Name:
Foundations of Literature
Ms. Zarkh
Study Guide Questions for Othello Acts III and IV
The following questions are meant to guide your reading, assist you with understanding the text, and prepare
you for our discussions of the play in class.
Directions: Please read the assigned sections and complete the assignments on separate sheets of paper.
1. Define the vocabulary words and put each word into an original sentence.
2. Answer the questions with reference to specific lines of text (quotes).
3. Add your own questions about the text.
Assignment #6
Vocabulary
Act III, Scene 3
languishes (47)
penitent (71)
ruminate (154)
conspire (167)
Due:
vehement (292)
importunity (292)
loathe (309)
reverence (523)
Questions
1. Line 30. Why, in your opinion, is Desdemona determined to help Cassio?
2. Line 82. What is the immediate effect of Desdemona’s persistent pleading for Cassio? What
might be an effect in the long term?
3. Line 334-343. Why does Emilia take Desdemona’s handkerchief and tell her husband that she
has it?
4. Line 467. Othello asks Iago for proofs and reasons that will satisfy him that Desdemona has
been disloyal. What does Iago offer Othello in this speech?
Your Questions
Write your own questions about the text.
Assignment #7
Vocabulary
Act III, Scene 4
dissemble (37)
castigation (47)
hallowed (85)
veritable (89)
suborned (174)
Due:
Questions
1. Line 24. Why do you think Emilia lies to Desdemona about the handkerchief?
2. What is the effect on Desdemona of Othello’s speeches about the handkerchief he gave her?
3. Line 112. What ploy is Desdemona attempting in order to draw Othello’s attention from the
handkerchief? What effect does it have on Othello in this scene?
4. Describe the interaction between Cassio and Bianca. How do they feel toward each other? Why
does he give her the handkerchief? How did he get it in the first place?
Your Questions
Write your own questions about the text.
Name:
Assignment #8
Vocabulary
Foundations of Literature
Ms. Zarkh
Act IV, Scene 1
credulous (54)
chaste (56)
lethargy (65)
Due:
construe (118)
censure (351)
denote (318)
Questions
1. What does Iago want Othello to do while Iago is speaking to Cassio? Iago reveals his strategy to
the audience in a soliloquy. What is his plan?
2. What do Othello’s statements that come between Iago and Cassio’s dialogue show that Othello
is doing? What does Othello’s behavior show about his state of mind?
3. What decisions does Othello make as a result of what he has seen? What suggestions does Iago
make?
Your Questions
Write your own questions about the text.
Assignment #9
Vocabulary
Act IV, Scene 2
requite (17)
esteems (75)
bawdy (89)
impudent (92)
Due:
Questions
1. Line 12, 22-25. In the course of this interrogation of Emilia by Othello, what is Othello’s
attitude toward Emilia and Desdemona?
2. Pages 195-199. In the exchange between Othello and Desdemona, why does he have her swear
that she is honest (46)? What does he accuse Desdemona of being?
3. What is Roderigo’s complaint against Iago in this scene? How does Iago trick Roderigo into
furthering Iago’s own interests?
Your Questions
Write your own questions about the text.
Assignment #10
Act IV, Scene 3
Vocabulary
venture (87)
Questions
1. Why does Desdemona tell the story about Barbary?
2. Why does Desdemona ask Emilia to put her wedding sheets on her bed?
Your Questions
Write your own questions about the text.
Due:
Name:
Foundations of Literature
Ms. Zarkh
Study Guide Questions for Othello Acts III and IV
The following questions are meant to guide your reading, assist you with understanding the text, and prepare
you for our discussions of the play in class.
Directions: Please read the assigned sections and complete the assignments on separate sheets of paper.
4. Define the vocabulary words and put each word into an original sentence.
5. Answer the questions with reference to specific lines of text (quotes).
6. Add your own questions about the text.
Assignment #11
Vocabulary
Act V, Scene 1
restitution (16)
malice (121)
Due:
Questions
1. Line 23. What does Iago confess in this speech?
2. Line 41. What is Othello’s reaction when he thinks that Cassio is dying?
3. Line 49. How do the Venetian gentlemen, Gratiano and Lodovico, respond to the cries that
they hear coming from the wounded men? Why do they respond as they do?
4. Line 70, 97.
How does Iago pretend to be something other than he is in this scene?
Your Questions
Write your own questions about the text.
Assignment #12
Vocabulary
Act V, Scene 2
portents (54)
pernicious (190)
odious (216)
impediments (314)
Due:
dismayed (320)
ensnared (354)
extenuate (402)
Questions
1. How does Othello’s tone change throughout the course of this scene?
2. Line 92. How does Othello reply to Desdemona's suggestion that Cassio be asked about the
handkerchief?
3. Line 125. What effect do Emilia’s cries have on Othello?
4. Line 161. Why does Othello confess so quickly to the murder of Desdemona?
5. Line 347. According to this speech, how does Othello want his violence to be viewed?
6. Line 396. How does Lodovico deal with Othello and Iago?
Your Questions
Write your own questions about the text.