Thinking about 'Othello'

 

Here are 10 exercises on quotations in Othello. They are designed for pair-work 15-minute sessions in class, but work perfectly well for individuals. You need to know the play well, so these are for revision at a late stage of study. The purpose is to make your mind work hard: retrieving factual details, certainly, about the sequence of the play, individual quotations and so on, but more importantly know making you think and create connections, and have a debate with a partner.

You don’t need to write on the original sheet itself: just take a piece of paper and jot down your responses. When finished find the quotation in context from the text itself, and then fill in any gaps.

The Submarine, Michaelmas 2021

The latest edition of the pupil magazine, The Submarine, has now been published, and can be read online via Issuu here. The new editors are Isabella Treacy, Elizabeth Hart and Phoebe Landseer.

Elena O'Dowd reviews this year's book club choice, All Our Hidden Gifts by Caroline O'Donoghue, there is poetry by Marianne Lee and Delia Brady, essays on Grades by Alexia Fantacc, on Victorian London by James Breatnach and on BDD by Isabella Treacy and a rugby report on First Form by Ethan Robertson, as well as a selection of the best Young Adult fiction this year.

Art work is by Felicitas Boecking,  Max Kinsky, Paul Schilling, Calvin She, Zining Wang, Antonia Ladanyi, Ellen Bevan, Helma Worringen and Alice Letort.

Othello - full play quotation revision

A revision series using quotations from Othello, by Act, is here. 

On this post you can see all 67 quotations together from all five Acts, below.

Set the Quizlet in flashcard study mode, and click top right to ‘answer with definition’, and then try to recall the missing word. Click to find the answer and for some notes on the significance of the quotation.

Most importantly, think about how the quotation can be used, what it tells us about a character/theme, in what way it resonates elsewhere in the play. 

Othello, Act 5 - quotation revision

The fifth in a revision series using quotations from Othello, by Act.

Set the Quizlet in flashcard study mode, and click top right to ‘answer with definition’, and then try to recall the missing word. Click to find the answer and for some notes on the significance of the quotation.

Most importantly, think about how the quotation can be used, what it tells us about a character/theme, in what way it resonates elsewhere in the play. 

 

Othello, Act 4 - quotation revision

The fourth in a revision series using quotations from Othello, by Act.

Set the Quizlet in flashcard study mode, and click top right to ‘answer with definition’, and then try to recall the missing word. Click to find the answer and for some notes on the significance of the quotation.

Most importantly, think about how the quotation can be used, what it tells us about a character/theme, in what way it resonates elsewhere in the play. 

 

Othello, Act 3 - quotation revision

The third in a revision series using quotations from Othello, by Act.

Set the Quizlet in flashcard study mode, and click top right to ‘answer with definition’, and then try to recall the missing word. Click to find the answer and for some notes on the significance of the quotation.

Most importantly, think about how the quotation can be used, what it tells us about a character/theme, in what way it resonates elsewhere in the play. 

Othello, Act 2 - quotation revision

The second in a revision series using quotations from Othello, by Act.

Set the Quizlet in flashcard study mode, and click top right to ‘answer with definition’, and then try to recall the missing word. Click to find the answer and for some notes on the significance of the quotation.

Most importantly, think about how the quotation can be used, what it tells us about a character/theme, in what way it resonates elsewhere in the play. 

Othello, Act 1: quotation revision

 The first in a revision series using quotations from Othello, by Act.

Set the Quizlet in flashcard study mode, and click top right to ‘answer with definition’, and then try to recall the missing word. Click to find the answer and for some notes on the significance of the quotation.

Most importantly, think about how the quotation can be used, what it tells us about a character/theme, in what way it resonates elsewhere in the play.

 

  

 

 

Vacancy for next term

The English Department is looking for a teacher of English for next term, from August 30th to December 15th (end of term) inclusive. The successful candidate will teach English to First Form through to Fifth.

The Department is a close-knit supportive one, with three experienced teachers available constantly to support the person appointed. Classes are small (for example, there are about 16 pupils in the Fifth Form set). 

 
The College operates a six-day timetable, with no classes on Wednesday or Saturday afternoons (or, for the successful candidate, Friday afternoons).

Applicants must be fully qualified teachers and will ideally have some experience.  They must also be native English speakers and have appropriate Garda vetting.

Applications, including a Curriculum Vitae and the names and addresses of two referees,
should be forwarded as soon as possible/or by July 23rd at the latest to:

The Warden, St. Columba’s College, Whitechurch, Dublin 16

E-mail: warden@stcolumbas.ie.
www.stcolumbas.ie

Any query in advance of application can be sent without prejudice to sccenglish@stcolumbas.ie.

Junior Poetry Prize 2021

 Congratulations to the winner of this year's Junior Poetry Prize, Alison Wang.

Here is her poem 'Freedom':

I sat in a big, colourful ‘room’
As light faded in and out on the endless ceiling.
I dreamt about
The thick snow,
The withered leaves,
The endless desert,
the thorns and roses they talked about.

