Erik Latimer
April 8,
Wednesday,
2015
Period 5
Honors English II
Othello Argumentative Essay Outline
I.
II.
III.
Introduction
a. Grab your reader’s attention: How much can your creditability buy?
b. The Tragedy of Othello is about a Moore war general belonging to the Venetian
army and his tribulations as his ensign, Iago, manipulates and controls the
characters around him to excite, deceive and stimulate them to use as part of a
plot to inflict emotional pain upon Othello, and other characters.
c. The Tragedy of Othello by William Shakespeare’s Iago uses the rhetorical appeal
identified as Ethos the most to manipulate the characters within the text.
Topic Sentence #1: Within the book, Iago has a strong creditability, enough to make
any character susceptible to what he is saying. Even an experienced war general
listened with attentive ears as to advice. Praising Iago for his knowledge, although
he does not know much at all, often giving him credit where it is not due.
a. Othello: “Don’t worry about how I handle it.
Iago: “I’ll say goodbye once more.”
Othello: “This fellows of exceeding honesty, / And know all quantities, with a
leaned spirit, / of human dealings. If I do prove her haggard…”
Topic Sentence # 2: Iago had easy acess to many of the characters because of his
status, influencing or talking to them was not something of a challenge or work
around.
a. Cassio: “No. When I left you it was already morning. I’ve been bold, Iago. I’ve
asked to talk to your wife. I’m going to ask her to let me talk to Desdemona.
Iago: “I’ll send her to you presently, / And I’ll devise a mean to draw the Moor /
out of the way, that your converse and business / May be more free.”
IV.
V.
Topic Sentence # 3: Iago’s words and phrases hold weight and meaning to the
characters around him. Allowing him to communicate and convey strong messages,
without having to have communicate them directly, making it a very powerful tool.
a. Othello: “I think thou dost. / And for I know thou’rt full of love and honesty /
And weigh’st thy words before thou giv’st them breath, / Therefore these stops
of thine fright me the more. / For such things in a failure disloyal knave /
Are tricks of custom, but in a man that’s just / They are close dialations, working
from the heart, / That passion cannot rule.
Conclusion: Iago used the rhetorical appeals of ethos to successfully manipulate the
characters around him.