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Jasmine Nieves

Journal #1:

Iago

Good my lord, pardon me,

Though I am bound to every act of duty,

I am not bound to that all slaves are free to.

(Shows and give an example of why slaves need to be free say too)

Utter my thoughts? Why, say they are vile and false?

(says they are not vile and false)

 

As where’s that palace where into precious and expensive things.? 

(says precious and expensive things)

 

Sometimes intrude not? Who has that breast so

pure?

Where in uncleanly apprehensions?

(says scary thoughts of what will or going to happen)

 

Keep leets and law-days and in sessions sit. 

(says arose)

 

With mediations lawful?

 

          For Iago to think more positively, he should show an example of why the slaves need to be free and he was saying as one of his lines from the book. He can also explain to the Duke why he wanted to be free. If he could have done this, the Duke would have probably made him and other people free. People are not vile and false.  Sometimes people are the mean and nasty person they should never be, but it depends on the person. Even though people have their own opinions, he shouldn’t think negatively about things. Foul things is no way to speak of things. Iago wants to describe the things in a palace and say they are foul in front of the Duke, but the Duke might make him move out of the country for good. He should say they are precious and expensive things because thats what they are meant to be. Not all things are foul around us, we live with them and they are around all us.  When Iago is saying something creepy is about to happen. he should have just reworded it saying “...scary thoughts of what will or is going to happen”. What I’m trying to say here is that, he shouldn’t say uncleanly apprehensions. When you work on something you, are also earning something at the same time. Iago’s opinion could have been a little bit different and could have said, “My work continues which will keep rising and rising until the Duke’s time for me to work, is over. This is nothing he said though, it is just a thought of how he could have reworded it differently. ”The rest of what Iago was saying was fine. Another thing he should do is not have run on sentences. He should have questions and not commas and a bunch more of it. He should make the thoughts go on but with the right punctuation, and what he says has to flow as if he were reading or writing a poem. Thoughts go on but there are still good words to use and good punctuation. The thought of the rest of it all, sounds good. He just needs to work on it more.

          The way this is said could change and show the audience is that Iago should be positive all the time. If he wants to be a leader of the city, or master one day, he would have to show it. He, Iago, should show his maturance Othello. Othello is the one who had gotten to be chosen in front of him. Iago just has to think positively to get what he wants, which is getting his ideas about being a soon to be master and his thoughts on Desdemona, Othello, Cassio and the Moor. Another way Iago could be more positive is by saying right things about the right things to the one they are speaking to. He has a right to speak his mind so why can't he use it with the other right he has which is freedom of speech. He is smart so he also should show it. If he wants to be approved by the Duke or Othello later on like to take the place of Othello, he has to start working on that now and start using it the right way like he's been doing except more so. He should think of what he's going to say, like he said to when it was suppose to say too.

Journal #2:

Act 1
Rodrigo: (SCENE 1)

          For the beginning of this scene, both Iago and Rodrigo, his friend, were wondering why they couldn't be a ruler just like Othello was. Roderigo said instead of what he was working as in the book, he would have been a hangman that does things for their masters whenever they say to do it. Roderigo really wanted to be the high position that Othello was, one day. Then all of the sudden, Rodrigo tells Brabantio in the middle of the Act, that he has found out or has already known, that Othello had an affair with his daughter. He is telling him in his own words but Iago is with him. After Brabantio finds out, he thinks he has lost his daughter for good. He disagrees the marriage between Othello and Desdemona should never be and should never happen. First, Brabantio says that the act that has been done, was evil and now he has said that he feels his daughter has been abused. Rodrigo made it worse when he said that he thinks that they were married. Brabantio wanted Desdemona to have a nice life with a nice man but not like Othello. They both then set a plan to see if it is true. Rodrigo was supposed to be sneaky and see if its true then tell Desdemona's father if it was the truth or not.

Act 2
Rodrigo: (SCENE 1)

          Rodrigo was then talking to Iago and their sightings of Cassio and Desdemona and they wanted to talk it over with Desdemona’s father, Brabantio. This time they were talking about the fact that Iago has already seen Desdemona and Cassio, in love, together. Rodrigo couldn't believe what Iago was saying. Since now that he knows, he wants or needs to go back to Venice. Iago then told him he was going to tell her father. Rodrigo couldn't believe the story Iago was telling even though Iago thought it was true. It's like both Roderigo and Iago, know that she was cheating on Othello. First Desdemona wants to be with the Moor, then Cassio, and then Othello. So, Rodrigo also feels that she has developed a love for her as well as the other men that want to get with her. A little before Scene 1 was over, Rodrigo then tells Iago, that he too, saw Cassio with Desdemona just out of nowhere. The next time Cassio speaks with Rodrigo, Iago's advice to Rodrigo is to lie to him and provoke him so that Desdemona's father would take him off the list of good guys Desdemona should marry and love. Since this little act was done by Cassio and Desdemona, they want to throw away all the things that are necessary to him so he can realize what he has done to Desdemona now that her father is upset with her. They both agreed to the plan that same day.

Act 4
Rodrigo: (SCENE 2)

          Rodrigo is already happy after Iago and Roderigo that they both know who was with Desdemona. Rodrigo was also happy Iago had already told Brabantio what he and Rodrigo has seen about her and Cassio. He thinks he is unkind with his words because he has thought that he was going to hear another story about Cassio and Desdemona. Rodrigo after Iago speaks, says that he was still waiting on the jewels from Desdemona. This was totally a lie because it hasn't said anything that Desdemona had the jewels. Since Iago didn't see Desdemona but saw her father, Rodrigo, was going to see her in action but in a sneaky way or face to face and tell her what is on his mind or what she does. Towards the end of the Act, they talk about have a party for Cassio to be removed or banned from the country by Othello. Rodrigo didn't know all the information about it, but Iago let him know as soon as he got more info. What I know now already about Rodrigo is an unpatient man since being the Moor and getting Desdemona is all that he thinks about and an unfair man because he didn’t allow Othello to be the more, under his terms, meaning what he wanted just the time that people were deciding who to be the Moore. There are still plenty of other days that he could try to get a chance at being the Moore again and again.

          Rodrigo and Iago thinks that letting the Moor (Othello) is shameful. They thought they finally had their time to shine to be the Moors they wanted to be.  For this reason at first, they wanted to kill Othello but then, the plan failed them.They had also noticed that Desdemona is becoming a cheater to Othello with Cassio since Othello was already the Moor and with Desdemona. Rodrigo and Iago really wanted to be with Desdemona and be the Moor but again, that failed them. They should have wished, dreamt and thought a little more harder and their dream could have come true. What I can also know about Rodrigo now is that he doesn’t care about Othello, he just wants to win Desdemona over all the men that are starting or have already started to be with her and starting to like her. 

          What Rodrigo observes second hand was about Desdemona's love to Cassio. He heard enough talk that he didn't want Iago to keep talking about it. All they planned to do was try to kill Cassio which happened a few days later. They were both getting a little antsy but at the end, everybody was happy, sort of, and they agreed on the plan together. Rodrigo was seeking for revenge.

Journal #3:

Iago before the play:

He was a truthful man. All he wanted at the beginning of the story is that if he can’t be the Moore be his lieutenant, but that didn’t happen because Othello already picked and officer (Michael Cassio). He was the unfair man still about being with Desdemona. He was like a protector because in one part of the story he wanted to to Desdemona’s father what has been happening before he found out himself and Desdemona’s heart would be broken. He has been a hater throughout the whole book because he doesn’t like Othello from getting everything, he Iago, wanted. Even though he has had these descriptions about him, he is still a nice person until the end of the story when he kills his wife Emilia. From the beginning of the book to the end, I could tell he is friendly and gives good advice. What him Iago, feel like the person who should be with Desdemona because he thinks they are meant to be together forever and she shouldn’t hook up with Othello. He is also honest because he also speaks his mind because what is in his mind, in the ultimate truth.

Journal #4:

          The actions I will bring to the play are I will read my lines and with enthusiasm as if was us in the book. The story will be brought to life because of the way we would act. We would try to have such great force in our voices as the people in the story would. We would use lots of feeling and try to make it flow rather than stop and mess up. It is okay to mess up, but just keep going with the acting and what you were doing. The movements I will bring to the play is that I'm going to pretend to actually kill somebody in my scene. Its going to be like a soap opera. It’s like something you would want to see over and over and over again. I will do whatever the paper tells me so I could get it right. The tone of voice I will bring is with passion as Romeo and Juilet. We are going to try to make it flow as possible but if we can't, its okay because all of us in class, are all acting our scenes from the book.

          The prop I will bring is a paper sword so it would look like I'm killing someone. What's going to make our groups presentation stand out is say it like it was on the paper and we would have to read it as we were Shakespeare. Even though all eyes are going to be on us, we have to pretend they are not even there, focus on your lines and who is in the group. We also can think, this is a classroom in which we performed before and we just also have to think we are in a different room different from the one's we are usually in. There are lots of things to think about when pretending to be on stage in front of your classmates. But we can also think of them as if they were not even there or in their underwear, as some people say. We agreed I was going to bring in a paper sword, not dressing all fancy as they would. 

Journal #5:

          Iago said “I did”, to Emilia in the play about calling Desdemona a villainous whore.. When Emilia was talking to him about Othello, she thought and was talking about telling Othello that his wife was false. Desdemona is not a complete villainous whore. She just didn’t pay no mind to what she was doing and did what ever she wanted to do. By that means, Iago was talking with Othello when Desdemona was alive. Probably he didn’t necessarily mean it, but it was he was actually feeling to have a need to have a say in. He wasn’t thinking of what he was saying either. This is important to the play because it showed that he was a lier about Desdemona and a lier about Emilia taking the handkerchief and gave it to Iago, which he didn’t have. Emilia thought she had given it to him but he didn’t. This was showing the importance of the performance because he tried to kill Emilia he first didn’t because she was talking then she died because he stabbed her. He wanted and felt the need that he needed to kill his wife.

          The performance sort of went as was planned and expected. I was supposed to have a sword, but instead I used a pencil since I couldn’t find a fake sword use. I was planning to use one of my friend’s, but before our part, somebody had it. When they were done with it, they gave it to another person in the play. Some of us stopped and laughed a little when we were performing our part of the play. There was a few stutters but the play and our part, sounded good as it should have been. I am proud of that I was confident and so with my group members because they were also confident in the play. Everything flowed and I’ve seen some parts of the play as the way it was written and read while hearing the audio. It was like the audio we heard but it was acted out. This was a nice role play we all did together. What I would have done differently in the performance was just bring a printed version of the sword or used a brush at the end of it not where the bristles are and pretended to stab somebody 

          The way I understand it now after seeing the play come to life, is that everybody felt emotional  Emilia wasn’t a witness of the killing after Othello killed Desdemona. The play is suppose to be a little more serious than funny and it was supposed to have a great amount of energy and eagerness as the book did.  Emilia, during the end of the story, had just entered after Iago, Cassio, and Rodrigo were trying to kill each other. They wanted to tell Othello and Desdemona what had happened at the very last part of the story. Othello didn’t like the news very much because who they were fighting for so he ended up killing Desdemona and Iago to Emilia because he didn’t like the way she explained it either. Emilia believes she was telling the truth. But in the end, it became that she was untruth to the people she was around. She wasn’t a villainous whore but just a sore liar. 

Journal #1

Act 5, Scene 1

Original Text:

(aside) I have rubbed this young quat almost to the sense,

And he grows angry. Now, whether he kill Cassio

Or Cassio him, or each do kill the other,

Every way makes my gain. Live Roderigo,

He calls me to a restitution large

Of gold and jewels that I bobbed from him

As gifts to Desdemona.

It must not be. If Cassio do remain

He hath a daily beauty in his life

That makes me ugly. And besides, the Moor

May unfold me to him—there stand I in much peril.

No, he must die. But so, I hear him coming.

In this scene Iago and Roderigo enter the scene. Iago starts to talk about how he's going to commit something that he won't regret. In the stanza above Iago said "Now, whether he kill Cassio Or Cassio him, or each do kill the other, Every way makes my gain.", ; he was basically meaning that he would be happy if either of them die because in his future they will no longer be able to exist. In this short meaningful stanza Iago gives of a couple of hints of who he could be talking to. In the beginning of him talking he starts to talk to himself, but then at short periods he tends to look up and or glance at his surroundings such as Roderigo. The punctuation affects me as the reader because it shows how he feels about the situation happening. While Iago is talking and Roderigo stands near, but not so much close by to hear his full conversation Iago's ego and voice determines that he is serious about killing Cassio. For Iago to describe the situation if it goes wrong shows that he wants to do right and get rid of someone , accurately Cassio at this point; if he messes up, then his life is in danger and it'll cause Othello to have more problems to worry about, since he won't have his right man to take out duties for him.

 

Journal #2

Brabantio (Desdemona's father)

Important scenes:

Act 1, Scene 2: accuses Othello of using magic against his daughter to gain love

Act 1, Scene 3: he brings Othello to trial before the Duke

Act 5, Scene 2: died of grief after losing his daughter.

Personally Brabantio see's that Othello is a man who is taking his daughter out of her young teen days into her woman days. Brabantio thinks at first that Othello is not the best person fit out for Othello, even though they're close and have done work together.On the second hand Brabantio seems to start to like Othello because he makes his daughter happy then she normally is. Brabantion, then gets close  to Othello to call him his son and his brother labeled him as their nephew. For Othello that was a big honor to feel welcomed by your wife's father who despite you for the person you are (the moor of Venice). From my perspective I think you can understand Brabantio especially from his appearances in scenes because in all the scenes that he's in something major happens. For example, in the last scene he appeared in, Act, 5, Scene 2 he died from the sadness from the death of his only child, Desdemona. Other scenes that Brabantio involves in has to do with Othello and his relationship to Desdemona or to the Duke's of Venice to try to make sure the marriage is positive of no problems.

Journal #3

Character- Iago

Reason- Anger/ Misunderstanding

Effect Scene: Iago's "I hate the moor speech" towards Othello that shows how much Iago despise and truly feel for Othello.

