Iago’s First Soliloquy Analysis

Choice two topics—write on only one:

Topic 1: Analyze one soliloquy in Shakespeare’s Othello so that you can show how the speech’s imagery helps us to understand what Iago or Othello is thinking and doing at that point of the play. Use the discussion boards to ask questions—there is an entire section in the discussion boards for the speeches. You are analyzing the speech to give a sense of HOW Iago and Othello explain their thoughts—you do not want to merely summarize the speech. As with Essays 1 and 2, this is thesis driven—you are not given a thesis here as in Essay 1, but must invent one as in Essay 2. So, the thesis should say something about how the speech reveals Iago or Othello’s character and what they are thinking at this point in the play.

Topic 2: In an argument using either of the following pairs of speeches, compare and contrast the ideas expressed by either Troy or Rose in Fences. In this essay, you will want to really dig into how Troy and Rose express themselves, what they have wanted out of life, and what they have wanted from each other. You do not want to compare Troy’s speeches to Rose’s—rather, look at how the characters develop and change between the two speeches each gives. In other words, as with the first choice, your goal here is to go through the speeches very carefully, showing how the language shows us who these characters are.

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Shakespeares Othello Outline