AQA-A A2 English Literature Unit 4

OP

ohhhhhh i get it now-i totally forgot about imagery & prose! thanks so much!

Reply 102

OP

'stychomythia technique Shakespeare uses'

what does this mean?-i looked it up in the dictionary before asking, but its not there and i've never heard of it before!

if you don't mind... :biggrin:

Reply 103

Also, to include language in your essay, you can talk about things like repetition (e.g. "Othello's repetition of "the handkerchief" shows his increasing fury"), semantic field (e.g. Brabantio's semantic field of magic and witchcraft reflects how he feels his daughter, who to him symbolises "perfection", has been led astray by the "moor's" "magic", "enchantment" "drugs" and "minerals".), metaphor and simile (Iago's "poison" etc), etc etc....! It certainly shouldn't be the basis of the essay though, perhaps used to emphasise how Shakespeare's play meets the viewpoint given in the question.

Reply 104

sneezyme

ohhhhhh i get it now-i totally forgot about imagery & prose! thanks so much!

You're welcome! [if you were referring to me!]
As for the alliteration.. I honestly wouldn't know how to put that into an essay, Shakespeare hasn't used it much in Othello has he? Generally I'd write that he does it to convey a mood, or draw attention to a specific piece of dialogue, but I wouldn't know of any examples in Othello.
Anyone..?

Reply 105

sneezyme

'stychomythia technique Shakespeare uses'

what does this mean?-i looked it up in the dictionary before asking, but its not there and i've never heard of it before!

if you don't mind... :biggrin:

Very rapid dialogue.. remember it like a game of tennis lol, quick responses! It often includes finishing off one another's sentences.. y'know Shakespeare writes a lot in iambic pentameter, for example one character would say a sentence with 6 syllables and the next character would finish it with a response of 4. If that makes sense!

Reply 106

OP

when i used this quote in my essay,

'Mere prattle without practice'

to make my point about iago's feeling vis-à-vis cassio's promotion, she put next to it alliteration. i can see how it alliterates, but don't see how this can be fitted in to the essay...

oh i was referring to both of you when i said thanks!

Reply 107

OP

i want to give you guys some rep (musicman and press2play) but i have to wait 24hrs :frown:

just watch this space though...

Reply 108

sneezyme

when i used this quote in my essay,

'Mere prattle without practice'

to make my point about iago's feeling vis-à-vis cassio's promotion, she put next to it alliteration. i can see how it alliterates, but don't see how this can be fitted in to the essay...

oh i was referring to both of you when i said thanks!

The alliteration uses plosive consonants which enforces how dismissive Iago is of Cassio. You can imagine it spoken by the actor who plays Iago with heavy emphasis on the 'pr's!

Reply 109

sneezyme

i want to give you guys some rep (musicman and press2play) but i have to wait 24hrs :frown:

just watch this space though...

Cheers.....I tried to give you some yesterday (I think it was you) but it wouldn't let me cos I don't have enough points or something. Don't quite understand it!

Reply 110

sneezyme

when i used this quote in my essay,

'Mere prattle without practice'

to make my point about iago's feeling vis-à-vis cassio's promotion, she put next to it alliteration. i can see how it alliterates, but don't see how this can be fitted in to the essay...

oh i was referring to both of you when i said thanks!

lol ok.

The 'prattle without practice' bit, maybe you could say that Shakespeare uses the 'p' sound to convey a bitter tone to Iago's words? Almost as though he's spitting the words out, showing his real jealousy of Cassio.. so you'd get it into an essay by saying it is one of Shakespeare's methods of conveying a mood, and that rather than simply using dialogue, he accentuates Iago's attitude by creating a sound. Substantiated when he says of Othello, "loving his own pride and purposes", same point. I think!!

Reply 111

OP

yeh isn't it annoying, you have to wait 24 hrs. i have 4 people waiting for my rep, but i can only give one a day!

'Cheers.....I tried to give you some yesterday (I think it was you) but it wouldn't let me cos I don't have enough points or something. Don't quite understand it!'

don't worry it's the thought that counts! :smile:

Reply 112

Also wondered, how are people learning Othello? Do you know what happens in every single act, for example? Like if I said "what happens in act 2 scene 3", you'd know? Cos I don't and I'm worried that I should know the play like this!!

Reply 113

kcpoopoo

wondering if anyone can help- for critical viewpoints is it best to actually directly quote or just paraphrase was a certain critic has said?

Reply 114

kcpoopoo

wondering if anyone can help- for critical viewpoints is it best to actually directly quote or just paraphrase was a certain critic has said?

I don't think you actually have to include any quotes from critics to get an A. The main thing is to discuss how the two viewpoints in the question apply to the play - I never quoted or even paraphrased people like Bradley and Leavis in my sample essays we did in class, and she has never said we have to !

Reply 115

kcpoopoo

wondering if anyone can help- for critical viewpoints is it best to actually directly quote or just paraphrase was a certain critic has said?

It's more important to read the critical essays to gain different viewpoints rather than to quote from them. Not to say you shouldn't, just that you don't really need to.

Reply 116

kcpoopoo

musicman

I don't think you actually have to include any quotes from critics to get an A. The main thing is to discuss how the two viewpoints in the question apply to the play - I never quoted or even paraphrased people like Bradley and Leavis in my sample essays we did in class, and she has never said we have to !

really?
our teacher said we can only get into the top band with critical viewpoints.
i'm so scared of othello/blake exam- what do you think is the best way to revise in this very small space of time?!

Reply 117

kcpoopoo

really?
our teacher said we can only get into the top band with critical viewpoints.
i'm so scared of othello/blake exam- what do you think is the best way to revise in this very small space of time?!

I'm sure you don't need to quote what other people thought: my technique is to look at the viewpoints in the question, and examine how what happens in the play relates to these viewpoints and discuss how far the play meets these viewpoints and whether or not I agree. I don't say things like "and as Bradley said, "...."", if you know what I mean. So I discuss the viewpoints given, but don't introduce others, do I need to?? Can anyone clarify this cos you've scared me now!!!!

Reply 118