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Reply 20
hey ali we did an essay plan on this question in class, this is the stuff we wrote down:

-Othello has lead a tough military life, he has experience of real life, 'For since these arms of mine had seven years' Whereas Desdemona has grown up into a cosy life at home, 'But still the house affairs would draw her thence.'

-Othello is used to the rigours of war than soft beds, 'Hath made me flinty and steel couch of war/My thrice-driven bed of down' Whereas Desdemona is used to being pampered, being the daughter of a rich senator, 'That the magnifico....beloved.'

-Desdemona is a Venetian but Othello is not.

-The age difference between the two is significant, 'She must change for youth'

also talk about why the play ends as it does and examine the last scene in your answer-what your readings are of Othello and Desdemona in this last scene.

:smile:
Reply 21
sneezyme
keats is a bit tricky, cos' no matter how much i revise, if a stupid question comes up i won't be able to answer it-for example the childish poetry question.
i hope negative capability comes up!


does that mean you know about negative capability? I know what it is but cannot see it in any of his poems! Any help would be great! I'm hoping for beauty and truth or some such conflict...you can blag that in a nice ambigious fashion!
Reply 22
sneezyme
hey ali we did an essay plan on this question in class, this is the stuff we wrote down:

-Othello has lead a tough military life, he has experience of real life, 'For since these arms of mine had seven years' Whereas Desdemona has grown up into a cosy life at home, 'But still the house affairs would draw her thence.'

-Othello is used to the rigours of war than soft beds, 'Hath made me flinty and steel couch of war/My thrice-driven bed of down' Whereas Desdemona is used to being pampered, being the daughter of a rich senator, 'That the magnifico....beloved.'

-Desdemona is a Venetian but Othello is not.

-The age difference between the two is significant, 'She must change for youth'

also talk about why the play ends as it does and examine the last scene in your answer-what your readings are of Othello and Desdemona in this last scene.

:smile:


thanks for the help!!!
Really useful thread, I'm starting to think I need as much help as possible! My Othello/ Blake paper is on the same day as two biology units (5 hours in total), I really don't see how I can revise equally well for them all... :frown:

I was planning on learning critics views, characterisation for Othello, Iago and women (no time for any other characters), also learning themes and imagery etc, just generally making sure I have opinions on most of the frequent questions (motivelessly malignant Iago, noble Othello and his language, submissive Desdemona etc).
Blake: Learning the context and how it relates to the important poems, how the important poems relate to religion/ childhood/ freedom/ idealised picture of rural life etc (about 6 egs of poems or each theme), picking out quotes and learning them, also form and structure for important poems.
Important poems= London, the Tyger, Echoing Green etc. Not learning The Fly, the Angel one etc.
I should stop planning and start learning!

(Sob... whimper... brainfry... I really need 3As...)
Reply 24
I'd say 'the Clod and the Pebble' is a very important poem to learn for Blake - it can be brought into anything, as it could represent any two extremes... Romanticism vs. Enlightenment, New Testament vs. Old Testament... And, of course, innocence vs. experience.
Reply 25
sneezyme
i did an essay plan on negative capability and these are some of the points i wrote:

-'ode to a nightinglae' ends in an open way, 'Do I wake or sleep?' this shows that keats is in doubt. he is in a double-mind state, negative by being weighed down with thoughts of his death, illness and depression, but positive, by being reminded of the good things in life, such as wine, music and happiness, both at the same time. (you can use small quotes to back up this-eg. 'beaded bubbles winking at the brim'-presents his light, happy mood whereas 'my heart aches and a drowsy numbness pains'-presents his down, depressed mood)

-'The only way of strengthening one's intellect is to make up one's mind about nothing-to let the mind be a thoroughfare for all thoughts. Not a select party' this quote comes from his letters and backs up the idea of negative capability.

-'Negative Capability, that is when man is capable of being in uncertainties. Mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact and reason.' also a quote from his letters.

-keats was inspired by shakespeare on this idea of neg.cap. ie.shakespeare always leaves his plays with mysteries and unswered questions in it. (eg. we never find out if lady macbeth is pregnant, and we never know the relationship that desdemona and othello before they get married)

hope this helps if you're still unsure just ask! :smile:



hohum read the above. the poems that it comes up in is 'ode to psyche' 'ode to a nightingale' 'ode on a grecian urn' and 'lamia' also 'la belle dame sans merci' this neg.cap. theme links with the imagination theme.
Reply 26
ok...im totally more worried bout this paper because i felt really prepared for the war paper....
any hints/tips...wat should i be doing now?
Reply 27
ok.,..this neg cap thing....its like where u dont question the experience right? so could u link it to the Gothic, which reverted to the medieval times, before the Age of Science and Reason?
Reply 28
kokopops1
ok.,..this neg cap thing....its like where u dont question the experience right? so could u link it to the Gothic, which reverted to the medieval times, before the Age of Science and Reason?