Cause Scene:

Iago just departed from seeing his dearly lovely wife Emilia to start his wonderful day at work. It was a typical Monday, but by time the day would end no one would be the same again. Iago went to Othello's office to see if he was their, but of course Othello wasn't at work yet because he would be so busy completing deeds for his wife Desdemona and doing other good things benefiting the city. At lunch time Iago talked among the other workers, employees, and people who did things for the kingdom. He noticed something strange also. Usually around the time of 1:20 each day his wife would call and tell him good news or about he mail he received about bills and advertisements. Iago then skipped lunch to go see his wife and hopefully make a little love before he has to go back and do work in the office. When he got inside his house his wife was on the couch crying, holding a piece of paper in her hand. Iago then read it and came to find out that Othello laid him off and he wouldn't be commanded to the next rank. Their wasn't any reasons given, but Iago felt his own rage and decided to make a poem to release his anger out. "I, hate, the moor . . .", THE END.

Journal #4

1. In my performance I will be acting as Iago. I will have to be loud, bold, taunting back and forth, and show my emotion towards the moor. My hand gestures and facial emotions should show how I feel and or who I am talking to in the scene.

2. In my part of the scene we're performing my character Iago will be having a satchel or knife. To be and have more creativity to the scene Iago will have a type of weapon to use it to make hand gestures and show how he's feeling towards the moor.

3. To make my groups performance stand out we will show emotion and good acting skills when presenting by facing the audience when talking and speaking loud with confidence. For a group each individual person worked as a good person to each study their part each and become dedicated to their parts of the scene.

Post performance journal: 

Lines in my scene that I were reading from was based from Iago’s perspective. One quote that I would like to analyze is “he hath a person and a smooth dispose to be suspected, framed to make woman false”. In my own point of view this quote means a lot and pertains to this play. The quote is important to the play because it has more then one meaning to Othello.  The quote is trying to say that Othello is a man that happens to be wrong at times and accuses woman of false things. By Iago saying that in his part of the scene it made the scene more exciting because it explained a little of a part why he has hatred, knowing that he works under the control of Othello he’s a person with the intentions of being a betrayal or outgoing person towards the situations that occur farther in the book. In the performance I gave the audience a hint that it was a good and important part of the scene by adjusting my voice to a different and much lower tone of voice, I had a weapon in my hand, and the way I was pasting back and forth could tell that Iago (me) either had a thought or concern of Othello for woman and his cares. When I delivered this quote it made me think to myself about how performing the scene made me get a better understanding of why Iago hated the moor, then when I was individually reading the book or listening to the audio.  

My groups performance went as expected because we put a lot of free time during school and english class into our scenes. Now that it is over I am proud that I know how to act better to let the audience realize who the character is talking to. If we did the performance over again I would try tom memorize my lines by heart, so I wouldn’t have to read off a paper and it could seem more creative.

Performing the play live in front of a audience changed my understanding of the book because it became more easier to view as a reader. By me and my group coming together and rehearsing our parts it gave me the idea that the story helped me learn more and become more interesting about what was going on.

​ 

Journal #1

I do beseech you,

Though I perchance am vicious in my guess,

As, I confess, it is my nature’s plague

To spy into abuses, and oft my jealousy

Shapes faults that are not, that your wisdom,

From one that so imperfectly conceits,

Would take no notice, nor build yourself a trouble

Out of his scattering and unsure observance.

It were not for your quiet nor your good,

Nor for my manhood, honesty, and wisdom

To let you know my thoughts.

 

In this quote, Iago is saying that it seems that Iago is indirectly telling Othello not to listen to him.

“I do beseech you,

Though I perchance am vicious in my guess,”

Though this is just apart of his plan, by telling Othello not to listen to him, this is going to subconsciously going to make Othello want to listen to him more. With Othello weakness, believing that most men are wise, especially Iago, this just makes more vulnerable in Othello's beliefs and confidence. This goes back to the plan that Iago has in stored by Iago maintaining his "innocence" and "trust" whatever Iago says such as:

Nor for my manhood, honesty, and wisdom

To let you know my thoughts.

Othello will support it and stand behind it 100%. Through this paragraph, Iago continues to test how far he can push Othello to believe him and how long he will continue to believe in his lies. This is paragraph, this makes Iago smarter, more cleaver, and even more powerful than Othello because it shows how much control he is able to maintain on him throughout the story. 

Journal #2

In Act 5 Scene 2, Emilia discovers that Iago set up everyone in the play. After her lady, Desdemona is killed but Othello, she realizes that she was unknowing, apart of Iago's plan.

As for her first hand observation, Emilia is seen as a woman who caters to her lady and seems to be a loyal servant to Desdemona. She is a considerate wife to Iago and doesn't show a sign of dishonesty nor dishonor towards Iago. She seems to be just an ordinary servant and loyal wife. 

Through second observation, Iago deceives everyone in the story by taking advantage of his known honesty and the trust they put in him. Iago deceived his wife by putting her in on the plot without her unknowingly helping her husband, to get Desdemona murdered. It began with the handkerchief, when she gave it to Iago, in order to set Desdemona up as if she was cheating on Othello, which made her look like a bad guy. Giving the impression that Iago that set up his wife.

As the story goes on, we begin to understand that Emilia's intention weren't as we suspected. They were the totally opposite. All Emilia was as loyal as she can be and she had a lot of love towards Desdemona, in a way that she didn't mind working for her and Desdemona treated her like a person and not so much a servant, which she loved about her. But in the particularly sense we see that she went against her husband, when she had the chance to stand by him, she instead remained loyal to her lady and sacrificed dieing by her side. In many ways her character is a lot like Desdemona's.

 

Journal #3

When Othello was growing up, he was the type of person that didn't have very much and wasn't acknowledged for his well beings because he grew up in the slave type environment. Though he may not have had the silver spoon lifestyle, Othello managed to maintain a leader like mind-set. This came from seeing how the men lived their lives. Meaning, since he grew up a slave environment, he learned how to become a leader from the male slave owner, sense men were known for being slave owners, unlike women. He saw how much power and control men were able to have over people and he admired this. He saw them as honest, true and dominant amongst the people. This is where, honest, true and dominant, which motivated him into becoming the general of the army and he can now dominate over those who once dominated him. 

 

Journal #4           

In my performance for Othello, the kind of tone of voice that I'm going to bring to my performance is going to be an intense voice because my scene is a scene where Othello has to kill Desdemona. One of the most important actions I have to do is strangle Desdemona. In this scene I have to have self- control and I have to bring intensity to the table. 

I'm not bringing a prop and/ or no specific costume.

One of the things that should make my scene stand out is the fact that I have a killing scene and this isn't just a quick stab or gun shot, but I have to strangle somebody and when you kill somebody with you bare hands, this is something that takes a lot of will power and a lot a strength (in reality). I was told that in order for my scene to stand out I had to maintain a

serious face, gesture and actions. With these tips, I think I can do okay with my part.

 

Journal #5

Yet I shall not shed her blood, nor scar that whiter skin of hers than snow, and smooth as monumental alabaster. Yet she must die, else she’ll betray more men. Put out the light, and then put out the light.

This quote held a very valuable moment in the whole story because this is the scene where Othello is having a really deep debate with himself about wheatear or not he should kill Desdemona or not. This line separates the difference between Desdemona’s life and how the rest of the story will end. Through the decision of Othello choosing to kill Desdemona he, subconsciously, killed everyone else around him and involved in the lie that Iago told and Othello chose to believe. Throughout the whole play and story, this line was the most and important and was the key to everything. This sense proved that Iago had won and gained power over everyone.

During this line I thought that I delivered it the way Othello would have, with much uncertainty but understanding that this is the way it must end.

Over all I think that my group did a really good job, given the fact that we had such a powerful scene, which meant that we had to really give it our all and that we had to show that we can do our part the way it was meant to be portrayed. I think we delivered the best we could and I am proud of what we did, though I do think that if this part was memorized it would have been an even better piece of work because since this was such an intense sense, intensity can be really seen and deliver through eye contact, which would have really gave the audience something amazing. But even though that wasn’t portrayed, our tone of voice was set even on each scene that needed a specific voice and I thought that we did a pretty good job on the strangulation scene.

After doing this, it made me understand that Othello was tied between two decisions and two separate words, his wife against a man he put so much trust into. I understand that this wasn’t just a choice that could have been made up in seconds, but a choice that took time to understand and a very difficult decision. It made me see that Othello loved Desdemona as much as she loved him and him doing this made him have a constant battle with himself and his inner self. I’m glad I got to play the ending of Othello as Othello because thins made me get a clear and deep understanding of love and war that people will do to break others apart from each other and themselves. 

#1

"Here, stand behind this bulk, straight will he come.

Wear thy good rapier bare, and put it home.

Quick, quick! Fear nothing. I’ll be at thy elbow.

It makes us, or it mars us. Think on that,

And fix most firm thy resolution."

~Iago

 

In this part by Iago he seems to speak in a load tone. He speaks to Rodrigo about Desdemona. He does not speak in this way because he is angry. He dose this to make his point. He says "Quick, quick!" He was tell Rodrigo to move quickly. He is not angry his just wants to make points. Iago does this many times in this book. When Iago dose get mad in this book he dose not yell, he keeps calm and says mean things. Nothing more, he will yell to make a point but never when being mad or upset. He also tends to yell when things don't go his way.

#2

Emila Act 4 Sc 2 pg: 199-203

- Though out the whole book Othello, Emilia she has been caught in the middle of other peoples problems. Expect the time she gave Desdemona's handkerchief to Iago. But other that she is always around when Desdemona and Othello are having some kind of argument. She is just standing there while they go back and forth. 

-She finds out in the end why Iago wanted a belonging of Desdemona so bad. He wanted to frame her and Cassio, to make it seem as if they are in some find of romantic relationship. She knew what he needed but did not know what for. She just later found out what her deed, had been for.

Emilia Act 3 Sc 1 pg:113-114

• You can also tell from this scene that Emila is a tad bit of a kiss up. I know that it is her job with Desdemona, and partly Othello, but she does the same to Iago and Cassio. Yes, Iago is her husband but she does everything he wants, without question. Emilia just handed over Desdemona’s handkerchief, and she had no idea what it was for. I some way I think she knew what was going on, but she just did what everyone told her to do, until the end of 
  the book.

  

#3

Iago was born into a high up family, his father was a general, and provided his family’s every need. Iago and his sister grew up having all the best toys and had the best holidays. When Iago got older he knew that he wanted to provide like his father did with his family, that’s is when he decided he wanted to become a general like his father. He told his father we wanted no more thing handed to him, that he would no earn for him self. He made good money do whatever he could. Until he meet a women named Emilia, she had big blue eye’s that put the sea to shame. He knew he would marry this women have a family and provide for them. He asked her to marry him and she did. She told him he was to become a general after they where married. She told him the next person in line after his father dies is a man named Othello. Iago had got so upset he swore his revenge on Othello.

#4

In my scene I play Iago with one other person who plays Othello. There is not much going on in the scene. This is the scene where Iago puts his plan into action by tell Othello the whereabouts of his wife’s handkerchief. So the most we can do is put a lot movement in it. As much as we can with out over doing it. Like hand motions and walkabouts. Things of that sort.

For Peter who plays Othello, he will turn his hoodie into a cloak. He will be stand as he starts off. I who plays Iago, on the other hand will be siting with a cup in my hand, seeming not to give a care in the world. 

I am not sure that our scene will stand out the most but we will try. Put the thing we will try is to put a lot of drama in the scene, faces and things like that.

#5         

“He is dead by your tis done by your request, but let her live”

Iago

-This is that line that makes Iago seem as if he care what happens to Desdemona. The way I said this was with much concern. As if I really cared what happens to her, or let alone any one it this play. I am tried to play this character as self absorbed as I can, because that is what he is.

- I think that my groups performance turned out pretty well. The other person in my group was Peter Ricker and is not really an outspoken person, so I was unsure how he would deliver his lines. Of course you practicing is always different than how it actually turns out. But I think it came out fairly well.

-To me it really did not change my understanding at all. When reading the book Othello I pretty much understood it, and if I did not get it the class discussion helped me understand. They thing that my scene did help me do was look at the book differently. I saw Othello as a slow book that at some active scene, but the class presenting a scene made me look at them differently. Any part in Othello can be put in to something really dramatized when you add actions. 

Journal #1 4/23

(At the beginning of this part of soliloquy, Iago talks to Othello with slow speed and loyal tone. While he is talking, he puts his hand on his breast to show how loyal he is and all the stuff that he says is from his heart.)

That Cassio loves her, I do well believe ’t.

That she loves him, ’tis apt and of great credit.

(Iago talks to Roderigo with slow and deep voice in order to show how smart he is and how correct he is. Iago wants to persuade Roderigo to support his plan. While he is talking, he puts his right hand on Roderigo’s right shoulder in order to indicate the deep friendship between him and Roderigo.)

The Moor, howbeit that I endure him not,

Is of a constant, loving, noble nature,

(Iago talks to himself with evil and vicious tone, and he smiles a little bit, when he talks. He touches his own face during his talking, so that we all can know how evil and horrible he is.)

And I dare think he’ll prove to Desdemona

A most dear husband. Now, I do love her too,

Not out of absolute lust—though peradventure

I stand accountant for as great a sin—

But partly led to diet my revenge,

(Iago talks to his wife, Emilia, with angry and excited voice, because he suspects that both Othello and Cassio have sex with her wife. He needs to show how deeply he hates Othello and Cassio and how jealous he is, and he wants to find a fantastic excuse for his evil plan.)

For that I do suspect the lusty Moor

Hath leaped into my seat. The thought whereof

Doth, like a poisonous mineral, gnaw my inwards,

And nothing can or shall content my soul

Till I am evened with him, wife for wife.

Or, failing so, yet that I put the Moor

At least into a jealousy so strong

That judgment cannot cure. Which thing to do,

If this poor trash of Venice, whom I trace

For his quick hunting, stand the putting on,

I’ll have our Michael Cassio on the hip,

Abuse him to the Moor in the right garb

(For I fear Cassio with my night-cape too)

Make the Moor thank me, love me, and reward me

For making him egregiously an ass

And practicing upon his peace and quiet

Even to madness. 'Tis here, but yet confused.

Knavery’s plain face is never seen till used.

