Carol Medrano
Eng 9B
Team-Up
Othello Unit
FRESHMAN CURRICULUM FOCUS:
Shakespeare’s Life
Globe Theater
Iambic Pentameter
THEME:
The theme for the Othello Unit is Manipulation.
GOALS/OBJECTIVES
ALL STUDENTS:
All students will know pertinent information regarding Shakespeare’s personal,
professional, and literary life.
All students will know when the Globe Theater was built and the different components of
the Globe Theater.
All students will know the definition of Iambic Pentameter.
All students will know the definition of manipulation.
All students will be able to summarize the plot of Othello
All students will be able to identify the main characters in Othello
MOST STUDENTS:
Most students will be able to identify Iambic Pentameter in Othello
Most students will be able to find examples of manipulation in Othello
Most students will be able to give examples of manipulation from their own
lives/experiences
Most students will know the key definitions of terms and concepts used in Othello
Most students will be able to make connections to themselves and different characters
and themes in Othello
Carol Medrano
Eng 9B
Team-Up
SOME STUDENTS:
Some students will be able to write in Iambic Pentameter
Some students will be able to make analogies to other Shakespeare plays
Some student will be able to make analogies to other pieces of literature
Some students will see the connection between manipulation, rhetoric, and persuasive
writing
Some students will identify puns, analogies and/or symbolism in Othello
OTHELLO UNIT ACTIVITIES
These activities will be completed by all students:
Create a bulletin board size Globe Theater and identify its parts
.
Prior to reading, ask students to journal write/blog about what would they do if they
thought their boyfriend/girlfriend was cheating on them? What kind of evidence would
they believe? Why do people gossip? How does trust and self-confidence influence
manipulation?
Have the class cull examples of manipulation. Have them engage in one-upsmanship. The
prize goes to the best tale of manipulation! Create a Wall of Nominees of "The Iago
Achievement Award."
Have students create their own two-faced Janis using their own silhouette. Students will
then write a list/poem about their own “two-faces.”
Write/Blog in their reading response journals (theme-manipulation)
Rent the film "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged."
It's available at Oak Lawn Library. Skip to the Othello Rap and allow
students to view the clip. Then divide them into small groups and allow them to write
their own Othello rap song. But set guidelines! Give extra points to groups
that perform.
Carol Medrano
Eng 9B
Team-Up
Students will choose one of the following activities to complete:
Create the first page of a Venetian newspaper in tabloid size and "tabloid" style. Cover
some of the major newsworthy events in the play.
Choose a key scene from the play. Rewrite the scene updating the setting, situation, and
characters. Perform the scene on tape player. Where necessary, add sound effects and
music. (group possible)
Research historical 17th century courtship customs and costumes in England. Present
these findings in the form a large poster or series of large posters.
Research "manipulative" characters in history and literature. Explore those characters'
motives. Compare the researched characters with Iago on a large poster.
Create a timeline for the science and literature that corresponds with Shakespeare's life
span
Actors use objects (props) to help communicate aspects of their characters to the
audience. Select objects that you believe reveals something about the four main
characters: Othello, Desdemonia, Iago, Michael Cassio. Create a Character/Symbol Bag
for Othello. Make sure that you have at least 12 props in the bag. And be able to explain
what each of the props is and what it symbolizes.
Draw a poster-size political-type cartoon about Othello and its prejudice. Both talent and
concept are of prime importance for this assignment.
Draw a poster size political-type cartoon about Othello and his jealousy. Both talent and
concept are of prime importance for this assignment.
Draw a poster size political-type cartoon depicting Iago's duplicity. Both talent and
concept are of prime importance for this assignment.
*******Many activities borrowed from http://www.monmouth.com/~literature/
Carol Medrano
Eng 9B
Team-Up
THEME: MANIPULATION
MANIPULATION IN SOCIAL STUDIES: (TY)
Students can learn about people in history that used manipulation. Did they use
manipulation for good, (Thomas Jefferson) or evil (Hitler)? How and why where they
able to make people perceive things the way they wanted them to be perceived? I think
you could have great discussions on the power and trust that people can attain from
manipulating people’s thoughts, beliefs, and ideas. (I know there are probably a thousand
people that come to your mind when Jefferson and Hitler were the best examples I could
come up with.) This could be as long or as short as you’d like…depending on where
you need to be in your curriculum.
Students need to learn the geography and conflicts of the Moors, Cyprus, Venice, Turkey,
as well as the religious tensions of the Christians and Muslims. (Gosh…things never
change, do they?)
MANIPULATION IN MATH: (JEFF J.)
Jeff, you have no idea how clueless I am where math is concerned…My kids stopped
asking me for help with their math homework in 6/7 grade…so I had help with this one.
A friend of mine helped me think outside the box a little bit and now it seems so
clear…so simple, so easy… Iago’s manipulation of people is not that different than the
mathematicians manipulation of numbers in an algebraic expression. So much of math,
which involves simply shifting numbers and variables from one side of the equation to
the other, is simply the legal, premeditated, deliberate practice of manipulation--taking
what Iago does and stripping it of its moral charge (its negative moral charge), and
getting away with what you can get away with--because the symbol system at hand
allows for (some would say encourages) such processes--all to the end of securing some
advantage. The language of jealousy (or any human emotion or experience) in this sense
is not all that different from the language of algebra…ok…his idea isn’t really easy, but
it’s ingenious. Just bring up the concept of manipulation…manipulating numbers to get
the desired results, just as Iago manipulated people for his own purposes…Let me know
where you think you can go with this idea? You’re teaching the concept of manipulation
in math…
Students can learn to figure out the percentage of England’s population that died from the
plague, and somehow show understanding in concrete ways. If they figure 30% of the
population died from the plague…have them do some project to show they can “see” and
understand the concept of what 30% of the population would look like…30% of the
Carol Medrano
Eng 9B
Team-Up
class…30% of the school… They would have to do some research on the plague (which
they can use for science also) and figure out the percentages.
Students can keep track of how many times the word “honest” is said in the play…not
sure myself, but maybe you can do a daily count with the students…just to reinforce the
cross-curriculum concept.
MANIPULATION IN SCIENCE (JEFF B.)
Students can learn different ways manipulation is used in science. You can discuss how
drugs are used to manipulate/fool/deceive the body for desired results. Gosh, science is
all about using the results of experiments and research to manipulate the findings for
desired results. Drugs, Fertilizers, Pesticides, Airplanes…the list goes on and on… Teach
the concept of manipulation as it relates to science.
Students can do research on the Black Plague. (I’m not sure, but wasn’t the song RingAround-the-Rosy about the plague, or was that another disease?) What is it? How does it
kill? How does science manipulate the body to cure the disease?
MANIPULATION IN READING (AMY)
Students can get reinforcement in understanding plot, theme, and concepts in Othello.
Students can read any number of books, short stories, newspaper articles…gosh, just
about any form of literature deals with the concept of manipulation. You can have them
compare and contrast the manipulation in the selected text with Iago’s manipulation in
Othello. You can talk about the author’s manipulation of the text to create the desired
results in the reader. Amy, I know you had ideas about this, so run with it, and let us
know what you’ve decided.
Carol Medrano
Eng 9B
Team-Up