Sorry what texts are you doing?
Reply 29
Leaby
Sorry what texts are you doing?

keats and othello
talking bout keats there
Reply 30
kokopops1
ok.,..this neg cap thing....its like where u dont question the experience right? so could u link it to the Gothic, which reverted to the medieval times, before the Age of Science and Reason?

Negative capability is the ability to accept and appreciate things in life without striving to understand or explain them.
Keats believed that great people (especially poets, whom he considered to almost be on another level to the rest of humanity) had the ability to accept that not every thing can be resolved - being capable of remaining negative on something. He believed that truth does not lie in science and philosophical reasoning, but in art. In art the aim is not to find a solution, as in science, but to explore the idea, so accepting that there might not be an answer is important to artists.
Heh hope that made some sense!
See 'La Belle Dame Sans Merci' - the Knight accepts this "faerys child" but doesn't even attempt to explain her existance.
Reply 31
How important is weaving anything about context into your essay? Can you not get an A by just answering the question? What sort of stuff is relevant for the context of Keats' poems?
Reply 32
musicman
How important is weaving anything about context into your essay? Can you not get an A by just answering the question? What sort of stuff is relevant for the context of Keats' poems?

AQA sent loads of stuff to our school about context, you do have to bring it in. its on the aqa website somewhere, i saw it there a while ago..dont remember where in particular though
Reply 33
musicman
How important is weaving anything about context into your essay? Can you not get an A by just answering the question? What sort of stuff is relevant for the context of Keats' poems?

My teacher is ALWAYS going on about context, it's very important to mention in your essay.
She said this is what AQA had said on the issue:
"The main context is Keats as a romantic poet how does his poetry fit in with definitions of Romantic. Then there are those letters where he writes about his poetry and the way it was received by the critics (often hostile) of his day."
Reply 34
press2play
My teacher is ALWAYS going on about context, it's very important to mention in your essay.
She said this is what AQA had said on the issue:
"The main context is Keats as a romantic poet how does his poetry fit in with definitions of Romantic. Then there are those letters where he writes about his poetry and the way it was received by the critics (often hostile) of his day."


I'm really worried about this now cos i just don't know how I'm supposed to weave it in - had a dreadful teacher this year. Does anybody have any examples of essays they have done that they could possibly upload to help me see how you weave the context into an essay, or any links to websites with good example essays? It would really help me. thankyou!
Reply 35
I'm doing merchant of venice which i can't do for poo! is there anyone else doing it? Also wordsworth which is fine and dandy.
Btw- did anyone else run out of time on the war lit paper??
xxxxx :smile: :smile:
Reply 36
nats_012
I'm doing merchant of venice which i can't do for poo! is there anyone else doing it? Also wordsworth which is fine and dandy.
Btw- did anyone else run out of time on the war lit paper??
xxxxx :smile: :smile:


Brilliant someone else is doing MOV! I can't do it for poo either! I'll just be learning quotes and making it up as I go along. I've looked at all the past questions and it seems as though they've done all the good ones... So I reckon we're in for awful questions.
Reply 37
nats_012
I'm doing merchant of venice which i can't do for poo! is there anyone else doing it? Also wordsworth which is fine and dandy.
Btw- did anyone else run out of time on the war lit paper??
xxxxx :smile: :smile:


i also ran outta time in the war exam... there was so much more i wanted to write... oh well! :frown:

Im doing Othello and Blake for my exam... I'm having quite a bit of trouble wiv Blake! I think I'v got the context issues sorted but its just the analysis of quotes that i find hard... i think iv done enough analysis but when my teacher marks it she always says theres not enough! How much analysis do you guys do on a single point? :rolleyes:
Reply 38
Just a little message for anyone doing Keats: in his ode 'Ode To A Nightingale', when Keats discusses the immortality of the nightingale in that its song lives on generation upon generation, could this possibly be Keats yearning for immortality in this respect: i.e. perhaps it reveals his desire for his poetry to live on, or do you think this is possibly too far-fetched?
bloody hell, i'm doing female Romantic Poets instead of Keates etc

all incredibly dull, most of them are woman moaning about doing the washing up, hardly inspiring :frown:

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