Journal #2 4/24

I choose Roderigo to investigate. In the Act II, Scene I, Roderigo thinks that Desdemona doesn’t fall in love with Cassio, and Desdemona is a noble and pure lady. Iago tells him that Desdemona does fall in love with Cassio. Othello is too old for Desdemona, and Desdemona does need a handsome and young man instead of Othello. Iago tells this to Roderigo in order to persuade Roderigo to help him with his plan. We know that Roderigo loves Desdemona, and his motivation is his love to Desdemona. The words that Iago tells Roderigo affects Roderigo a lot. He trusts Iago and believes that Desdemona falls in love with Cassio. Therefore, Roderigo hates Cassio and it is easier for him to kill Cassio. In the Act IV, Scene II, Roderigo thinks that Iago cheats him and doesn’t help him get Desdemona. Iago tells Roderigo that he does help him and Othello and Desdemona will leave. He tries to persuade Roderigo to kill Cassio and tells him that this is the only way to make Desdemona remain, and Cassio believes Iago again. Roderigo’s motivation is also his love to Desdemona, and he wants Desdemona to remain, so he agrees Iago to kill Cassio.

Journal #3 4/25

Roderigo is a Venetian gentleman. He meets Desdemona once, and he falls in love with her. He is attracted by her beautiful appearance and noble temperament, and he really wants to get her. He is a person who is easy to believe in others. He trusts Iago and gives him a lot of jewelry and money in order to let Iago persuade Desdemona to love him. He wants to have sex with Desdemona, but he doesn’t reach his goal yet. Therefore, he is suspicious about Iago, and he asks Iago whether Iago has already told Desdemona about his plan or not. Iago cheats him again, and he trusts Iago again. He wants to have sex with Desdemona as soon as possible, and the only person who can help him with his plan is Iago who is good at cheating. His impatience makes his judgement gone, and Iago’s skills of cheating also makes him in a mess. He is a mediocre gentleman, and he doesn’t have the alert to others. It is impossible for him to identify Iago’s evilness immediately because of his mediocrity.

Journal #4 4/29

At the beginning of the scene, Roderigo is very angry at Iago, because he suspects that Iago cheats him. I need to use the body language such as pointing my finger at Iago and speak aloud in order to show Roderigo’s anger. After Iago persuading Roderigo, Roderigo calms down. I need to use a smooth tone to talk to Iago in order to show the convert of Roderigo’s emotion. When Roderigo talks to Brabantio, he is scrupulous, because he regards Brabantio as a signior and respects him. I need to speak these lines slowly in order to show Roderigo’s respect to Brabantio. I want to gesticulate, when Roderigo promises Brabantio in order to show Roderigo’s certainty. The item that my character is going to have is a set of keys, because Roderigo is a gentleman and rich, and a set of keys can show his wealth. Also, I want to wear a scarf to show Roderigo’s noblility. Using real emotion to work on our presentation will make it stand out. As a performance, we can be a little exaggerated, and I think that will make our performance look better. All of us memorized our lines and practiced over and over again. We talked about when Iago should exit and Brabantio should enter the scene, we also talked about what kinds of tones should we use when we present. All of use agreed on these.

Journal #5 4/30

“If she be in her chamber or your house let loose on me the justice of the state for thus deluding you.”(Scene 1A) This line is said by Roderigo, and he is talking to Brabantio. He promises Brabantio that Desdemona, who is Brabantio’s daughter, is living with Othello, and they have already fallen in love. If he is lying, he will be damned and punished. This line is important, because it makes Brabantio trust Roderigo and confirm that he will go along with Roderigo in order to check whether her daughter falls in love with Othello or not. I emphasized this line and struck my crutch during the performance in order to show this line’s importance. The tone of this line is steady, because this is a promise.

Our performance went as we expected and planned, and I think we did a good job on it. I’m so proud of our properties, for example, we had a scarf, a set of keys, a crutch, and a light. I want to mention that the crutch is really important to our performance, because when I wanted to emphasize something, I just stuck my crutch, so that I could show the importance of this point. If I had an opportunity to do it again, I would speak my lines more loudly and clearly, and I would express more emotion just like the performance of Haji and Nikki. Performing our scene more exaggeratedly could make our performance look funnier and better.

I understood better about the the relationship of different characters by performing it. For example, I was really confused about the relationship between Iago, Roderigo, and Brabantio at first, but after the practice and performance, I knew that Brabantio knows that Iago is a bad guy, and that’s why Iago needs to hide when Brabantio appears. Roderigo respects Brabantio, because Brabantio is a signior. Also, I understood more about Roderigo. Roderigo is a Venetian gentleman, and he is polite and his brain is easy. That’s why he is cheated by Iago over and over again. He is a rich man, so he gives his money and jewelry to Iago in order to get Desdemona, and that’s why I needed a set of keys when I performed.

Journal #1

Act 3 Scene 3

Good my lord, pardon me,

Iago should bow down his head as to ask for something from Othello. This could not be interpreted as talking to the audience, because the dialogue is designed to address Othello.

Though I am bound to every act of duty

I am not bound to that all slaves are free to.

Iago should start speaking with a high defensive voice as a gesture of defending his thoughts so that he may speak further.

Utter my thoughts? Why, say they are vile and false,

Iago should raise his eyebrows and put up his hands in a questioning gesture to indicate to Othello, that he is asking a question.

 

As where’s that palace whereinto foul things

Sometimes intrude not? Who has that breast so pure

Wherein uncleanly apprehensions

Iago should point his finger at Othello so as to indicate that he is trying to make a point to Othello because Iago is trying to tell Othello something important.

Keep leets and law-days and in sessions sit

With meditations lawful?

This one should be directed to the audience where Iago should turn to the audience, face them and speak.

Journal #2

Roderigo is in love with Desdemona and will do anything to get her. he lusts after Desdemona and goes to sell his land to follow her. He ends up killing Cassio in a jealous rage when he thinks that Desdemona is cheating on Othello with Cassio. 

Rodrigo hears a lot from Iago, such as a lot of lies from Iago. He gets the idea to kill Cassio from Iago.

Rodrigos motivations are pretty clear. He is blindly in love with Desdemona and will do anything to get her and he ends up wounding Cassio in a jealous rage and gets killed at the hands of Iago after he wounded Cassio. 

Journal #3

Iago grew up in a lower middle class family. As a kid, he quickly figured out that he could use mental tricks to get his way. He did alright in school, he had a few friends who essentially followed him. He used lying and played mental tricks on other kids to get them to stop picking on him. When he got older, he joined the military as a soldier. He fought in many battles. He used his brain and tricks to slowly go up the chain of command to get to where he was at the beginning of Othello.

Journal #4

When I speak about Bianca, I should lower my voice when saying her name so as not to alert Othello that I am saying something different. It should be calm and not overanxious like I am expecting something.

I cannot really decide on a prop that Iago would have. I mean something like a knife or a weapon would make no sense. I'm guessing a cane might work. However I am not quite sure on this one. I cannot think of a prop that he would need. However for his costume I am thinking maybe a nice jacket would do because he is in the military.

I think that one thing that will make it stand out will be Bianca's monologue. If it is presented right will be entertaining.

Journal #5

“Now I will question Cassio of Bianca. It is a creature that dotes on Cassio.”

This quote is essentially describing part of Iago’s plan.

What this quote is, is that Iago has this plan to drive Othello nuts and he is going to use Bianca as a pawn to help make Cassio look more and more like he is the one whom Desdemona is cheating with. This line is important because Iago is explaining his plan and if he did not use this line to communicate with the audience, then we would not have a good idea of what is happening.

My groups performance did fine. I mean, it wasn’t a Tony award winning performance but it did well and it got the story through to the audience and everyone understood what was going on. I think that I was mostly proud of Reggie’s performance because he seemed to be the one person that was the most in character. I liked how Bianca’s monologue was done.

I have to say that doing the performance did not really change my understanding of it. I don’t actually get how acting it out would change my understanding of it. I understood the play of Othello and the meanings behind it. One of the meanings of them is sometimes if you talk things out openly you can solve so many problems. Any way, acting out the play did not really change my views on Othello. 

Journal 1

April 23

IAGO (Act 5, Scene 1) Page 254

(Moves to side to show other characters on stage aren’t the focus.)

I have rubbed this young quat almost to the sense,

(He would look at Othello and speak, but Othello can’t hear him.)

And he grows angry. Now, whether he kill Cassio

(Phrased as a question, he may say this TO audience.)

Or Cassio him, or each do kill the other,

Every way makes my gain. 

(All of these lines are sad for Iago. He says this to himself, but it is sad because he knows Roderigo has caught on to his mischief.)

Live Roderigo,

He calls me to a restitution large

Of gold and jewels that I bobbed from him

As gifts to Desdemona.

It must not be. If Cassio do remain

He hath a daily beauty in his life

That makes me ugly. And besides, the Moor

May unfold me to him—there stand I in much peril.

(Said to audience so they know that whatever happens, Othello must die.)

No, he must die. But so, I hear him coming.

Besides my notes, I noticed in this scene/soliloquy that Iago has a lot going on. He is so involved in his secrets that he confused himself. Iago needs to talk to himself through this scene but still addressing the audience so they understand his plan to make sure Othello dies, that he wants Roderigo to live, how he will get Othello to finally snap and kill Cassio for the lies he has been told about him. Iago may be confused if he wants Roderigo to live or not. Roderigo knows that Iago stole gifts from him that were meant for Desdemona. But he can’t let that happen. 

Nowhere in the scene did I see Iago question or speak up to a God. He is so invested in his own ego and power that he has no space to think of someone else watching his every move.

Iago knows that whatever happens, something will work in his favor, because all all, he is the mighty puppet master.

Journal 2

Secondary Character: Cassio

April 24

Appears in Act 2, Scene 3; When Iago gets Cassio drunk, Cassio gets into a fight with Roderigo and Montano, and then Othello sees him drunk and fires Cassio from his job as lieutenant.

Appears in Act 3 with Desdemona when he begs her to convince the Moor to give back his job.

Then, in the scene where Iago hides Othello so that he can talk to Cassio about Bianca, though, Othello believes Cassio is laughing about Desdemona. Cassio speaks of how he is only her customer, and she has fallen in love with him, while describing hsi relationship with Bianca.. This makes Othello angry because he believes Cassio is calling Desdemona a prostitute.

Cassio is extremely vulnerable throughout the play. Iago makes him the main character of his evil plan to break apart Desdemona and Othello, and gets Othello so angry with Cassio that he wants dead.

First hand, Cassio observes very little. He isn’t given the chance to be around because Iago tells lies and makes everyone hate him. Iago tells Cassio to get drunk, tells him to talk to Desdemona to get his job back.

Cassio is a very innocent character. He only wants his job; and in Cyprus he has Bianca. Bianca was his prostitute who fell in love with him. Cassio’s judgement was impaired by Iago and then loss full control over his life.

Journal 3

Emilia

April 25

Emilia is a middle aged woman, maybe around 35 though. She married Iago at a young age , because of her parents’ pressure for her finding a spouse. She is low maintenance and has really stopped loving Iago. She sees first hand how cruel and conniving he has become, and she has known him a very long time.

Throughout the play, Emilia realizes the difference in how Iago treats her, and knows she can’t cross him. She sees the anger in his eyes and guards herself and Desdemona for as long as she can. When she learns that Iago’s plans worked and Othello killed her, she finally reveals the truth She has never been afraid of Iago, only weary for the lives that would have been harmed. Taking care of Desdemona was Emilia’s way of saying how sorry she was for whatever her future was, because nothing Iago planned could turn out good for anyone but himself.

Journal 4

Prepare for Presentation 

April 29

For this performance and part, I need to express much emotion. I have to move around a little, because in my interpretation of this last scene as Emilia is that she is quite frightened by the fact that Othello killed Desdemona, then she is also with Iago in this scene. Emilia knows about all the lies her husband has told to manipulate people throughout the play.

Emilia is also dying at the end of this scene, so I have to get myself on the ground a certain way. I am stabbed by Iago, and I fall as I say my last line. Then Othello lays next to me, and stabs himself once he knows he killed the woman he loved when she was innocent of everything. 

My prop which is also my costume is quite simple. I made myself an apron that I’m wearing with a nice shirt. Emilia doesn’t have any obvious or even hidding hints about anything she may have on her.

I think that my scene will stand out because it is the final scene with a lot of plot endings. Both Othello and Emilia die, leaving Iago on stage all alone. In the play, he was carried off and said to have been tortured for everything he did. But he isn’t in this shortened script.

As a group we decided on how my part will have to die on stage as well as Othello afterwards.

Journal 5

Analyze Character’s Lines

April 30

“Moor, she was chaste. She loved thee, cruel Moor. So come my soul to bliss as I speak true. Speaking as I think, I die, I die.”

These are Emilia’s last lines when she dies. This is important to the play because,  Emilia was a minor role, but her presence even in 3 scenes, were extremely important. Emilia was told to watch for Desdemona, then her action was one of the reasons that got her killed. Emilia knew all the lies that Iago had told Othello about Desdemona’s life.

I think I delivered this line with less emotion than I could have. It was hard for me to feel the pain that Emilia’s character needed.

My group scene members worked hard while practicing. I think that it would have been even better if we had memorized more lines but that was very hard. There was also not many movements we could find to make the scene more visually interesting, besides dying and just laying on the ground. During the speaking parts, my character was letting Othello know that he had killed the woman he loved, and that Iago had been lying to him since before they came to Cyprus.

Doing the performances didn’t really help me understand the play any better. I know how to read Shakespeare’s writing, but when seeing it performed, I can’t focus on what he was really trying to convey through the words. Seeing the words on paper, stationary, I can focus on exactly everything that was hidden, but important in the play.  

