Here is the full prompt given to me, please USE QUOTES FROM THE BOOK OTHELLO FOR EACH ARGUMENT YOU MAKE: Objective: to analyze Shakespeare’s Othello, identifying a thematic statement the the author is making through the play and significant elements in it (ie. character, tone, conflict, symbolism, etc) Topics to choose from: Race and/or religion Cultural geography/historical context Masculinity and military life Marriage and the household Jealousy and love Loyalty and betrayal How to prepare: 1. You will select at least 4 quotes per act which relate to a topic that you will follow and ultimately write up. Please note these quotes with a post-it and label them accordingly. You may wish to include a brief reflective or analytical thought on the post-it as well. 2. You will need to break down your topic quite significantly to write a well developed essay. Therefore, you should brainstorm all possible related avenues. Questions you should ask: a. What causes my topic? b. How is it defined? e. What problems does it create? d.What consequences does it have? e. What action or belief is Shakespeare suggesting about the topic through the play? Note that some of these will likely have even more of a break down and not just be a one answer situation (which means more body paragraphs). The answers will serve as working topic sentences. ** To answer some of these questions you should refer to you class work and notes 3. Then take your evidence that you found and organize it within your working topic sentences. Note if you need more evidence at this time and get it. 4. Now you should be ready to start drafting. Former student thesis samples: 1. Shakespeare uses the play Othello to show that the betrayal causes people to act out of character. 2. Through the evil character Iago, Shakespeare argues that evil, and acts thereof, negatively change a person and cannot be reversed. 3. Shakespeare exhibits, for his time period, a progressive outlook on race through conflicting character perceptions, and light and dark imagery. Any language that is perceived as racist in Othello may be attributed to Shakespeare’s fascination with race and culture, characterized by Desdemona and Othello’s relationship. 4. Shakespeare said that to be loyal was to be weak and to betray was to show intelligence, which was the way to be successful in life. 5. In Othello, loyalty is in the forms of love, friendship, and obligation to a person; however, Shakespeare states that these relationships become irrelevant and loyalty transforms into betrayal due to these ideas being fragile and easily manipulated.
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