Reading OTHELLO

I teach high school sophomores. We're currently reading OTHELLO. I'm concerned about students using condensed notes instead of reading classical literature. Shakespeare's stories are not original. Some of them get to be so complex or redundant that I don't care for them as good plays. When I teach Shakespeare to my students, we approach it as a project called DECIPHERING THE SHAKESPEAREAN SYNTACTICAL CODE! We start by discussing the nature of Romance. We talked about how in classical romance, there are components that are part of romance that we have little taste or courage for now like eternal love, beauty, risk, faith, and others. After that, we practice on sonnets. I'd taught my students how to write Shakespearean, Petrarchan, and Spenserian sonnets as a "cycle" before we started this unit so they already understood poetic architecture. Also, we'd studied poetic analysis or how to take a poem apart and then put it back together with greater understanding. All of these things helped. We read sonnets together and then I instructed them to find a Shakespearean sonnet of their own preference and write an analysis about what about that sonnet made them choose it from over a hundred others. Then we went after OTHELLO. I read a lot of it to them. I taught them to pay particular attention to the punctuation. Shakespeare intended for his work to be read aloud. The punctuation talks to the actor and separates ideas so that these viney sentences don't leave us behind. We discussed the characters, their motivations, recurring themes, Shakespearan devices like couplets that close scenes and jumps back and forth between poetry and prose. I read about half to two-thirds of the play with them and then left them to read. I allowed class time to read silently. By Act II, the students were reading aloud. Remind them to READ THE PUNCUTATION!!! I've booked us to see a production of OTHELLO at the Milwaukee Shakespeare Company. They sent a docent to talk to our kids about the actor approching the material and he played a couple of theatre games with them. Today we went half-way into Act III and then I left the rest of the play to them. I'm an actor and there are others on our staff. Next Tuesday, we read a few scenes to them in the studio theatre. The next day is the play. I've enjoyed teaching OTHELLO again. I'd recommend A MUSE OF FIRE which is one of the videotapes that's part of THE STORY OF ENGLISH by MacNeil of MacNeil/Lehrer. There's an accompanying book. Enjoy.

You are such a passionate and effective instructor. From just your post alone, I've grown an appreciation and respect for you. Unfortunately, I didn't get the privilege of attending a regular high school. I have been home-school'ed during those years, which resulted in limited guidance and a lower quality of education (esp. in literature). Keep up the amazing work in inculcating literary genius to your pupils Mr. Bill. I will be sure to read Othello aloud to myself as well.

I read Othello a few weeks back. It was my first attempt and consequently I did not enjoy it as much as I wanted to. Somewhere around the middle of the play I got very excited. But from then on I got lost, I do not quite understand why. I shall read it again sometime. When I finished Othello I also felt Shakespeare was an idiot and does not deserve all the reputation. I need to look at the entire thing once again. Overall I am finding it difficult to appreciate Shakespeare. The plays become monotonous gradually moving towards a tragic end. That does not feel very exciting to read.