Haneef Nelson 

5/1/13

Prep Journal #1

(looks to the crowd)’be rubbed this young pimple until he’s ready to pop, (pause and looks away) And now he’s angry. (looks to crowd) Whether he kills Cassio, (little pause) or Cassio kills him, (little pause) or they kill each other, (little pause) it all works in my favor. If Roderigo survives, though, he’ll ask me for all the gold and jewelry that I stole from him and said I gave to Desdemona. (hmm, looks to the crowd) I can’t let that happen. (looks away from the crowd) If Cassio survives(pause),he’s so handsome and well-spoken that he makes me look ugly. (looks to crowd) And besides, the Moor might tell him about my lies about him.—That would be very dangerous for me. No, he’s got to die. Let it be so. I hear him coming. (puts finger on his chin and rubs it as if he is thinking)

Prep Journal #2

In Act 5 scene 2 the secondary character I chose to closely observe is Emilia, so this is “Emilia, The Story”. During the scenes that Emilia are in, first hand observes she Desdemona slowly dying and her husband, Iago lying and getting caught in a lie in front of Othello in order to keep his plot going. During the same act Emilia second handedly observes Desdemona and Othello speaking about death before and right after Othello kills his wife. We understand Emilia’s motivations better when we concentrate only on their scenes because we see how they're thinking specifically and we focus in on it, instead of reading and analyzing and searching for all the other characters wants and needs.

Prep Journal #3

Iago grew up in a one parent house, with just his abusive father. His father never had a steady house or hold hold, as in the way he ran his house. He always had a new girl friend, and lived this life style around the young Iago. Whenever Iago would mention his mother, his father would sit him down and tell him she was just another strumpet and hit him. Iago grew up with out learning how to respect women, but one thing his father did teach him was how to praise the king. He taught him to conform and not obstruct authority, but the young Iago didn't like to conform. Which is why as he aged  didn't change, he was still the same trouble maker, which is why you find him in the situation he's in now.

Prep Journal #4

My scene is the one between Emilia and Iago when she gives him Desdemona's handkerchief. A specific movement or action I have to do during our scene is wave my arms around to sell what I'm saying, and make grins as well as touch my chin as if I'm hinting things to leave Emilia on edge. It leads into the scene because she's out of the "loop" and with me hinting at things, it makes her want to know what I'm talking about, which is a part of the script. A prop I'm going to bring is a cape, because back then I'm assuming nobles wore capes. Also, I think with the way I thought of my character, Iago’s cape will go perfectly because of how I will dramatize what he's saying. I think how each of my members took on their characters personality is going to make our presentation stand out.

Journal #5

"...I will in Cassio's lodging loose this napkin, and let him find it. Trifles light as air are to the jealous confirmations strong as proofs of holy writ: ..." Scene 4 Act Scene 2

In this scene Iago is explaining how he's going to go about his plan to ruin Desdemona's name and make Othello broken hearted.  This is important to the play because this single action of him putting Desdemona's handkerchief in Cassio's room made Othello think she was cheating which is the plot of the play. In my groups scene in Shakespeare's Othello, I delivered my lines in a sneaky and plotting tone but, also in an excited way because he was happy to destroy Desdemona’s name and ruin everyones happiness but also didn't want any one to find out his plan. Yes my groups performance went exactly how we planned and practiced. The consistency during practice made it easy when doing the final performance. I am also very proud of my group and I performance. We all spoke clearly, used the stage directions, and added emotion to what we were saying. I wouldn't change anything about our performance, I'm proud of our performance. Acting out Shakespeare didn't change my understanding of anything because we didn't do anything but reread it and act it out. I got all the analysis parts from reading the book the first time as a class.

Journal #2 passage excerpts

Max Amar-Olkus

Gold Stream 

Ms. Larissa Pahomov

Journal #1:

She that was ever fair and never proud,

Had tongue at will and yet was never loud,

Never lacked gold and yet went never gay,

Fled from her wish and yet said “Now I may,”

She that being angered, her revenge being nigh,

Bade her wrong stay and her displeasure fly,

She that in wisdom never was so frail

To change the cod’s head for the salmon’s tail,

She that could think and ne'er disclose her mind,

See suitors following and not look behind,

She was a wight, if ever such wights were—

 

In the beginning Iago would be in a crouch position with a huge smile on his face. Possibly somewhat seductive to catch Desdemona's attention. At the end of each line he would give an arm gesture to emphasize his point. When he says the line about the woman showing self restraint he would back off away from Desdemona and almost make it seem like she is not the one he is talking to. This would show his subliminal opinions about her and also make her follow him to hear what he's saying. When he says the line that signifies the woman being too smart to do anything stupid he would be very close to Desdemona. His face very close to hers, he would then taps her on the nose to emphasize his point. Before his soliloquy gets cut off abruptly, he would be looking admiringly into the audience as if to be dreaming about this woman.

Journal #2: 

My character is Bianca.

An important scene that Bianca appears in is the one in Act 4, Scene 1. This is when Iago is talking to Cassio about "his woman", and makes Othello think he is bragging about Desdemona. This causes many problems for everyone, except for Iago. It causes Othello to further obsess over the idea of his wife cheating on him even though Desdemona isn't even the one Cassio is talking about. Problems arise for Cassio because it makes him look bad to Othello. 

At this point, Bianca has not seen Cassio for a week's time and is very irritable. She observes firsthand the end of the conversation that was previously happening about her with Cassio, Iago, and Othello. We can understand her motivations while focusing on just this scene by seeing how upset she is at Cassio for giving her another woman's handkerchief. She has motivation to break up with him if he didn't come to meet her that night.

Journal #3:

When Roderigo was just a small boy he decided that he would want to be in the military. All of his heroes were great warriors. He was a frail boy, and was always getting beat up at military school by his peers. "You can never be a great fighter," they would say to him. He wanted to prove them all wrong through hard work and perseverance. He was not able to do this. 

When he was 14, his parents' relationship became strained. They eventually split up, after about a year of passive aggressiveness. Roderigo and his sister chose to live with their father, because women had no rights in that day. His sister was older, and was never home. She was always with her new husband. Roderigo promised her that he wouldn't tell their father about her relationship. When their father finally found out, he was crushed. Not by the news of her being married, but the fact that she did not tell him. Roderigo vowed to never let this happen to another old man. This is why he wanted to tell Brabantio that Desdemona was with Othello. 

Journal #4: 

My character, Roderigo, will be portrayed as a very weak man. This shouldn't be too hard for me because I am also a very weak man. I will use a very timid voice for most of my performance. The only time I will use a different tone will be when my character is putting on the illusion of confidence and strength. Roderigo will take very small strides while walking and have an almost cartoonish and angry gait in scene two when he has to fight Cassio. I have practiced stage combat for that scene. I will bring an umbrella as my prop. In the first scene, I will use the umbrella as a complement to the surrounding and give the illusion that it is raining. I will use the umbrella in the second scene as a weapon. I think my group's presentation will stand out because we are all very energetic and outgoing. We are able to convey the seriousness of the scene without making it droll and boring. We have worked on blocking a lot as a group and I am confident that our scene will be top-notch. 

Journal Post Performance: 

“Tush! Never tell me. I take it much unkindly

That thou, Iago, who hast had my purse

As if the strings were thine, shouldst know of this.”

This line is important to the play because it really shows Roderigo’s character. He is weak and offended that Iago would use information against him. He does not realize the risk of dealing with a man like Iago. Iago takes advantage of almost every other character in this play and uses the things they tell him against them. This line exposes Roderigo’s weakness to Iago. This line set the tone for my character and I delivered it with a slight attitude at first. 

My group’s performance went a little bit better than expected. We had rehearsed in a different setting than the classroom stage so we had to adjust our blocking slightly on the spot. I am proud that we were able to make our performance work, and I think that it went well with the following ones from our peers. I would have liked to have memorized my lines, but because I had such a short amount of time, I could not do that. 

My understanding was changed after performing because we had the modified scripts, which helped very much. Going through the script worked better for me than reading the play. I think this is because the scripts showed the key elements to the play and drew the focus to the events that were the most important. Personally, I feel that Shakespeare’s writing tends to dance around the main idea he is trying to convey. For me, acting out the a Shakespearian play is always more helpful for my understanding. Interacting with other characters has always been an eye opener for me because I am able to actually understand where my character is coming from and his intentions or goals. I think this project was very useful for my understanding of Othello. When I first read it I was somewhat lost but by the end of the unit, I had a steady comprehension of the play.

​

 

Q4 Othello BM Journals

 

Journal #1:

 

Iago:    “Now will I question Cassio of Bianca (Othello exits leaving Iago alone to. Iago begins to start speaking toward the audience.) A huswide that by selling her desires (His tone of voice twist into that od disgust.) buys herself bread and clothes. It is a creature That dotes on Cassio, as ‘tis the strumpets plague To beguile many and beguiled by one. (A smile creeps up on his face.) He, when hears of her, cannot retrain from the excess of laughter. (Collects himself before Cassio walks in) there he come. (Looks away from the audience and toward the direction in which Cassio appears.)

 

 

 

Journal #2:

 

Character from play: Bianca

Bianca doesn’t really observe anything too drastic in the play. She appears in Act 3 Scenes 4. The only thing that she was a witness to during her appearance was Cassio in possession of Desdemona’s handkerchief. I don’t think Bianca is told anything by another character though seeing Cassio with a handkerchief does bring up a suspicion in Bianca. She believes that Cassio is cheating on her, which is why the handkerchief was placed in his home. It was placed in his home to make others believe he is messing with another women, Desdemona. Bianca isn’t happy about this of course because she has feelings for Cassio and doesn’t want him bedding other women, seeing the handkerchief and her suspecting that Cassio is cheating was the other thing she could think with what evidence she had. Futher more she wasn’t in contact with another other character to be aware of what was really going on.

 

 

 

 

 

Journal #3:

 

 

Barbantio was a normal boy for his age and high status. He educated himself and did what he had to honor is family. Through out his teenage years he had a serious crush on a woman he later asked to be his bride. Shortly after the wedding his wife became pregnant with a child that made her ill. The women gave birth to a sickly little girl she named Desdemona. Barbantio was a proud father. Shortly after Desdemona’s birth her mother died. Barbantio grieved for his wife. He was a happy father who grew very protective of his daughter as she grew older. He became afraid some rueful man would try to steal his daughter away.  So you see Barbantio was a protective father because he was a single parent trying to raise a beautiful women. It’s his job to be over protective and untrustworthy with men because he’s a worried parent.

 

 

Journal #4:

 

 

I played the role of Barbantio, Desdemona’s father. Since he’s an older man I will be using more of a crackled voice because of his age and to express some emotion while he’s speaks. The voice gives a feel of how Barbantio is taking Desdemona’s actions. Some hand waving is to be expected and perhaps, pacing to show Barbantio’s uneasiness. Barbandito questions why he’s daughter chose to marry Othello and if it’s all a trick. He also question if Othello’s intentions are pure.  There isn’t much I will use for props just a broken umbrella to sort of use as a cane. My group’s presentation will stand out because of our dedication in trying to act these characters out well. We want to be dramatic. We’ve also talked over playing our characters to the fullest so one can better understand them through the way we act.

 

 

 

Benchmark Post Performance:

 

Barbantio: “Look to her, Moor, if thou hast eyes to see: he has deceived her father and may thee.”

 

This quote is important to the play because clearly when Barbantio didn’t exactly get what he had hoped for he reacts badly to others. He straight out says to Othello that his daughter has “deceived” him and for Othello to watch out because she might do the same to him. This adds up to the list in Othello’s head, his list which contains the evidence to have him believing that Desdemona could definitely be unfaithful. Just look, her father cannot trust her.

 

For the group performance in class it wasn’t quite expected. We were missing a group member and having to have Isabella play the missing person was a little hard to do because we had practiced it a certain way already and having to change made it a bit difficult. I do even though we were missing someone we did a good group getting it done. Something I would have done differently for my part was move around more, I wasn’t able too much because I was sharing a script but then again I could have still moved around more in general. Performing the play changed my understanding of it because you really have to get to know your character to play your part correctly in my opinion. You have to understand why they feel a certain way about things so that you can understand what is the right way to act at a certain time in the play. So with performing I really had to learn about my character more nd just really get to know them so I could play them properly.

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Benchmark Journals

Briana Bailey

Gold Stream

Journal 1: (Lines from quote in bold and italicized)

(aside) He takes her by the palm. Cassio is taking Desdemona by her hand while talking to her.

Ay, well said, whisper! They should keep on whispering. Although they don’t know (Desdemona and Cassio) it, but they are feed into my little evil plan! Because you guys are whispering things together, I can easily turned what your saying into something its not. In other words I will be able to make that action look innocent to Othello.

With as little a web as this will I ensnare as great a fly as Cassio. He is talking directly about Cassio and I saying that he is trapping himself. In order to get you in on my plan (with you knowing) your kindness to Desdemona is exactly what a man like me with a plan to break peoples heart needs.

Ay, smile upon her, do, I will give thee in thine own courtship. Go ahead smile at her, make her fall in love with your gentleman like behaviors. That will make my job of framing you guys a lot easier. 

You say true, 'Tis so, indeed I’m sure you’re right, keep talking. Fill her and my ears up with charm.

 

Journal 2:

 

Act 3 Sc. 4. Bianca

"O Cassio, whence came this. This is some token from a newer friend. to the felt absence now I feel a cause isn’t come to this? well well."

"But that you don’t’ love me"

Bianca sees that her "lover," Cassio, has a handkerchief, which obviously belongs to someone else. She began to question if it came from some other woman he "loves/sleeps with." She wonders if he is giving her other lovers’ handkerchief, which would be insulting towards her.  

Cassio tells Bianca that he found the handkerchief himself in his chamber. Also she gets told that she must leave he is in Cyprus on duty as the Generals help. She gets told that Cassio loves her and will maybe see her soon. 

A way to understand this scene by looking at her key words "a newer friend." This indicates that she thought Cassio was seeing someone else. Also the handkerchief belonged to that someone else.

Journal 3:

Raised by her father, mother died during birth, Desdemona was a daddy's girl. She grew up taking care of her father the same way he took care of her, with love, patience and grief. As a child she learned to be a gentle female. She always did as told up until the point when Desdemona disobeyed her father for the love of her life. Desdemona understood why her father didn’t want her to marry a "Moor," but she didn’t want anyone to stop her from her heart being completed. This shows when she wants something she goes for it. She is determined. Although her husband is planning on murdering her because of lies he was told about her committing adultery she died loyal, and confused as to who she was as a wife to Othello. Even though Othello thinks she is cheating on him, she never did say to her “I might as well do it”. She stayed faithful. As the soft-spoken woman she is she tried to understand her husband without arguing. 

Journal 4:

Playing Desdemona in scene 4 involves her having a very soft spoken and worried voice. She is speaking with Othello about his headache that is causing him to not be present at the dinner. She presses a handkerchief upon his forehead.

