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Othello

Is anybody studying Othello at the moment?

I'm doing A2 AQA, and it's a closed book exam, which I'm really worrying about.

Just wondered what you thought of Othello, how you're revising for the exam and which sections you thought were the most crucial to learn...

:smile:

Thanks!

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Reply 1

Jellycat

Hey,

i took my othello exam in january and we all did really well mostly everyone got As, its not that bad actually. I just learnt key quotes for Iago/Desdemona/Amelia and Othello. We had a ques on role of men whether they were driven by sexual desire or love...and another one about Desdemona. I would just pick out key themes love/revenge and then key quotes.
Might also be good to just learn a few critics. xxxxxxxxxx

Reply 2

Charlottie

Critics is the way forward so I'm told. I've just got a few key quotes from critics, easily found on the net really. There are some pretty famous ones about Iago's motivation ('motive hunting for a motiveless malignancy' being the key one) which give various different angles. Then, key quotes or even key things to which you can allude.

Reply 3

dappleddawndrawndauphin

Charlottie

I love that quote :biggrin:

Good ol' critics... Can't wait to study Othello next year, so much more to it than Much Ado. Has anyone seen the film version with Ian Mckellan?

Reply 4

yuki

louinwonderland

Thanks!

I'm doing the same exam, heres a few of the things my teachers told the class they should try to do. It might be a good idea to learn quotes to express the good and bad sides of each character, i.e. iago's bad qualities - amoral, decietful, but also the good points - charismatic, trusted etc....do this for each of the main characters - Othello, Iago, Desdemona, Cassio, Roderigo and Emilia, and try to get at least 1 for for each of the smaller characters- Bianca, Brabantio etc. Also write up some short summeries of each scene, so that you have a basic idea of what goes on in each scene and it will help you to remember what happens in each scene.

*Bethany*

I love that quote :biggrin:

Good ol' critics... Can't wait to study Othello next year, so much more to it than Much Ado. Has anyone seen the film version with Ian Mckellan?

I haven't seen that version, but i've seen one with the guy who plays morpheus in The Matrix as Othello

Reply 5

Rose64

I've seen the version with Ian McKellen as Iago (I think it's directed by Tim Burton?), he's wonderful in it. I think he's great in most things he does though, anyone seen him in corrie?!

The one with the morpheus guy is the Kenneth Brannagh version I think, which I hear isn't as critically acclaimed as some of his others. I haven't seen it though. The Laurence Olivier version is ok too, although his boot-polished face has acquired a rather green tinge as the film has decayed!

Reply 6

_poptart_

I did Othello last year for WJEC, I quite enjoyed it really! I got an A in it and what helped me was constantly going over critics quotes and also remembering key quotes for each theme.
And remember in the exam to include your critics quotes, I panicked and nearly forgot to lol! :smile:

Reply 7

louinwonderland

Hey people thanks for the advice - I didn't even realise I had to put in critics, so thanks for letting me know!

My teacher said it's essential to 'embed', like, a quote every other line, but I'm finding this really difficult to do!

If anybody's doing AQA, do they ever ask questions on set scenes rather than themes? Which ones do you think are the most important?

I just borrowed a 'Casebook' series guide to Othello, which is really great and has essays from all the main Othello critics, so I'd recommend that if anyone's interested!

We saw the Morpheus film version in class; it wasn't particularly memorable! Saw it at the theatre (Cheek and Jowl company) last year, which was a million times more brilliant.

Thanks again for the advice people, I really appreciate it :smile:

Reply 8

silence

i did it for AS - critics are indeed the way forward. a while ago i posted up some notes i made on the two contrasting view points from critics, with their quotations and textual evidence.. it somehow worked for me. http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showpost.php?p=1578007&postcount=10
also, elizabethan and jacobean tragedy is one of my main interests and i'd been reading tonnes of plays at the time of the exam. you can get marks for talking about the play in terms of when it was written, and what contemporary playwrites were doing, e.g. i said how the fascination into woman's fidelity is not only echoed but very strongly brought up by so many playwrites, if you just look at titles alone: a chaste made in cheapside (middleton), tis pity she's a ***** (ford) - and even the general subject of women: women beware women (middleton), a woman killed with kindness (heywood), and although it's not so explicit in the title, these plays involve women's infidelity.

Reply 9

louinwonderland

That's fabulous, thanks! How about if I mention the play within a certain critical school: e.g. queer/marxist/feminist theory?

Reply 10

Amzybaby24

louinwonderland

Thanks!

i did it at AS last year and got a A , question was on IAGO so it was gr8! mention critics adn that the play can be seen from different pov's!

also conventions of elizabethan theatre could be useful!

btw closed text makes it a hella lot easier!

Reply 11

louinwonderland

btw closed text makes it a hella lot easier!

Really?! I'm just rubbish at learning quotations, so I think it's harder!

Reply 12

Amzybaby24

louinwonderland

btw closed text makes it a hella lot easier!

Really?! I'm just rubbish at learning quotations, so I think it's harder!

it's cuz it's easier to gain marks!

Reply 13

silence

louinwonderland

That's fabulous, thanks! How about if I mention the play within a certain critical school: e.g. queer/marxist/feminist theory?

it is useful to do that, if the question has scope for it, but it's also important to remember that a lot of such critical views are from today's world which is quite different in many aspects, thus the contemporary angle of appreciation is an important part too.

Reply 14

Checking for Spies

I did Othello for AS last year and got 89/90 on the paper :biggrin:

As everyone has said, you need to focus on learning key quotes relating to characters and themes. Just make sure you know the book really well basically!Also imho closed book exams are easier due to the simple reason that you don't spend half the exam rifling frantically through your text lol :smile:

Reply 15

Amzybaby24

Checking for Spies

Also imho closed book exams are easier due to the simple reason that you don't spend half the exam rifling frantically through your text lol :smile:

i agree with that!

Reply 16

louinwonderland

Checking for Spies

Also imho closed book exams are easier due to the simple reason that you don't spend half the exam rifling frantically through your text lol :smile:

Yeah, that's true, I didn't really think of that! Sounds like every1 did really well - well done! Thanks for all the pointers :biggrin:

; maybe I'm just freaking out 'cos we have a bad teacher and I feel like I've learnt nothing. I'd better start learning my quotes!

Thanks again :biggrin:

you've been a great help

Reply 17

naystar

I don't think it is vital to litter closed text exams with quotations- they don't expect you to know the text off by heart! Obviously key quotations are great, and even though I'm doing 'Othello' for an open text exam (Edexcel), I still learn quotations and where the really great ones are, so I don't waste nearly so much time hunting for them when under pressure.

The Kenneth Branagh version of 'Othello' is indeed rather poor- or at least so I thought.

A really easy and nice to read critic is Fintan O'Toole, who has written the book 'Shakespeare is Hard, but so is Life'. It's in nearly all bookshops, and is funny for the amount he rips out of Shakespeare.

Brainstorming all themes and characters and possible questions (most fall into one category or another, which you can then adapt to suit the question given) helps me quite a bit- it means you have effectively semi-planned lots of essays before you go into the exam, and so aren't planning completely blind. The only thing to be wary of if you do that is making sure you do actually answer the question given, and not a slightly different one. Even if your answer is only slightly off track, you drop straight to a maximum of half marks.

Reply 18

silence

oiiii you're not allowed to use the word 'brainstorming' - it's politically incorrect.

teachers aren't allowed to use it because (tying in with othello) it invokes imagery of epilepsy. you're meant to use non-existant synonyms instead.