Likewise, it's not something you'd probably take to the beach for a relaxing read as you sunbathe. Therefore, we have to understand all the different tones and inflections we can say to words so that when we act them, we realize what intensity we need to bring to our characters.

After that, we did the character map which showed us all the different characters in the play and how they all relate to one another. As you can see, this play is going to be very busy and full of drama. Here's the summary of what we learned:

Othello--black man/general of the army
Iago--Othello's best friend
Desdemona--Othello's wife who he secretly eloped with
Brabantio--Desdemona's father who's very upset about the secret marriage
Cassio--Othello's lieutenant (which makes Iago hate Cassio and Othello)
Roderigo--a man who secretly loves Desdemona (Iago will use Roderigo to his advantage to get back at Othello)
Bianca--a prostitute who loves Cassio
Duke--the ruler of the nation (like a king)

The character map is going to be very important to you if you ever get lost or get confused about who's who. Keep it with you at all times. It's also up on Schoology under the Othello folder in case you lose your copy.

We then acted out Act I, Scene I. Here's what we learned:

--Roderigo and Iago are talking outside. Iago tells Roderigothat he hates Othello for choosign Cassio as his lieutenant over him. He thinks Cassio is a joke.
--Iago will continue to pretend to be Othello's best friend only so he can back stab him later. Iago basically tells Roderigo that he's two-faced, but Roderigo still talks to him. We realize that Roderigo is very gullible and naive.
--Roderigo and Iago come to Brabantio's house and ask him to look for his daughter. (Meanwhile, Iago stands behind Rdoerigo so he's not seen. Brabantio never realizes Iago is there.)
--Brabantio cannot find Desdemona and suspects that she's with Othello. He is very upset about this and decides to take action.

For homework, you need to read and annotate Act I, Scene II. It's only one page, so do your best. And like we told you today in class, Mr. Hannah and I are feeling a little "poppy."

DEETS
In-class:
--Tone Exercise
--Character Map
--Act I, Scene I Role Play
--Morphology Quiz

HW:
--Read and annotate Act I, Scene II