The only prop I had for Desdemona was the handkerchief. What makes my group stand out is Haneef’s reenacting of Iago and Doneshas acting of Emilia. They had the connection of frustration and the painful love that they share. Also our scene is relatively short, and I think it’s the shortest scene, There wasn’t really much action we could put into our scene a lot of it was straight dialogue. 

Journal 5:

Desdemona: “How now, my dear Othello! Your dinner, and the generous islanders by you invited do attend your presence.” This line is highly important to the middle of the book. It’s the first time Desdemona is noticing that her husband is coming through something. Although she thinks he just is “not well” I sense that she knows its something else as well. I think this because I imagined her speaking to him in a worried soft voice. This line is also important because its addresses to Othello (main general) how important it is for him to be at the dinner that he set up with the people of Cyprus.

            My group’s performance sort of went the way I envisioned it. I definitely agree with the statement that was said in class “the scenes went by faster than I thought they would.” At the same time for my group (more specifically) there were only 4 characters and each character had about 3-4 lines. As a performance my group should have put a deeper thought into finding more actions to put with our words. 

Journal 1:

“Now will I question Cassio of Bianca, A huswife that by selling her desires Buys herself bread and clothes. It is a creature That dotes on Cassio, as ’tis the strumpet’s plague To beguile many and be beguiled by one. He, when he hears of her, cannot refrain From the excess of laughter. Here he comes”.

 

From this section I see that Iago can be talking to himself, and revealing his plan to the audience. I can tell all of this because he doesn't seem like he is talking to another character. Also it makes me wonder why he would be saying his plan to himself. Although maybe he wanted to get his plan in the air. Maybe he wanted to see how it sounded. So from those reasons you really can’t chose what Iago was doing. Therefore he could have been speaking to the audience, or himself. Iago is a tricky character, because he reveals his plans a lot, and when you don't know if another character is there you wouldn't know who he was talking to.

Journal 2:

Barbantio- Page 41, Act 1 section 3 

Barbantio saw many things, but on page 41 he saw Desdemona confessing to her being with Othello. He personally saw that her saying she was with Othello. Barbantio was not happy with the fact that they are together, and that they were having intercourse. He didn't like how they were together, and how they were open with it. He was told that they were doing it everywhere, and that they do stuff together a lot. He was told that they ran away together. Barbantio was mad at the fact that it was Othello, and he thought that because he was different that he forced Desdemona to be with him. Othello was african, so he just assumed he had a spell on Desdemona to be with him. We can understand how he was angry, and how he was mad at the fact it was Othello.

Journal 3:

Desdemona was a good girl, but she had a freaky side. While she was growing up every boyfriend she had was in love with her, because of how sexual she was. She made the days of many with a simple kiss. As she got older, her sexual knowledge expanded. She found out more, practiced more, and got more experienced. When she left men, it broke their heart. Not only was she a kind, considerate, and just plain nice girl, but she had a freaky side as well. When she got to Othello, she showed him a different way of being sexually active. It was so good, he fell in love. Othello knew about her sexual touch, but not her loyalty. He knew her touch was enough for a guy to go off. So thats why he believes she is cheating. So that brings us up to Othello killing Desdemona.

Journal 4:

I’m using my girly voice, and having my fake breast on. The tone i’m using is the tone of a defensive person, but a not defensive voice. I needed to be serious about my role, because we traded places. So since I was Desdemona, I needed to be super professional.

 

My prop was the fake breast. It made our scene look funny, but they brought out the women in me. It made me look more like a lady. They aren't really needed, but I like them.

 

The end scene made us stand out because nobody else ended their scene like that. The strangle scene was the best. It makes the audience understand the seriousness of the scene.

Journal 5:

"Ay my lord" Desdemona says yes my lord to Othello. Even though she knows she is about to die, she is still showing love towards him. She still addressed him as her lord. She still took pride that he was her husband. She never got loud, and tried to avoid it. She didn't try to force her way out. She could have gotten violent with him, however she didn't. She kept her cool and knew what was about to happen. She knew that Othello was losing something, and he wouldn't be able to get it back. She was saying if you kill me thats your loss. This line was important because Desdemona knew she couldn't really escape death. She couldn't escape her fate. She knew what ever was to happen would happen. Therefore she didn't fight off Othello. She tried what she wanted, but never got physical. With the line "ay my lord" she still is looking at othello as her husband, even though she knows he is planning on killing her. She knows he was tricked, but kept with it. In her eyes she was meant to die. I delivered this line fast, and direct. I did that to let my partner, who was Othello that Desdemona still loved him. I made sure that most of my lines were direct so that Desdemona was still on the defense. I made sure Desdemona was on the defense with most of the lines I said.

I think our performance went as expected. It went how we planned. I had fun doing the scene with my partner. I think we really got across the strangle part of the scene. Since strangling is so physical, and brutal I think we did a good job. We really took the roles seriously. I think that being Desdemona was fun, because I got to act different from what I would have not normally been. Normally, I would have been Othello, but because we switched I got to be Desdemona. The only thing I would have done differently was know my lines. I think it would have been more fun, not reading of the paper. For the 2 scenes where I sat there as a dead desdemona, I probably would have laughed in scene 8. Other than that I felt like my partner and I did a fine job. Shakespeare is a hard text to speak, and understand so I think we read well. We also were serious during our scene. That was due to how many times we practiced it. We practiced our parts a lot of times, and I think it reflected in our scene.

When performing it, the scene came alive to me. It made me understand how it feels to have someones hands around my neck. I know how the scene plays out. The scene was important in the story. So I'm glad I got to be apart of it. I wasn't nervous about doing the scene. I was looking forward to doing it with my partner. I like acting, so I was ready to do the scene.

Benchmark Journal 1 

(aside) I have rubbed this young quat almost to the sense,

And he grows angry.  Now, whether he kill Cassio

Or Cassio him, or each do kill the other,

Every way makes my gain.  Live Roderigo,

He calls me to a restitution large

Of gold and jewels that I bobbed from him

As gifts to Desdemona. 

It must not be.  If Cassio do remain

He hath a daily beauty in his life

That makes me ugly.  And besides, the Moor

May unfold me to him—there stand I in much peril. 

No, he must die.  But so, I hear him coming. 

Notes: 

Iago at this point has taken a few steps away from Roderigo turns his head, and is speaking to himself.  He has this look upon his face of sneakiness.  He isn’t talking angrily at all, but more of in a sneaky soft voice.  As he continues to speak to himself he becomes cautious, because he knows that if Roderigo even starts to get suspicious, he will be done, for that will be his life.  Then again he knows that Roderigo is not smart enough to figure him out.  Iago now looks at Roderigo and makes a decision that he must die.  In this speech any time that Iago says  Othello’s name or says the Moor his voice gets aggressive because he doesn’t like him at all.  While he is doing his speech to himself one hand is in his pocket while the other hand is on his mouth,covering it so that Roderigo does not see him speaking to himself.  

Benchmark Prep Journal #2

Emilia:

• Emilia was in a big scene,when she stole her handkerchief from Desdemona and gave it to her husband Iago in Act 3, scene 3. 
• Another was when Emilia was right there when Desdemona was getting screamed at by Othello for not knowing where the handkerchief was at in Act 3, scene 3. 
• Lastly, in Act 5 scene 2, Emilia had confessed to giving the handkerchief to Iago because he asked for it.  This was after Othello had killed his beloved wife.  

 

1. Emilia at first does not think anything of stealing the handkerchief from Desdemona because it was for her husband, and she will do anything for him.  She feels this way because Iago’s love for her has faded.  Emilia knows this because when she was talking to Desdemona she was babbling on about how a man should love his wife and how much Othello loves Desdemona and it kind of sounded like jealousy. She see’s how happy Othello is with Desdemona and she wants that with Iago again. She is willing to do anything at the moment to please her husband. Even though it is hurting someone else she thinks that she will gain from it in the end.  
2. Emilia was going on this whole time throughout the play with no idea on what Iago was plotting on doing, so when she gave him the handkerchief it just was the icing on the cake for him.  When Emilia went into Othello’s room and saw his wife suffocated she wanted to know why . When he started to explain, and he brought up the handkerchief it was a trigger, all she could say was “My husband?” She knew then that she was a part of Iagos plan.  She didn’t think that her husband would do such a thing but everything in her head started to make sense and she was able to see how bad of a person her husband Iago really was.  
3. We understand this character's motivations better when we concentrate only on their scenes because we are then able to have a close reading and analyze their state of mind. We are also able to put ourselves in their shoes and really understand their feelings towards the situation that they were put in to.  We can imagine the scene and understand how the surroundings effects the characters. We are also able to envision what their actions might have been like in the situation, like if they were pacing, yelling ,or talking to themselves. It would just help clarify the way the situation is taken under control. 

Benchmark Prep Journal #3 

The Duke of Venice was born as an only child.  His father and his mother were very wealthy people. The Duke as a child was spoiled, but only to a certain extent.  His parents wanted him to grow up to know how and want to make his own money even though he had money.  That is the reason why he is the Duke.  He strived to be on top because thats what his parents wanted him to do. The reason why the Duke is okay with Othello being black is because when he was younger his best friend was a little black boy, but his parents didn’t like the idea of him playing with a black boy.  The Duke doesn't want Desdemona’s best friend / lover to be taken away from her just because of the color of his skin.  

Benchmark Prep Journal #4 

For my performance of the Duke I will be making sure that I stand up and speak loud because he is a very proper man because he is like a king.  He does not talk with any type of slang. I will be making sure that I respect people and give them eye contact because that is what people who respect others do, and I feel like he is a very respectful person. I will also be talking with curiosity, I will be doing this because I feel as though the Duke is put in this very odd situation and he doesn’t really know how to handle it and he is curious to hear what they all have to say about the situation to prove their case.  

The prop that I will be using will be a royal chair. I will be using a throne because I am the Duke.  In the situation/scene that I am in, I am the highest, I am above all of the other characters. The Chair represents a sense of power and a separation in social classes.  While everyone is talking, my chair is going to be placed in a position as if i’m looking down on them and they have to look up at me.  This will show that I look down on them and they look up to me.  They come to me because I am who they believe in.  

My group's presentation will stand out because we  have a scene where you would think not much is happening on stage,but we are very good with making eye contact and interacting with one another on the stage.  Our group has talked about  what props we would use and what they would symbolize on the stage. We also agreed on the way that we would transition on and off the scene.  I think my group will stand out because we worked well together and it flows.  

Benchmark Prep Journal #5 

I feel as though an important line that The Duke said was, “But,Othello,speak:did you by indirect and forced courses subdue and poison this young maid’s affections? Or came it by request and such fair question ss soul to soul affordeth?” This line is important to the play because it tells the audience that the Duke does not take any sides he is not jumping to the conclusion that he put a spell on Desdemona. He is giving Othello a chance to explain his side of the story. Here it’s important because its kind of like he is mocking Brabantio.  I say this because he was like, okay, did you steal this girl’s heart by casting a spell or now speaking realistically, where you such a good man she fell in love with you for you? The way I delivered this line in the play was in a sarcastic way because like I  it sounds like mocking. I also did it in a concerned way because then again I am the Duke and I am supposed to be as professional as I can.  I had to be respectful to both sides of the stories. I also did this line sitting down in my throne while everyone was standing because I wanted them to know that I was the one who held the power in the situation.  

I feel as though my groups performance went as we expected and planned. We planned for everyone to have a prop that brought meaning to the scene and they did that. They did not put their backs to the audience. They also spoke clear and loud so that everyone could hear and understand. We did a great job I think with bringing a lot of emotions into the scene so everyone could feel what we felt,and with the actions so that everyone could see how we felt. Now that it is over I am very proud that my group had fun working together. One thing that I would do differently was learn my lines.  

Performing the play changed my understanding of it because I was able to feel how the characters felt in the scenes. It also helped me understand the stage directions a little more and who was talking to who while they where in the scenes with a whole lot of people.  

Benchmark Journal #1 

Soliloquy 

That Cassio loves her, I do well believe it;
That she loves him, 'tis apt and of great credit:
The Moor, howbeit that I endure him not,
Is of a constant, loving, noble nature, 
And I dare think he'll prove to Desdemona
A most dear husband. Now, I do love her too;
Not out of absolute lust, though peradventure
I stand accountant for as great a sin,
But partly led to diet my revenge, 
For that I do suspect the lusty Moor
Hath leap'd into my seat; the thought whereof
Doth, like a poisonous mineral, gnaw my inwards;
And nothing can or shall content my soul
Till I am even'd with him, wife for wife, 
Or failing so, yet that I put the Moor
At least into a jealousy so strong
That judgment cannot cure. Which thing to do,
If this poor trash of Venice, whom I trash
For his quick hunting, stand the putting on, 
I'll have our Michael Cassio on the hip,
Abuse him to the Moor in the rank garb—
For I fear Cassio with my night-cap too—
Make the Moor thank me, love me and reward me.
For making him egregiously an ass 
And practicing upon his peace and quiet
Even to madness. 'Tis here, but yet confused:
Knavery's plain face is never seen tin used.

I think he definitely is talking to himself, but also he is sharing his thoughts with the audience so that they know his heartfelt decisions. Making in the beginning he could be pacing around,thinking to himself, and just tapping his hand on his head. But in the middle of it, he could be looking up to the sky/.ceiling because he may be in pain at the fact that this is happening. "Doth, like a poisonous mineral, gnaw my inwards;And nothing can or shall content my soul.Till I am even'd with him, wife for wife, Or failing so, yet that I put the Moor At least into a jealousy so strong.That judgment cannot cure."Reading this quote can make me imagine his in vain at the thought of jealousy, and he can "talk to a high power" of how nothing can make him feel content with his soul. He could be asking higher power for something to make him feel a little satisfied.

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Benchmark Journal #2 Investigating Perspective

When Emilia grew suspicion upon Iago's plan to kill othello, there were many ways she saw this coming. For one in the scene's of when Cassio asked Emilia "Give me advantage of some brief discourse with Desdemona alone.", she let it happen but was also curious of why he wanted to do so.

Another instance is when Iago so willingly and desperately wanted Emilia to fetch the handkerchief for him and steal it from desdemona (not knowingly) and give it to Iago.Iago takes it from her when she does see him, and she makes her swear not to tell anyone about his/her whereabouts.

