When the well-known English dramatist William Shakespeare began writing Othello, he had already been educated in the classics and in literature. Although his contemporary Ben Jonson said that Shakespeare knew "little Latin and less Greek," scholars know that Shakespeare knew, at least, about Greek ideas about comedy and tragedy. He was not incredibly educated, but he was aware that his play would comment on ideas about comedy. By looking at a few crucial scenes in the play, this paper will demonstrate that, although most people consider Shakespeare’s Othello a tragedy, it is actually a black comedy.
In Act V, Scene I (17-30) lines Iago comments comically on the murder scene he has set up himself. This is the scene:
Iago. O murderous slave! O villain! [Stabs RODERIGO]
Rod. O damn’d Iago! O inhuman dog!
Iago. Kill men i’ the dark! Where be these bloody thieves?
How silent is this town! Ho! murder! murder!
What may you be? are you of good or evil?
Lod. As you shall prove us, praise us.
Iago. Signior Lodovico?
Lod. He, sir.
Iago. I cry you mercy. Here’s Cassio hurt by villains.
Gra. Cassio!
Iago. How is it, brother?
Cas. My leg is cut in two.
Iago. Marry, heaven forbid,
Light, gentlemen; I’ll bind it with my shirt.
Iago has the audience and everyone other than Roderigo believe that he is looking for thieves. If you think about it, that is a funny statement. He has committed a murder, but he pretends that he has not. Further, he pretends that he is looking for the killer and is the only one who cares enough to do so, and cannot believe "how silent" the town is. Even his final gesture, of trying to "bind" the wound with his shirt, is a supremely comic one, perhaps for Shakespeare more than Iago. Iago may be able to stem the flow of blood coming from Cassio’s leg. But it would be silly for the audience to believe what Iago implicitly asks them to believe, that anyone or anything can stem the tide of destruction that he has already unleashed on the play’s characters, and by implication, in the play’s plot.
Earlier in the play, in Act II, Scene I (lines 87-95), a similar event occurs, when Cassio greets Desdemona and speaks about Othello and Iago:
Cas. She that I spake of, our great captain’s captain,
Left in the conduct of the bold Iago,
Whose footing here anticipates our thoughts
A se’nnight’s speed. Great Jove, Othello guard,
And swell his sail with thine own powerful breath,
Rhetorical strategies are continually used to get a point across or to manipulate another. Iago uses many devices to put false accusations into Othello’s head. In lines 330-447 in Act 3 scene 3, Iago uses rhetorical question, imagery, and sarcasm. He questions Othello and makes him think the worst between Cassio and Desdemona, and then his use of words adds color and a picture, so it has to be right. Last his sarcasm creates the assurances Othello needed to be duped.
Snyder, Susan. "Beyond the Comedy: Othello" Modern Critical Interpretations, Othello Ed. Harold Bloom, Pub. Chelsea House New Haven CT 1987. (page 23-37)
Since 2010, there were 45 states that have adopted the same educational standards called Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The initiative is sponsored by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers and seeks to establish consistent education standards across the states. The Common Core Standards is initiative state-led effort that established a single set of clear educational standards for kindergarten through 12th grade in English and Mathematical standards. These standards help to educate all of the students equally, they help children who move from state to state, as well as they help to prepare students for college and workplace. The common core standard helps to provide a clear understanding for teachers and parents of what is expected of the students to learn. It is designed to help educate our children for the future; it gives them the knowledge and skill they need to be prepared for post secondary education and employment. "The standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world." (National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Council of Chief State School Officers)
Coaches should have an arrangement of fundamental abilities that they depend on to produce a positive outcome. Definition of a coach from the American Heritage Dictionary, Third Edition (page 167) One who trains or directs an individual or team, to train or instruct teach a team. The goal behind coaching is to exhibit the ability to get the most out of everyone on the team. It should be a goal to bring out the greatest potential from every team member. It’s insane how many players do not even know their true potential. Successful coaches assess these individuals and the team to advance them to the next level of sports. "The Little Book of Coaching, Motivating People to be Winners" by Ken Blanchard and Don Shula (2001) gives a great acronym of the word C-O-A-C-H. The acronym breaks down as follows: Conviction Driven: never compromise your beliefs-Overlearning: practice until it is perfect-Audible-Ready: know when to change-Consistency: respond predictably to performance-Honesty-Based: walk your talk. This acronym should remind you of your job as a coach. A good coach
*At the beginning of Scene Two of Act One, Iago gives advice to Othello and lets
Snyder, Susan. "Beyond the Comedy: Othello" Modern Critical Interpretations, Othello Ed. Harold Bloom, Pub. Chelsea House New Haven CT 1987.