One day, the wall cracked.
I saw a blur of light drifting indistinctly.
Everyone stayed far away;
They only saw the darkness.
I stepped forward,
Groping in the dark.

They couldn’t feel
The harsh piercing coldness,
The crunchy leaves,
The heating sands,
The prickling pain of thorns.

Having the same picture,
They saw the black dot.
I saw the massive brightnesses surrounding the black dot.
My walls shattered
While they were still in the ‘room’.

Leaving Certificate Papers 1 and 2

For reviews of the first paper (language) in the Leaving Certificate 2021, go here, and the second (literature) go here.

The Submarine, Hilary Term 2021

The latest edition of the pupil magazine, The Submarine, is now online and can be read here in flippable form.

Editors Avi Johnston and Edna Johnston have gathered pupil writing and artwork by, among others, Zofia Cannon-Brookes, Isabel Warnock, Isabella Treacy, Lorne Walsh, Vivian Tuite, Vanessa McEvoy, Lou Sacolax, Ryan Ovenden and Elys Walker.

Thanks also to Mr Jameson, as 'patron' of the venture.

Resources for 'Othello'

 Here are some resources for teachers and pupils of Othello:

• The Othello 2020 project from Red Bull Theater in New York was ‘a multi-part initiative of Red Bull Theater to provide an engaging and educational experience for all who are interested in Shakespeare’s Othello and and its relationship to the world in which we live today … [and] is seeking to deepen our exploration and understanding of the intersection of race and classical theater.’ Particularly recommended is a detailed exploration of Iago’s psychopathy by the actor Patrick Page.
• Patrick Huff has a fine Twitter thread here, drawing together some resources, and a YouTube playlist.
• INOTE has started English podcasts, including two on Othello (so far) here.
• An excellent talk by Arielle Battice-Wedderburn at the 2020 Team English conference: ‘Othello & historical ideas of blackness’ (her slides are here).
• The first podcast in Emma Smith’s Oxford University lecture series is on Othello, and of course the chapter on her book This is Shakespeare is essential reading (my notes on the Othello chapter).
• As usual, the British Library resources are worth looking at: articles, items from the collection (including the Cinthio source).
• The BBC’s Shakespeare Sessions has a full-length audio version, and discussions by Islam Issa (‘What it means to be a Moor’) and Hugh Quarshie (‘Looking for the Moor’: is the play racist?).
• A Folger Shakespeare discussion on ‘Othello and blackface’: there’s also a transcript.
• Ayanna Thompson in a Bloomsbury podcast on the play: she wrote the introduction for the revised Arden3 edition. This discussion has a particularly strong focus on race.

Vacancy

The English Department is looking for a teacher of English for next term, from April 19th to June 25th 2021 inclusive. The successful candidate will teach English to First Form through to Fifth (therefore not including Sixth preparing for their Leaving Certificate).

The College operates a six-day timetable, with no classes on Wednesday or Saturday afternoons (or, for the successful candidate, Friday afternoons). The Department is a close-knit supportive one, with three experienced teachers available constantly to support the person appointed. Classes are small (for example, there are 15 pupils in the Fifth Form set).

Applicants must be fully qualified teachers and will ideally have some experience.  They must also be native English speakers and have appropriate Garda vetting.

Applications, including a Curriculum Vitae and the names and addresses of two referees,
should be forwarded as soon as possible/or by Friday 19th March at the latest to:

The Warden, St. Columba’s College, Whitechurch, Dublin 16

E-mail: warden@stcolumbas.ie.
www.stcolumbas.ie

Any query in advance of application can be sent without prejudice to sccenglish@stcolumbas.ie.

'King Lear' quotation retrieval grids

Here are some exercises on quotations in King Lear. They are designed for pair-work 10-minute sessions in class, but work perfectly well for individuals. You need to know the play well, so these are for revision at a late stage. 

The purpose is to make your mind work hard: retrieving factual details, certainly, about the sequence of the play, individual quotations and so on, but more importantly know making you think and create connections. You don’t need to write on the original sheet itself: just take a piece of paper and jot down your responses. [Line numbers are from the Everyman edition Tragedies, Volume 1].

Leaving Certificate English resources

For resources directed at both Leaving Certificate students studying remotely now, and their teachers, head over here.

Books of the Year 2020

The annual (since 2010) list of best Books of the Year recommendations has now moved, this year, here.

The Submarine, December 2020

 

This term’s edition of The Submarine magazine has now been published, and you can read it here online. Well done to editors Avi Johnston and Edna Johnston.

Pupil contributors (both writers and artists) include Maybelle Rainey, Alexander Fought, Sveva Ciofani, India Hassett, Julia Kaptein, Archie McKeever, Carlotta Laudien, Florian Zitzmann, Eliot Tschierschwitz, Georgina Stewart, Eliz Kolat, Shannon Walker Kinsella, Aeladh-Bradley-Brady, Hedley Butler, Gloria Rose, Lola Garofano and Tita Schack.