We can see that in the first couple of scene's she is described as young, and she is Iago's wife. She is also the attendant of Desdemona. Being the smart intelligent woman she is, she gives much advice to her friend desdemona of the laws of relationships and men. Such as the speech she gave her. Iago uses her friendship with desdemona to get to her steal her handkerchief and later put it on Cassio's property to make it look like they had an affair and this would be "proof" that they had an "affair". Emilia didn't wanna do it, so he took it from her). 310-320

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Benchmark Journal #3 Events during the Play

The Duke of Venice:

I think The duke is a wise man. He decided that instead of just sentencing Othello to death, he made the wise decision of letting Desdemona speak for herself and confess her love towards Othello. He told Brabantio that if he let her love Othello, maybe they will all be happy.There wasn't really much said of the duke, or so many clues to say who the duke was, but he also was the one who appointed Cassio Governor of Cypress since Othello was recalled from it. This shows his responsibility towards the rulership of Cypress because he knew that if Othello was going through all of these "trials" and disappointments and ups and downs in his life, then he is to busy to be looking over this area and people. This leads me to think, that he is a responsible man, (who should be since he is the duke of venice). His decisions depending what they should do with Othello in this scene is also very important, since he is responsible for what happens. He runs the house in this scene,no one else does.

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Benchmark Journal #4 Actions

Im bringing Power, since The duke of Venice is the most powerful in the room. He runs the courtroom so  he has to act very powerful and high.

I would wear a cloak with a cain maybe, and also i would probably wear a fancy hat. 

To have certain gestures to show what we are doing, such as bowing down and hand kisses, and also acting elderly and old.

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Journal #5 Analysis 

“What in your own Part can you say to this” Fetch Desdemona Hither”-Duke.

I thought this was very important for the play because it describes the responsibility that the Duke has. He has to sentence anyone who is unjust, and make the decisions in the court. But instead of just sentencing the Moor to death, he orders for the guards to go get Desdemona, to hear her side of the story. He wasn’t racist like everyone else int he room was, and he was definitely wasn’t drawling to conclusions. This shows that he probably has been through this before, and using his knowledge from his past experience to get to the solution of this conflict.

I wasn’t there for the performance, but when i practiced my lines with my group, I realized that the Duke is a very powerful man. He is like a judge in medieval times, but he delivered a powerful presence towards the court and the people. For me this meant that i would have to act manly(since he was a man), but a powerful man. Perhaps walking slowly with a cloak on, rod in my hand, and stroking my beard. When the Duke says “Fetch Desdemona Hither”, i imagine him saying it with a wave of his hand as if he is ordering his peasants around. Practicing it had made me realize that becoming the Duke, wasn’t an easy task. Being the Duke was fun, however, since I was the most valued in the room, I had to act like w as of high value. Changing into someone the total opposite of me is hard. Im personally to myself at times, and laugh all the time. The Duke was to be taken seriously, so i had to hide my smile and put on a facade. I was a gentlemen, who took into consideration other’s side of the story, instead of jumping to conclusions.

My understanding of my character and every other character in the play Othello, made me realize how every action and every word that someone says out there mouth is extremely important on how they act. Just the smallest gestures mean so much, a touch on the leg, a kiss on the knee, a bow... the smallest things can be considered a huge act of respect or disrespect. There are so many sneaky and clever people in the plays of Shakespeare, and the way he wrote Iago was very intriguing in a way. He always had a plan B, just incase someone said something wrong that wasn't in his maniacal plan. The language, both verbally, and bodily functions can be a big influence o how the play would turn out. Just like the Shakespeare instructor mentioned to our class when he visited said, There wasn’t any “queues” or lines that gave the “signal” to make an action. They were the professionals deciding on their own what to do, who to talk to, and where to go. Its all in the wording, and the wording is what you make of it.

Journal #1

Iago's Soliloquy - Act 2, Scene 1, Lines 148 - 158

She that was ever fair and never proud,

Had tongue at will and yet was never loud,

Never lacked gold and yet went never gay,

Fled from her wish and yet said, “Now I may,”

She that being angered, her revenge being nigh,

Bade her wrong stay and her displeasure fly,

She that in wisdom never was so frail

To change the cod’s head for the salmon’s tail,

She that could think and ne'er disclose her mind,

See suitors following and not look behind,

She was a wight, if ever such wights were—

Notes 

I think that Iago should start out speaking slowly, as if he is working out something in his mind, in the process of coming to a conclusion. He should be pacing at first, and look down as though he is talking to himself, with an anxious and concerned expression on his face. Then gradually get louder and louder, with more confidence, and start to talk to Emilia angrily, as if he was conveying to her very important instructions. By the end he should be at his loudest, addressing the audience, as if trying to convince them of what he is saying. He should make gestures with his arms towards the end, and as he is addressing the audience, beseeching them to understand him, and still glance over at Emilia because it is her that he is talking about, after all. This represents Iago’s journey from not an atypical person of the time, to a ruthless murderer, liar, and criminal. The audience will get the feeling that he moving from the calm and rational and becoming more and more frantic and desperate. 

Journal #2

My character is Rodrigo. He appears in scenes with Iago mostly, He is in the first scene Act 1, Scene 1, where Iago and Rodrigo inform Desdemona's dad about her marriage. In the next scene he threatens to kill himself, and is talked out of it by Iago. He gives Iago jewels to give Desdemona, as a token of his love. Iago promises to give them to her, but doesn’t. Rodrigo doesn’t appear until the end when in Act V, Scene I-II, he comes up to Iago, angry that Desdemona has not fallen in love with him yet. Iago assures him that all is well, and that if he kills Cassio, Desdmeona will love him. Rodrigo agrees and them wounds Cassio, only to be killed, to his surprise, by Iago.

By looking at only the scenes that Rodrigo appears in, you can clearly follow his story, and motives. The only thing t hat Rodrigo was after the whole time was Desdemona’s affection. He was hopelessly in love with her, and it was that love that ended up killing him.

Journal #3

Desdemona was always an obedient girl. Her mother died when she was young. She loved her father, and never spoke back. She went to boarding school where she learned things that she thought she would one day need, and then pass down to her children, like sewing, cooking, manners, dancing, embroidery, etc. She had always hoped to have a girl. Desdemona hardly ventured out into the real world, and because of this she was pretty naive. She liked reading books with happy ending, and dreamed of one day marrying a prince. She believed that people were truly good at heart. 

She wants to have an adventure of her own, so when Othello came telling her of his stories, she fell in love with him/them. She always wanted a happy ending, which adds irony and is tragic because she doesn't get a happy ending. She believes that people are good, and doesn't think that Othello would really kill her. She is obedient to her father, which is why she is so devoted to Othello. She never really had a mother figure so she completely devotes herself to men. 

 Journal #4

When I walk on, I will curtsy to the Duke of Venice. I will keep my tone clear, and fold my hands. When walking out, I walk out arm in arm with Othello. I am going to bring in a headband to wear during the scene, because it something that I believe Desdemona would have worn, to decorate herself. Out groups presentation will stand out because we made it interesting. We incorporated the use of levels into our presentation. We also have a lot of stage movement, and thought through the blocking and character movements on the stage. We have a lot of emotion in ours, as well as gesturing, which we worked out ahead of time. You can tell that our group collaborated well. We all get really into our characters, and we have a side conversation, a soliloquy, bowing, arguing, talking, and beseeching. Our scene is very interesting.  

Journal #5

“My noble father, I do perceive here a divided duty. To you I am bound for life and education. My life and education both do learn me how to respect you. You are the lord of my duty. I am hitherto your daughter. But here’s my husband, and so much duty as my mother showed to you, preferring you before her father, so much I challenge that I may profess due to the Moor my lord.”

  This quote is the first thing that Desdemona says in the whole play. The way she put together her words shows thoughtfulness. She does not say that she belongs to Othello first, and does not disrespect her father. She acknowledges that she has a “divided duty.” She praises him first, and then says that she needs to be with Othello before her father, just as her mother chose Brabantio over her own father. She plays with her father’s emotions, and it shows just how clever she is. These clever convincing words later make her confident when trying to help Cassio, while unknowingly fueling Othello’s anger and jealousy. Showing that Desdemona is honest is important because it shows just how poisoned Othello was by Iago’s words, when he was blind to her convincing truthfulness.

In the play, I delivered this line as honestly as I could, with a clear and even tone, to portray this. Our group’s performance went exactly as planned. I think we did well. We played with emotion, levels, stage directions, and props. If I was to do anything differently I would have even better costumes, and have it even more put together and extravagant but there is only so much you can do with the time we had. 

The play really pulled all the pieces of the book together for me. I understood the book, but the play definitely added.  I thoroughly enjoyed this whole experience, both with acting out Othello, and reading the book. I gained a lot. 

Azaria Burton

Benchmark Journals # 1-5

Journal 1

"Despise me

If I do not. Three great ones of the city

(In personal suit to make me his lieutenant)

Off-capped to him, and by the faith of man

I know my price, I am worth no worse a place.

But he (as loving his own pride and purposes)

Evades them with a bombast circumstance

Horribly stuffed with epithets of war,

And in conclusion

Nonsuits my mediators. For “Certes,” says he,

“I have already chose my officer.”

And what was he?

Forsooth, a great arithmetician,

One Michael Cassio, a Florentine

(A fellow almost damned in a fair wife)

That never set a squadron in the field,

Nor the division of a battle knows

More than a spinster—unless the bookish theoric,

 Wherein the toged consuls can propose

As masterly as he. Mere prattle without practice

Is all his soldiership. But he, sir, had th' election

And I, of whom his eyes had seen the proof

At Rhodes, at Cyprus, and on other grounds

Christian and heathen, must be belee’d and calmed

By debitor and creditor. This counter-caster

He (in good time) must his lieutenant be

And I, bless the mark, his Moorship’s ancient."

In this part of the play Iago is talking to Roderigo about how upset he is that Othello chose Cassio to be his Lieutenant instead of him. Although Iago is talking to Roderigo he is also talking to the audience. Iago is telling us that he hates Othello and giving only a bit of insighton why he really hates Othello. If I were the play director I would tell Iago to stand boldly towards the audience and say very loudly, “Despise Me If I do not.” The slowly say the rest of this part of the play. While doing so showing much confidence so that the audience can get a good idea on who Iago really is. I also believe when Iago speaks about Cassio he should add sarcasm in his voice when he says, "And what was he? Forsooth, a great arithmetician,One Michael Cassio, a Florentine (A fellow almost damned in a fair wife) That never set a squadron in the field,Nor the division of a battle knows…" While I understand that Iago is talking to the audience I know that technically he was having a conversation with Roderigo, so in order to make this more obvious everyone in a while Iago should turn his attention away from the Audience and speak directly to Roderigoand give a lot eye contact to Roderigo. I believe using these techniques will really help show Iago's personality and add to the idea of Iago being an evil trickster. 

Journal 2 

Scene 2 Act 3 Line 1416, “Reputation, reputation, reputation! O, I have lost my reputation! I have lost the immortal part of myself, and what remains is bestial. My reputation, Iago, my reputation!” Cassio has just gotten drunk and ended acting foolishly by stabbing Roderigo. Cassio panics when he realizes that his actions make him not only look like a sloppy drunk but also, it puts negativity towards his normally p good reputation. He really does not like the idea of having a bad reputation. This part of the play shows how innocent Cassio really is.He confines in Iago not knowing that it was Iago who got him drunk on purpose. Scene 3 Act 3 Line 1640, “Ay, but, lady,That policy may either last so long, Or feed upon such nice and waterish diet, Or breed itself so out of circumstance, That, I being absent and my place supplied, My general will forget my love and service.” Cassio is talking to Desdemona about Othello. He is explaining that he really does love Othello and does not want his position to be taken away.This part shows how innocent Cassio is however, Iago is able to use this kindness and twist into something it is not. Cassio is definitely an outsider through almost the entire play until the very end when everything gets out about Iago's plan. All Cassio wanted was to help Othello and he needed the help of Desdemona to do so. Throughout the book Cassio continues to not only confess his love for Othello but also state how much he honestly would love to work for Othello after he loses his job. It is very obvious throughout the play the Cassio’s intentions are not in any way bad and he is nothing like what Iago makes Othello believe he is. 

Journal 3

Emilia is Iago's wife.She is twenty-five years old and has been married to Iago for seven years.Her parents Leonardo and Saisha Warrens both loved her very much and took great care of her. As a child her mom would always tell her that in order to get to the top in the world you must sacrifice many things and work hard.Growing up Emilia loved to read and to taking long walks. Emilia loved to take walks because it was her only way out of the secretly hectic life she had. Although Emilias mom did not know, Emilia knew that her dad, Leonard, was always cheating on Saisha. Emilia had secretly caught him in the act a few times. She often wondered how a man that seemed to love his wife so much would still cheat. That is when she came to the conclusion that most people cheat and sometimes cheating can get you ahead in life. When Emilia met Iago he was the man of her dreams. He was very sweet and did everything he could for her, it was so easy for her to fall in love with him. However, Iago would constantly complain to her about his officer Othello. He wanted to get a head in life and he felt the process was moving to slow. Emilia loved Iago so much that she was willing to do anything she though would take this burden from him. She went and had a couple of private conversations with Othello and did him some favors for him in order to get her husband, Iago, ahead. A couple of months went by after Emilia had her private conversations with Othello, Emilia noticed that Iago was starting to create a distance between them. Iago wasn’t so nice anymore and he would often scream at her. Slowly, Emilia realized their once great marriage was going to shambles. She wanted to fix it and she would do what ever Iago asked of her in order to get their love back. Emilia becomes Desdemona's maid and seems to love Desdemona very much and she seems to be very loyal. Except the fact that she stole Desdemona's handkerchief and gave it to Iago because he asks her to. Then when Desdemona goes on to tell her about how much grief losing that handkerchief is causing Emilia does not tell her that she found it on the floor and gave it to Iago. Emilia only gave the handkerchief to Iago because he begged of her and she thought that maybe if she stole it for him he would be sweeter to her. After Othello kills Desdemona Emilia walks in. Othello tells her that Iago told him that Desdemona was not faithful. Emilia realizes how sneaky and manipulative Iago is and that quickly, falls out of love with him. Although she stole the handkerchief from Desdemona, she did love her and wouldn’t ever want anything to happen to Desdemona especially if it was her husbands, Iago, conniving ways that caused it. Emilia goes on to tell Othello, in front of Iago, that she stole the handkerchief because Iago asked her too. After she airs out Iago’s dirty laundry he gets angry and kills her. It is very surprising to Emilia that the man she once worshiped would kill her, it hurt her to her core. However, she died knowing she did the right thing. 

