September 24

Aim: What is the cultural as well as the social context of Shakespeare’s othello?
Please post on your Blog Page.

Do Now: In yesterday’s lesson, we created a scene. If you had to select an actor to play one of the characters (protagonist/antagonist) who would you choose and why?

1)Who were the Moors?
The Moors are a modernized society of Muslims.
Source.

2)Who were the Venetians?
The Venetians were the typical Venice imitators. (Also known for artistic handmade arts and crafts.)
Source.

3)What was the military duty of ranked officers?
The military duty of ranked officers were to give orders to the lower ranked officers while maintaining their status. (Protecting their land.)
Source.

4)What was the military hierarchy?
The military hierarchy of ancient Greece could in retrospect be viewed as running parallel to its social hierarchy. The aristocratic class were the wealthiest and most politically powerful individuals of the society. Their social position gave them such high identical structure in the military hierarchy, for they assumed complete authority as trierarchs of both land and sea forces.
Source.

5)What was the role of women?
The role of women in the 16th century society were viewed as sinful and imperfect by that time and English writers such as William Shakespeare gave these views with their works as women later on change little by little. In play, women were nearly in silence the entire time, as if their freedom of speech haven't been introduced to them yet. Little they only know, they only wrote what they felt inside in poetry. While noble women live easier lives like Queen Elizabeth, women that are poor have to work hard to keep their husbands and families happy.
Source.

6)What was expected of a daughter?
Daughters were seen as property to control by their fathers. They were expected to obey their father's wishes and to marry by the age of 13. They were like objects to always have a guard around and watched over, as they are so delicate to be sent to the opened world. They were also expected to preserve chastity until marriage, and provide a dowry when they finally did marry.
Source.

7)What was expected of a bride?
They were suppose to be follow the orders of their husbands and bear children.
Source.

8)What relationships between men and women were considered beyond reproach?
For women to marry to men who were less wealthy then their families was very looked down because women were not considered very useful of things other than marrying rich so the family could become wealthy.

9)What rules for getting married existed at the time of the play?
The Church required the consent of the wife and the husband but many parents used marriage as a way to gain wealth.
Source.

10)Who was the most famous Moor?
Edmund Kean, the most famous Moor, the great tragic thespian, who also performed in the other Shakespeare's plays such as Richard III, Macbeth, Lear, and Hamlet.
Source.

11)What were the rules of courtship?

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Homework

Catharsis - Purification or purgation of the emotions (as pity and fear) primarily through art.
Character - One of the attributes or features that make up and distinguish an individual.
Climax - A figure of speech in which a series of phrases or sentences is arranged in ascending order of rhetorical forcefulness.
Denoument - the final outcome of the main dramatic complication in literary work.
Dialogue - a conversational element of literary or dramatic composition.
Diction - choice of words especially with regard to correctness, clearness, or effectiveness.
Dramatic Monologue - a literary work (as a poem) in which a speaker's character is revealed in a monologue usually addressed to a second person.
Dramatis Personae - the characters or actors in a drama.
Exposition - discourse or an example of it designed to convey information or explain what is difficult to understand.
Falling Action - part of a literary plot that occurs after the climax has been reached and the conflict has been resolved.
Monologue - a dramatic sketch performed by one actor.
Narrator - to tell (as a story) in detail.
Parody - a literary or musical work in which the style of an author or work is closely imitated for comic effect or in ridicule.
Pathos - an element in experience or in artistic representation evoking pity or compassion.
Plot - the plan or main story.
Point of View - a position or perspective from which something is considered or evaluated.
Resolution - the point in a literary work at which the chief dramatic complication is worked out.
Rising Action - means a related series of incidents in a literary plot that build toward the point of greatest interest.
Soliloquy - a dramatic monologue that represents a series of unspoken reflections.
Stage Direction - a description (as of a character or setting) or direction (as to indicate stage business) provided in the text of a play.
Tragic Flaw - a flaw in character that brings about the downfall of the hero of a tragedy.