Lit Exam Review

1. Lit Exam Review { } • H2 Paper 3 - Othello

2. 3 Steps to Question Analysis { } • Step One: Identify the question stem • Step Two: Identify key issue/concern • Step Three: If it is a question based on a quotation, triangulate issues raised.

3. Quick Reminders on Essay Techniques { } • Essay Question Analysis: Identify what the question requires you to do • Structure: Must have an introduction + cogent, coherent body paragraphs + conclusion to tie up discussion

4. Introduction { } • Address the Question: MUST HAVE A THESIS STATEMENT- Identify what the question requires you to do and state your stand • Quotations in question: Give an overview of your understanding of the quotation • Issues/ Concerns raised: Provide an introductory, cursory treatment of the possible themes and issues that the question raises

5. Body Paragraphs { } • Topic Sentences: Each paragraph must open with an opening sentence that details your argument. This does not mean throwing textual evidence or giving plot details. • Textual Evidence: In order to support your observation or argument, you MUST provide textual evidence. • Identification & Analysis of Dramatic Techniques: What is significant about the language – diction/ imagery/ metaphor/ motif etc. What are the effects?

6. Qn 3a: Discuss the ways in which the character of Iago is presented, with particular reference to his place in the society within the play.

7. Dramatic Techniques: - dramatic language- dramatic staging - dramatic setting Discuss the ways in which the character of Iago is presented, with particular reference to his place in the society within the play. Concepts: Individual’s place in relation to society- Iago’s place in society - The various positions he holds - Not limited strictly to Public VS Private - Roles he plays to different people - As an ancient to Othello - As trusted friend and confidante to other characters (construction of dramatic irony) - As husband (attitudes towards women) Character in Focus: Iago and other characters in relation to him

8. {General Points} • Students are expected to discuss and examine the dramatic methods through which the character of Iago is presented to the audience. • There should also been keen awareness of the overarching thematic issues of the play in relation to the Individual and the Society.

9. {General Points} • Students would ideally closely examine the dramatic techniques employed to portray Iago as a character that is at once completely assimilated into and accepted in the Venetian society • and yet, stands apart as an outsider able to perceive the flaws, weaknesses and hypocrisies of his own society.

10. {General Points} • These include but are not limited to the concerns of • appearance as opposed to reality; • lightness and darkness; • social hierarchy; • preoccupation with reputation and • the shared emotions of love, jealousy, hatred and betrayal.

11. {Good Scripts} • These answers will most likely be clearly structured with coherent arguments that answer to the requirements of the question. • The essays will demonstrate an understanding of the demands of the question and will thoughtfully consider the dramatic presentation of Iago against the larger, Venetian society, with other characters representing certain aspects or elements of the society.

12. {Good Scripts} {Good Scripts} • Evidence chosen will be relevant; chosen from across Acts 1 to 3; and will be adequately analysed. • Most importantly, answers in this band will be able to examine the dramatic techniques that are employed by considering both the arising internal and external effects.

13. {Good Scripts} {Good Scripts} • These essays will ideally examine Iago’s speeches by contrasting his soliloquies, asides and dialogues with other characters through Acts 1 to 3. • There will also be a keen awareness of the use of his varying imagery and metaphors. • Exceptionally good scripts will be able to negotiate the complexity of Iago’s place in his society- being at once accepted and yet, sufficiently distanced to critique and to pursue his plot.

14. {Weak Scripts} • Scripts in this band will most likely be loosely structured with unclear arguments that appear not to answer the demands of the question. • In order to pass, scripts should at the very least examine in basic terms the different ways in which Iago is presented during various episodes of the play.

15. {Weak Scripts} • There should at least be moments in the essay where dramatic techniques are analysed to a certain extent and where their effects are considered. • Scripts may lapse into arguments that are largely narration with little analysis and/or supported by irrelevant evidence from the text. • There may also be an over reliance on popular quotations from the play, choosing to analyse individual speeches instead of making links across Acts 1 to 3.

16. Qn 3b: “Othello is distanced from Venetian society in nature and temperament.” Discuss the presentation of Othello in the light of this comment.

17. PAY ATTENTION TO QUOTATION! Break it down - identify areas of concern Character in Focus: Iago and other characters in relation to him “Othello is distanced from Venetian society in nature and temperament.” Discuss the presentation of Othello in the light of this comment. Dramatic Techniques: - dramatic language- dramatic staging - dramatic setting

18. Implies that... - Othello does not fully belong in Venetian society - There are inherent differences between the nature of Othello and the expectations of Venetian society “Othello is distanced from Venetian societyin nature and temperament.” Two concepts that are related but not necessarily the same: Nature: the innate or inherent qualities/ character of a person Temperament: Two approaches - 1) nature of a person 2) tendency to behave angrily or emotionally

19. {General Points} • Students need to be able to formulate an effective thesis and articulate their response in a relevant, insightful and structurally coherent manner, while at the same time suitably reflective of the spirit and topic of Paper 3, The Individual and Society.

20. {General Points} • There must be ideally demonstrated keen conscious awareness of the text as a play intended for performance that also takes into account Shakespearean dramatic conventions, • more specifically with Othello as a stage character, and

21. {General Points} • accordingly sensitively respond and analytically ‘translate’ speech and dialogue off the page to show how it would be seen and heard on the stage through close reference and direct quotation, based on first three acts of the play.

22. {Good Scripts} • Essays will demonstrate: • insightful, and sustained critical engagement with Othello’s character as an Outsider, • well-reasoned literary-critical argumentation concerning the dramatic construction of Othello’s otherness through comprehensive coverage • well substantiated close analysis of set speeches, soliloquies,

23. {Good Scripts} • Essays will demonstrate: • significant dialogue sequences by how all this is signified through the play’s different modes of dramatic discourse (e.g. poetry and Prose) • their signifiers and symbols contrastingly related to other characters in dramatic context.

24. {Good Scripts} • And also demonstrate a keen conscious awareness of where, how and why Othello’s relationship to Venetian society changes, as it does most significantly for the worst in Act 3. • It is the conscious presentation of this forward movement in act and scene sequence that must be examineds

25. {Weak Scripts} • At the very least there should be some basic understanding and relevant engagement with the point and focus of the question. • However, scripts in this category are more likely to tend towards being a mere recounting and random listing of points pertaining to Othello’s character in the light of the comment in question; • ineffectively elaborated and supported by well-chosen textual evidence.  

26. {Weak Scripts} • More descriptive than analytical; less consideration and coverage of critically significant speeches and scenes;   • and without this sense of the dramatic significance of plot structure... • and how it affects the presentation of character and character relationships through the forward movement and rhythmic dynamics of the play.