Journal 4 

During my performance Emilia is almost arguing with Iago in order to prove Desdemona's innocence to Othello. In order to get this strain and fight for truth to come forth in my acting I will be doing a number of things. When I speak to Iago I will be sarcastic and rude. I will make it obvious that I find Iago sickening by scrunching up my face and specifically when I say, "…if thou'st be'st a man…" I will be really obnoxious and try my best to make this statement seem very belittling by looking at Iago as if I already know the answer. When I speak to Othello I am trying to be convincing and so I will give eye contact and I will touch him in order to get his full attention. But, I will also be a little rude by speaking mockingly towards him. I will do this because when I read the play I feel like Emilia is mocking Othello. She calls him "dull" which can be considered quite rude and she calls him cruel. It seems although Emilia wants to prove Desdemona's faithfulness to Othello she also wants him to feel stupid for believing such nonsense by speaking down to him. For my prop I am going to bring a handkerchief and two X's to put over my eyes when I die. I will use the handkerchief when I talk about me giving one to Iago. I will swing it around Othello's face just to make the scene more dramatic. I think if as a group we make the scene between Iago and Emilia seem more like an argument and a fight for Othello's trust the scene will be more interesting. Also, I get stabbed in this scene and Othello kills himself so the scene alone is very dramatic and interesting. When I worked with my group we all tried to make the scene less bland by touching each other and moving around instead of standing there reading off the paper so the presentation will stand out. 

Journal 5 

"You told a lie, an odious,damned lie,upon my soul, a lie, a wicked lie. She false with Cassio!-- did you say with Cassio?" Emilia is talking to Iago in front of Othello about Desdemona. Emilia asked Iago what he had told Othello about Desdemona and Iago tells her that he told Othello that Desdemona was cheating on him. At this point Emilia flips out and tells Iago that he is a liar. I think this part is important in the play because it is the first time someone calls Iago out for what he really is and it just so happens to be his “loyal” wife that does it. Iago has been lying to everyone except the audience the entire time and he gets caught in his lies way too late in the game but, it is important that what he has been doing comes out. When I read this line while performing I spoke with hatred in my voice and I also spoke very fast because I find when someone is really angry and they are calling someone out, their adrenaline starts to pump and everything they say seems rushed. I wanted it to make it obvious that Emilia did not only catch on to Iago's plan but, she is also very angry about it and is ready for the truth to come out. It didn't go exactly how I expected it but, it didn't go bad either. I do know that sometimes when you practice things alone and then in front of people, your group members may get nervous and forget certain little details that were given to make to scene go by smoother but, in all it was good. I am proud of how I delivered the lines. I tried my best to put forth the anger and pain Emilia must have been feeling at this point in my voice so that the audience could really get a sense of how terrifying the whole experience was for Emilia, finding out that Desdemona was dead and it was her husbands fault. Also, Emilia played a part in Iago's plan without even knowing it. If she hadn't had stolen the handkerchief, Iago wouldn't have been able to perfect his plan the way he did.I would practice my emotions more because showing emotions is really important for the audience to understand the mood of the play at that particular point in the play. But, also I would love to remember all my lines so that the play could look more professional. When I acted out the play I really got a good understanding on how Emilia must have felt at the end out the play standing in front of Desdemona's dead body. Having to try to prove Desdemona's innocence to Othello all the while looking at her husband who is not only insulting her but, boldly and arrogantly stating that he had a major part in everything that is happening.

 

Prep #1:

(Act 2 scene 1)

She that was ever fair and never proud,
Had tongue at will and yet was never loud,
Never lacked gold and yet went never gay,
Fled from her wish and yet said “Now I may,”
She that being angered, her revenge being nigh,
Bade her wrong stay and her displeasure fly,
She that in wisdom never was so frail
To change the cod’s head for the salmon’s tail,
She that could think and ne'er disclose her mind,
See suitors following and not look behind,
She was a wight, if ever such wights were—

 speaks

In the first line, Iago should be looking at Desdemona as he speaks, because she just asked Iago a question in conversation. At "ever" and "never", he should raise his voice a bit to appeal to Desdemona (and be on her good side) by stressing the complimenting words. Since it becomes apparent that Iago is using opposites to describe this woman, he should stress the opposite words and phrases throughout the rest of the soliloquy (i.e. yet never, at will, etc.). When he switches to speaking to the audience, he should face them but still kind of hint with his body language that he's speaking of/to Desdemona. If he were speaking to someone like Othello, his words would sound humbled and slowed, because he knows Othello trusts Iago and values what he has to say. In the middle, he should be more flowing with his words to a point where he's almost rushing, but not completely. As he nears the end of the soliloquy, Iago's body should slowly turn back to addressing Desdemona and finish energetically.

Prep #2:

I am talking about Cassio. 

The important scenes Cassio appears in include the scene where he is being convinced by Iago to have drinks (Act 2, scene 3), where he is trying to get his job back through Desdemona (Act 3, scene 3), and when he is speaking to Bianca (Act 3, scene 4), his Cyprus woman. In Act 2 scene 3, Cassio sees that Iago is trying to be hospitable by inviting him for drinks at a part in honor of Othello. He knows enough to refuse the drinks at first because of his actions while drunk. He's told by others (Iago) that one drink won't hurt him that much, and in turn is convinced enough to have some to drink. In the next scene, after losing his job, Cassio is giving Desdemona putting his best forward because he wants his job back so badly. In that, he is ensured that he will get his job back after Desdemona clears it with Othello. Finally, when displaying affection to Bianca, Cassio sees nothing of it, but the audience sees Iago's master plan loosening up a bit. By these few scenes, the only things that seems to matter to Cassio are Bianca and surviving on his job. By focusing only on his scenes, we don't really see much of Iago's plan in the bigger spectrum. Seeing only the scenes they are in creates a nice filter for a deeper understanding of the play. 

Prep #3:

Before the period the play was set in, Othello lived in Africa, with his mother and father, and before he left to find different paths outside of his own home continent, Othello's mother went on to give him a very valuable and magical handkerchief. He was to give it to his only love. Somewhere along the way to becoming general of the army in Venice. Before making his way up, Othello was enslaved by people who took him for granted. As many slaves were treated, Othello was treated quite harshly, and because of how badly he was treated before meeting Desdemona and becoming a general, he learned to never put people through what he went through. Only in some instances would he lose his temper and went against his promise to himself. As a person, he learned how to be gentle and love. As a general, Othello learned how to take out all of the anger (on his enemies) and frustration that he once had as a slave. That is why Othello is the way he is in the play. 

Prep #4:

As Othello, I move quickly and since I just killed Desdemona in the play, I'm also a little frantic and in fight or flight mode. With that, my speech is quicker and I act suspicious of something in front of Emilia. My emotions are a wreck. My character is going to have a dagger, because in the lines, there is talk of a sword being pulled out and Emilia's boldness against it. Our presentation stands out because, although it is a little short, it is filled with lots of detail. To me, that detail contains a coming down from the climax of the play, the climax being Desdemona's death. It stands out because of the rapid back and forth responses between Othello and Emilia, and then Othello's realization in his mistake. There is also a bit of physical blocking, which, for some people, makes it more interesting.

Final entry:

The line from my scene, originally in Act 5, scene 2, has Othello say:

“Ay, ’twas he that told me [on her] first.

An honest man he is, and hates the slime

That sticks on filthy deeds.”

This, coming from Othello, is a line explaining to Emilia part of the reason why he killed Desdemona. He’s telling her that her husband, “honest Iago,” told him that Desdemona was cheating and ultimately that lead to her own death. At this, Emilia became upset, which led to the little scuffle on stage as the lies Iago told unfolded. The alliteration in “slime that sticks” was delivered with emphasis on the “s” to make it sound like Desdemona’s “crime” was the worst possible she could have done. 

I believe that my group’s performance did well. It was good that both of the people in our scene had the power to be able to not break character and be loud enough to stress the tensity of the situation that was happening at that very moment. Besides the lack of a better dagger/sword prop, I think that everything went smoothly for our scene. Now that it’s over, I’m glad that we could spend a lot of time rehearsing to get even better than the last time we ran through the scene. What I mean is that every time we rehearsed the scene there was a higher amount of energy going into it, and so gradually we got better. So, our best performance was the one in front of the class because of that. The only thing that we could have done differently that our Shakespeare mentor suggested was going completely crazy in the scene. If we were off script completely, there could have been more action. Being that we didn’t have a lot of rehearsal time, though, it is understandable why we didn’t get that far.

Performing plays, especially those by Shakespeare, always make things more clear than just reading them. There is an altogether different interpretation of the characters, and when you study/act as one character you begin to feel how they felt in the play. It gives a higher comprehension because when you act out all the movement, blocking, and emotions of the characters it’s better seen than read. That is, because when you see someone crying in real life, sometimes you begin to feel sorry or at least concerned for them. In a book, you know why they are crying, and it doesn’t really move or impact you as much. Now, I know more of Othello’s feelings, background, and reactions to different situations. You kind of create an understanding of your character’s actions and why things played out the way they did when performing.

A. What is negative space (explain this concept to a fourth grader that has never heard of it)

-  Negative space is the space that make the object appear.  

B. Explain how you found negative space in 1. your cut out?, 2. in your still life drawing?

  - I had to cut things out to find the negative space in my cut out and then glue it on the opposite side. In real life, I decided to draw the object first and then draw the negative space later.

  C. Why does it help an artist to see in negative space?

- So there objects look nice.

    D. Does seeing in negative space enhance drawings, why or why not? 

- Seeing negative space enhances the drawing because it makes it look more real instead of just in space. 

Journal #1:

“Now will I question Cassio of Bianca,

A huswife that by selling her desires

Buys herself bread and clothes. It is a creature

That dotes on Cassio, as ’tis the strumpet’s plague

To beguile many and be beguiled by one.

He, when he hears of her, cannot refrain

From the excess of laughter. Here he comes.”

- In this quote he is talking to the audience, telling them what he is about to do. He also is describing Bianca, by what he thinks of her and talking about Cassio. He seems to be talking about people in a mean way to himself, a lot in the play and this is one of those times. 

“ He takes her by the palm. Ay, well said, whisper! With as little a web as this will I ensnare as great a fly as Cassio. Ay, smile upon her, do, I will gyve thee in thine own courtship. You say true, 'Tis so, indeed.”

• In this quote Iago is talking to himself about Cassio and Desdemona and how he is taking her hand and whispering to her and laughing. Iago is thinking that his plan is going perfectly. He is encouraging the things that they are doing but not  out loud to himself.

 “I have rubbed this young quat almost to the sense,

And he grows angry. Now, whether he kill Cassio

Or Cassio him, or each do kill the other,

Every way makes my gain. Live Roderigo,

He calls me to a restitution large

Of gold and jewels that I bobbed from him

As gifts to Desdemona.

It must not be. If Cassio do remain

He hath a daily beauty in his life

That makes me ugly. And besides, the Moor

May unfold me to him—there stand I in much peril.

No, he must die. But so, I hear him coming.”

- In this one he is talking to himself and his conscience. He is thinking about the different ways of how his plan could go and how it would effect him and the people around him.

Journal #2:

Emilia: 

She doesn't really observe anything in the beginning, she just did what her husband asked her to do. Iago asked her to take the handkercheif from Desdemonas stuff. She was unaware about the plan that Iago had. She didn't knwo that he was going to use the handkerchief to manipulate Othello, Cassio and Desdemona. 

Later in the story, she realizes how aggressive Othello can get when he is mad. He got pretty aggressive when he was mad at Desdemona for "cheating". Emilia was shocked at his destructiveness. She also saw that  Iago used her to trick Othello and the fact that Iago lied about everything he told everybody. She also realized that Iago was not as an honest man as she thought he was.

She didn't really have a motivation, but I think it was to help Desdemona out, and try to be on her side about the dispute. And to also try to convince Othello that she didn't cheat and to not hurt or kill her.

Journal #3:

Before the play Othello’s dad gave a handkerchief to his mom, which was a token of his love to show how much his dad loved his mom. Through his life he saw how important that was and what it meant to his parents. His mom gave it to him so that he could give it to his wife when he got older and fell in love with somebody. Throughout the book you see how much of a huge deal it is to Othello. The handkerchief is similar to how we use rings, marriage / engagement rings as a sign that you are taken and are in love.

Journal #4: 

1. The tone I am going to use is confused and serious at the same time. I'm not really using my actions that much I’m just going to use my hands and arms a lot when I'm talking. I'm not really in the scene that long so their really isn’t anything i'm going to be doing because I only have 2 lines.

2. We are going to use cups as prop because we are suppose to b drinking in the scene. I am also going to bring a hat just in case to see if we need it. There really isn't any other props I really need because I'm not in the scene that long.

3. We have come up with a good way to do our slapping scene. We are goingt to have sound effects on the offstage while the scene is going to make it seem more interesting and less boring. We think the sound effects will keep the audience interested and actually feel like they are there and this will also give them a better idea of what's going on.

Journal #5:

• “ I know, Iago, thy honesty and love doth mince this matter, making it light to Cassio. Cassio, I love thee, but never more be officer of mine.”

Othello is basically saying I love you Cassio, but Cassio not going to ever be an officer of mine because Cassio is trying to get his job back since Othello thinks that Cassio slept with his woman. So of course, Othello was rude and doesn’t give him the job since he controls that. In the first sentence I think Othello is telling Iago to let Cassio down nicely. Then in the second sentence, he realizes that Cassio is actually there and just decides to tell him himself.

• I think the performance went better than I expected because my partners never seemed to want to do the performance and on show-day they did much better than I expected. I would have experimented with my character a little bit more than I did. So I could really see what he was trying to get across and what he is really feeling at the time.
• I think performing the play helped a lot since we took out all the uneccessary scenes and focused on the important ones. When we were reading the book the uneccessary scenes thrown me off sometimes, and made it a little bit harder to understand the story. But when we put on the show it helped me understand the whole point of the play and what they play was really about.

