Developing a Reading Log
For our reading of Othello, you will be required to keep a reading log. In
addition to following the format below, you will periodically be given
additional assignments to complete in your log.
A log is a record of a journey. The journey of reading Othello will be
different for each of us. While you will sometimes have specific
assignments for your log, it is equally if not more important that you write
about what interests you about the trip.
The recommended structural format for your log is the double entry
journal. See notes below on using this format. See the list below for ideas
to focus on in as you read and make entries.
***You should have no fewer than FIVE entries for each act of the play.
Completed act entries will be due on the reading due date for the last scene
of each act.
Format for The Double-Entry Journal
The double-entry journal combines note taking with commentary. It provides two
columns in dialogue with one another. Its purpose is to encourage careful reading and
response and to help you keep track of important points in the text as you read. Please
use the following to set up your journal.
1. Use the template chart below to create a journal in word.
2. On the left, label the column “Quotes from the Text.”
3. On the right, label the column “My Reactions.”
4. As you read, quote important points in the text in the left column. Put the act, scene
and line numbers of the quote in the margin. (You do not need to put the entire quote in
your notebook. You will need enough to jog your memory and make it clear to the
teacher what section of the novel to which you are referring.)
5. As you copy the quotation, note in the right column your reaction and your thinking
about the literary significance of the passage. When making comments, consider”
Have you found an important part of the author’s message?
Is the author making an allusion (reference) to something important?
Has the character revealed an important part of himself?
Has the character revealed important information about the plot or
another character?
o Have you had a strong reaction to events or characters to share?
o Have you made an observation about the author’s use of language?
o
o
o
o
o Have you encountered words or lines in the play that move you or speak to
you in some way?
o Do you have questions about a particular part? Did you find the answer?
o Have you noticed any recurring words? What might be significant about
the word and its reappearance?
State your thoughts, feelings, reactions, and questions about situations, characters,
ideas, actions, settings, or details. Do not be afraid to express your opinion. As long as
your responses are honest, thoughtful, complete reactions to the text, they cannot be
wrong. While it is important to do so to clarify your understanding, beware of simply
paraphrasing or summarizing the text. Remember you want to show your thinking
about the author’s work, not merely paraphrase the novel. Do not tell me what happens;
tell me the significance of what happens.
6. In addition to these daily entries in your chart, you will be given other journal
prompts to complete.
Act, Scene,
Lines
QUOTES FROM THE TEXT
MY REACTIONS
Act 1, Scene 2, “I lack iniquity sometime to do me
Lines 3-4
service.”
Iago is basically saying here that
he lacks the sinful nature that is
sometimes necessary to
accomplish what he wants.
Although, his character seems to
have no trouble going out of his
way to ruin lives at any means
possible (i.e. telling Barbantio
his daughter had run off with
Othello, a Moor) I am seeing
often that Shakespeare uses Iago
as a very ironic character, saying
one thing and doing the other.
1. 3. 395-396
This is the closing of the whole
Act. It is powerful. Iago is
finishing his conversation with
Roderigo. He is talking with
power and might.
“I have’t! It is engendered! Hell and
night Must bring this monstrous
birth to the world’s light.”