Once you have chosen your passage, be sure to brainstorm. Make connections to other scenes, make predictions, make inferences. Go beyond and between the lines. Ask questions etc.
Once you have a gigantic list of ideas, turn the ideas into a paragraph. The paragraph may be a series of tangents. The idea here is to push your thinking beyond obvious "Spark-notes" type interpretations. There is artistry needed in your musings.
In the paragraph response, reach toward a final sentence which offers an epiphany of sorts (your ah-ha) moment where your understanding of the characters and themes becomes clear. This statement is one you have just figured out based on your brilliant brainstorm. Hurricane Othello!
Tonight, have post-it notes handy as you read or re-read Act 4, Scene 2.
Find and post-it note passages which you can use to discuss the following:
- how Othello treats Emilia and Desdemona
- how Desdemona and Emilia respond
- examples of dramatic irony
- explain why Desdemona cannot even say the word "whore" and what that reveals about her character. How might it be construed as a fault?
- how does Iago engage Roderigo's services to kill Cassio? What does hiring Roderigo reveal about Iago? He promised to kill Cassio himself, did he not?