​Questions: 

1.) What is negative space? (explain this concept to a fourth grader that has never heard of      it).

2.) Explain how you found negative space in 1. your cut out?, 2. in your still life drawing?

3.) Why does it help an artist to see in negative space?

4.) Does seeing in negative space enhance drawings, why or why not?

Answer: 

      Negative space is the space that you see between the objects you drew. To find a negative space you basically have to look for a background. Your background is your negative space. You cut out positive space and then visual that when you fold your paper your drawing will look full. Negative space helps an artist to find a subjects so your eyes can see it better. Seeing in negative space enhance drawings because you can see more details and how drawing looks. 

Journal #1

That Cassio loves her, I do well believe ’t.

That she loves him, ’tis apt and of great credit.

Iago is sure that Cassio and Desdemona love each other.

The Moor, howbeit that I endure him not,

Is of a constant, loving, noble nature,

And I dare think he’ll prove to Desdemona

A most dear husband. Now, I do love her too,

Not out of absolute lust—though peradventure

I stand accountant for as great a sin—

But partly led to diet my revenge,

For that I do suspect the lusty Moor

Hath leaped into my seat. The thought whereof

Doth, like a poisonous mineral, gnaw my inwards,

And nothing can or shall content my soul

Till I am evened with him, wife for wife.

Iago won't give up until he can get revenge on the Moor.

Or, failing so, yet that I put the Moor

At least into a jealousy so strong

Another plan of Iagos, is to make Othello feel so much rage that it clouds his judgement.

That judgment cannot cure. Which thing to do,

If this poor trash of Venice, whom I trace

Iago apparently does not give a shit about Roderigo.

For his quick hunting, stand the putting on,

I’ll have our Michael Cassio on the hip,

Abuse him to the Moor in the right garb

(For I fear Cassio with my night-cape too)

Make the Moor thank me, love me, and reward me

Iago wants to trick the Moor into favoring him, so that he can proceed with his plans.

For making him egregiously an ass

And practicing upon his peace and quiet

Even to madness. 'Tis here, but yet confused.

Knavery’s plain face is never seen till used.

Journal #2

Cassio-Act 2 Scene 3

Cassio and Iago have a drink even though Cassio can't hold his well. Cassio gets drunk quickly, maybe after two glasses of meed, or wine. Iago then forces Roderigo to fight Cassio, and since Cassio is drunk, he does not know what is happening. After beating up Roderigo, Iago calls for help and Othello comes in. Othello then sees all of what happened, and can't believe that Cassio would do such acts of hatred. Since Iago's nickname is Honest Iago, Othello relies on Iago to tell the truth on what happened. Iago plays his cards well and then Cassio realizes that his life, and all the power he has built up, collapsed right in front of his face. Iago then tells Cassio that interacting with and, talking to Desdemonia can fix his trouble. This is just a lie and Iago is pulling Cassio right into his trap. Honest Iago does not seem very honest after all. Also the fight between Cassio and Roderigo gave Roderigo the reason to attack Cassio with his sword when Iago told him to later in the play. 

Journal #3

Cassio was always a persistent but nice person. However he was not nice to his enemies, slain by the sword they were. The battles he faced were only his calling for a greater role. Cassio was put under Othello's command and improved as a warrior. Othello noticed that Cassio had potential and decided to take him under his wing. Once after a battle, Othello took Cassio out to a pub. Cassio soon found out that he could not hold his alcohol well. Cassio had many great talents but drinking was not one of them. Slowly as Cassio rose through the ranks, Othello started to like him more and more. Othello had to decide who to promote to General and he could not decide between Cassio and Iago. Othello remembered that Cassio fights very well and decided to make him General. Cassio went farther in life than he ever thought he could. But someone else wanted Cassio’s position and Cassio knew nothing.

Journal #4

My character is Cassio who is a General in Othello's army. He is a powerful man who likes to have his orders followed. He probably has great posture and his back is straight. He speaks forcefully, and clearly but with emotion. I expect him to be drinking in the scene and Iago knows that he has very poor and unhappy brains for drinking. He could be drinking wine or maybe meed. Wine is hard to find but meed is very easy to make. so meed would be more likely to be drunk. Even though Cassio is a General and I'm guessing he is rich, he would drink meed because, he is a man of the people. Cassio carries himself with great power, and people probably feel his presence in the room because he is General. Of course Cassio has an alcohol problem, and thus will get drunk, and fall into Iago's trap.

Post Journal

Reputation, Reputation, Reputation! O, I have lost my reputation! I have lost the immortal part of myself, and what remains is bestial. My reputation, Iago, my reputation!

This quote is said by Michael Cassio, and is said after the fight between Cassio, and Roderigo. Iago calls for help, and Othello, and his attendants run into the bar, or place where Cassio, and Iago were drinking.  Othello calls to Iago, and asks him what happened, because everyone calls Iago, Honest Iago. Iago then exaggerates his feelings for Cassio and says something similar to, “I could not talk against Michael Cassio but if I need to tell what happened my Lord.” Iago then tells that Cassio got into a fight because he was drunk and it was an accident. Othello listens, and Cassio is worried about his rank, and the reputation he is losing because of this incident. Iago then tells Cassio to visit Desdemonia to gain back what he once lost, which of course is a trap and will lead to Cassio’s demise. This is what Iago wants to happen, so that he can become General and get Othello for fucking his Emilia. All of the characters are part of Iago’s plan of power and they do not even know it.

Journal #1

Act 4, Scene 1, Page 5 

Now will I question Cassio of Bianca,

(Bianca and Cassio’s relationship is being questioned.)

A huswife that by selling her desires

Buys herself bread and clothes. 

(Bianca buys herself food and clothes with Cassio’s money)

It is a creature,

That dotes on Cassio, as ’tis the strumpet’s plague

To beguile many and be beguiled by one.

He, when he hears of her, cannot refrain

(Cassio is truly in love with Bianca)

From the excess of laughter. Here he comes.

(Even with people talking about how bad Bianca is he still loves her)

Journal #2

An important scene Emilia was in was Act 3 Scene 3. Another one was Act 5 Scene 1 and Act 5 Scene 3. In Act 3 Scene 3 Emilia experienced Cassio telling her to betray her friend. Emilia experiences first hand that she's stealing a handkerchief and she also saw Desdemona die. Emilia experienced her husbanding screaming in pain after he was stabbed second hand. Second hand she also experienced walking in on Othello killing Desdemona. Emilia's character motivation was to do good by her husband and be a good friend to Desdemona. 

Journal #3

Before Emilia was in the play she lived with Iago her husband. They got married when they were 18 and 19. There wedding day was the most amazing day of her life. It started at 5 o’clock in the morning. Emilia woke up and went away with Desdemona. They went into Desdemona’s house to get ready. And Iago was with Rodrigo. After everyone was ready they had the wedding. When the wedding was over Iago and Emilia moved in together. Emilia began to work for, Desdemona and Iago begin working in the office. But because they were always working they never saw each other. They began to have issues within there marriage and always got a divorce. But then they made up and promised to each other that they would find time to spend together. Emilia always promised to do whatever Iago asked her to do no matter how evil or hard it would be. 

Journal #4

My character is Emilia. The actions I have to do in my play is pick up a handkerchief and try to get it back form Gabe (Iago). Emilia has to speak with a joking voice when she first finds the handkerchief then she has to be shocked that Iago wants to take it and make Othello and Desdemona sad. My character is going to bring a tissue for the handkerchief. My groups performance is going to stick out because we added some real life things like Will is going to take aspirin for his head ache. 

Journal #5

My scene was Act 4 and my character is Emilia. Act 4 is when Iago asked Emilia to steal the handkerchief. Something important she said previously was, “If it be not for some purpose of import give’t me again: poor lady, she’ll run mad when she shall lack it.” This quote was important to the play because Emilia knew her husband was wrong for taking the handkerchief however she didn't try very hard to get it back. Desdemona and Emilia are friends so Emilia knew how special it was to Desdemona but she took it anyway. Emilia was trying to be a good wife but at the same time she was being a bad friend. I delivered this line with trying to sound worried but I spoke a little bit too fast therefore it did not come out as worried as Emilia actually was. 

My groups performance did go as expected. Im proud of how well we did with bringing the scene to life. I think the props we used made it help it become alive. I think if we would change how we did the performance we would practice more on how to define the relationship between the characters. For example when Desdemona was trying to make Othello feel better we should have made her rub his head and be really sensitive. 

Performing the play changed my understanding because it made me realize how much they all betrayed each other. It also changes my understanding because I saw how much Desdemona actually loved Othello but he didn't see that she was faithful. I also saw how much of a bad temper Othello had. He never gave people the chance to talk he just yelled and grew angry quickly. 

 Wynn Geary,

Friday May 3^rd 2013 

E Band

 #1

IAGO:

(Iago sits on the side of the stage, his feet dangling off the stage. He has a perplexed look on his face.) “I have rubbed this young quat almost to the sense,” (He brings his arms up to his face while he is saying his line and makes a face, acting as though he is popping a pimple.) “And he grows angry. Now,” (He imitates a mad Othello.) “whether he kill Cassio” He takes out a wooded dagger and acts as if Othello has just stabbed him) “Or Cassio him,” (He turns the dagger around and acts as if he is stabbing Othello) “or each do kill the other,” (He pretends to stab Othello and then acts as if he is dying as well) “Every way makes my gain.” (He smiles widely to the audience. Then suddenly, it fades.) “Live Roderigo, He calls me to a restitution large Of gold and jewels that I bobbed from him As gifts to Desdemona.” (A look of greed/plotting crosses his face) “It must not be.” (He twirls the dagger in his hands) “If Cassio do remain He hath a daily beauty in his life That makes me ugly.” (He puts his fingers up to his head to look like the devil, and makes a sad face) “And besides, the Moor May unfold me to him—there stand I in much peril.”  (He stops twirling the knife and grasps it with both hands and points it up.) “No, he must die.” (Pause) “But so, I hear him coming.” (He stands up and scampers into a hiding place).

#2

Emilia appears in Act 2, scene 1, Act 3 scenes 3 and 4, Act 4, scenes 2 and 3, and Act 5 scenes 1 and 2. In the beginning o the play, she not only observes, but is an instrumental pawn in Iago’s plan to “dethrone” Othello. She gives Iago Desdemona’s handkerchief. Secondhand, I feel like Emilia is somewhat out of the loop in the play, She doesn’t realize how absolutely insane Iago is until like the last scene. I think that Emilia being “out of the loop” explains a lot about her “motivations”. She really doesn’t fully get what’s going on, and for anyone that’s out of the loop, not just her, that can lead to uneducated decisions being made. I think that essentially, Emilia being out of the loop shows that her actions are neither right nor are they wrong, they are simply uneducated and while they still are critical in the progression of the story, they don’t have either a positive or negative motivation behind them. If we zoom in on one of her scenes in particular, in act 3 scene 3 she picks up Desdemona’s handkerchief and gives it to Iago, if you focus on only this scene, her actions only become increasingly more disjointed.  

#3 

Iago: 

When Iago was a boy, he grew up in a small house in a northern Italian town called Padova. His father was a metalsmith for the army; his mother, a stay at home mom who kept watch of Iago and his brother and sister. Iago and his siblings spent their days in the woods and meadows just outside of town; Iago (being the youngest) always had to be the villain in any games they played. Some say that the oppression of his siblings lead to Iago becoming coldhearted and jealous, explaining to an extent his becoming twisted and doing the awful things he did later in life. As a teenager, Iago studied and he spent more time with books than girls - and as a result had few relationships. 

That all changed when (to the excitement of his father) he joined the army and moved to Venice. He met a girl there, also from a small town. Iago and Emilia braved the city of Venice and soon found themselves in love. Even after they were married, Iago’s jealousy showed, he would become angry with Emilia when he saw her talking to men, even in the market. After years of living together in Venice, As Iago moved up in the army ranks, he and Emilia moved to Cyprus, where “Othello” takes place. 

#4

There isn’t a whole lot we could do with our scene, yes, 2 people die, but we just didn’t feel like we had tons of control over the way that it happened. A couple of the things that I (Iago) do are, run onto the stage panting a little bit, yelling a couple of curse words, and then doing a little choreographed stabbing of Emilia. My plan is to make a cardboard dagger, it’d be great if I could find a legitimate looking dagger, but I don’t think that’s possible given the amount of time. I also have a cool puffy white button down shirt that I think will be the perfect thing to wear during the performance. I think that the main thing that makes our group’s performance stand out is that we have the finale. Everyone except for Iago dies and I think it’s the only scene where almost everyone ends the scene lying on the floor. In terms of things that our group has planned out, the biggest thing is the stabbing, we have a little choreographed thing and it seems to run smoothly in rehearsal so, fingers crossed it goes well tomorrow. 

 #5

“I told him what I thought, and told no more than what he found was apt and true.” This is a line that brings the audience up to speed on what has happened and brings Emilia up to speed as well so that she finally realizes all of what’s been going on. In rehearsal I spoke this line with a partially guilty tone, although I’d realized that Iago isn’t guilty at all, so I  to switch it to more of a sly tone. I was really surprised at how great everybody’s performance was, last minute I felt like I totally had to step it up. I messed up once because I thought I had one more line before it was my cue. I had to fumble with my script to deliver my last line. Otherwise, I think our presentation went really well. We all remembered our lines for the most part and our choreographed stabbing went really well. I was a little lost at the end because no one clapped and we had to announce that the scene was over, but other than that I think it was great. 

I’m proud of remembering my lines, honestly, if I had one more day with my script I wouldn’t have needed it at all. There are more things that I wished I had done then hand’t done, I think we could have been more creative with our skit for sure. I think that it would have been awesome to have a full on long rehearsal before the real performance so that we could have noted what other groups were doing and had time to make some minor edits to our own skits. I know this is a really simple answer, but watching the full play all the way through made me have a fuller understanding of the play. Being able to sit down and see the entire story of the play all in one sitting opposed to reading the book, stoping and leaving parts of the story disjointed and rough. This really connected the story completely and shed light on parts of the play that may not have made sense when reading the book.