...that he is in need of. That influence could really change that young mans life forever and make him want to be able to help another young man that same exact way and that could be enough interest to make him want to become a coach and make the big influence he has the chance to make. The money that coaches make could also be the reason in a young man becoming a coach thinking that it is easy to become one, but to become a coach is not the easiest thing In the world, not only must you have the knowledge of the game, but you also must be able to be a great leader and have the dedication and time.
Othello is noble, tender, and confiding; but he has blood of the most inflammable kind. Unfortunately, Othello was naïve enough to be swayed by Iagos misplaced trustworthiness and the accusations cause the entire play to unfold. Once someone brings up a sense of all his wrong doings, he cannot be stopped by considerations of remorse of pity until Othello has extinguished all that fuels his rage and despair. Othello is described as a “Moor” by his critics (Brabantio, Iago). A “Moor” is a slang word used for the dark skinned appearance of the Muslim people from the northwest part of Africa.
Texts and their appropriations reflect the context and values of their times. Within Shakespeare’s Othello and Geoffrey Sax’s appropriation of Othello, the evolution of the attitudes held by Elizabethan audiences and those held by contemporary audiences can be seen through the context of the female coupled with the context of racism. The role of the female has developed from being submissive and “obedient” in the Elizabethan era to being independent and liberated within the contemporary setting. The racism of the first text is overtly xenophobic and natural, whilst the “moor” is unnatural whereas the updated context portrays Othello’s race as natural and racism as unnatural. Therefore these examples show how Shakespeare’s Othello, and it’s appropriation, Geoffrey sax’s Othello, reflect the context and values of their times.
The Common Core has been a highly debated educational initiative based in the United States that provides children of all race, religious denomination, and socioeconomic background the same educational path from kindergarten through senior year of high school or the 12th grade. The Common Core provides six standards on its website that serve as its oath. “The standards are: 1. Research- and evidence-based. 2. Clear, understandable, and consistent. 3. Aligned with college and career expectations. 4. Based on rigorous content and application of knowledge through higher-order thinking skills. 5. Built upon the
Snyder, Susan. "Beyond the Comedy: Othello" Modern Critical Interpretations, Othello Ed. Harold Bloom, Pub. Chelsea House New Haven CT 1987.
There are many studies have conducted on the Common Core issue. I am interested in reading and knowing this topic, the Common Core Standards in the American perspective. According to State Standards Initiative, the Common Core State Standards established curricula for English language arts and literacy in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects “the Standards” are the peak of a prolonged effort to carry out the charge supplied by the states to build the generation of K-12 standards to help guarantee that all learners are college and occupation ready in knowledge at the end of high school. (Schutz, n.d.).
The Tragedy of Othello William Shakespeare’s, The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice, from the sixteenth century is an excellent example of Renaissance humanism. “A poet of unparalleled genius, Shakespeare emerged during the golden age of England under the rule of Elizabeth I.”(Fiero 3:98) He produced comedies, tragedies, romances and histories. According to Webster’s pocket dictionary, a tragedy is defined as a form of drama in which the protagonist comes to a disaster, as through a flaw in character, and in which the ending is usually marked by pity or sorrow. I would like to concentrate on the character Iago and the theme of deceit.
Golden, Leon, “Othello, Hamlet, and Aristotelian Tragedy” Folger Shakespeare Library in association with George Washington University, http://www.jstor.org/stable/2869923.
When you hear the word coach and then the word mentor, you might think these words are very much alike. However, they are very different, not only in the characteristics that make up each one but also in how they approach the learner/mentee. The purpose of coaching is to improve an individual’s performance on the job. A coach is someone capable of teaching how to develop skills, mainly by setting goals for the learner. For example, lets take a football coach who is considered an expert in the sport. He has several goals in mind for his team, which includes winning. His plan is to help them develop certain skills to attain that goal; it might be through teamwork, cooperation, strategic thinking, etc. The relationship between the coach and the