Othello 4

Many characters in the play Othello often attribute Othello's shortcomings to his race. In Act three, even Othello himself blames his skin color for his inferiority. Othello states, "I'd whistle her off and let her down the wind To prey at fortune. Haply, for I am black And have not those soft parts of conversation" (III.iii.303-305). Othello's excuse for  his poor people-skills is him being black. He blames his race on not being able to  fix his relationship with his wife; because he is black, he would abandon Desdemona as apposed to attempting to fix his problems.

Sound and Sense - Pg 234 Exercise

1. The second section is better because of it's use of meter. The first section does not flow as well as the second lines, which contains more syllables and therefore a more euphonious meter.

2. The second section is better than the first due to the second's use of onomatopoeia  The second section uses "crabbed" in place of "rough"; crabbed is an onomatopoeia and better attributes sense and meaning to the line than "rough".

3. The second section is better than the first due to it's use of consonance and onomatopoeia. The words "out-cast crows croak" utilizes the 'c' sound to create a more euphonious line than the first section. Also, the word "snow", from the first section is replaced with the much more descriptive "whiteness", an onomatopoeia.

4. The use of consonance in part b better attributes sense to the lines. The repetition of 'l' and 't' sounds create euphony.

5. Part b utilizes multiple onomatopoeia, assonance  and consonance to create a greater sense. The assonance and consonance allow the line to flow much smoother while the onomatopoeias evoke sensation.

6. The second section is more successfully adapted than the first because it utilizes onomatopoeia in replacing "sings" with "warbles".

7. The use of phonetic intensives in part b emphasizes the meaning of each word and better attributes sound to sense than the first section. The short words also flow much better and created meter.

8. By replacing "sisters" with the word "twins" in part b, consonance, in the form of repeating 't' sounds, is developed which makes the lines much more euphonious.

9. Part b better utilizes meter than part a and also uses assonance of the 'o' sound (by replacing "cross" from part a, with "o'er") to develop euphony.

10. The second section uses both onomatopoeia (in switching "chastise" with "flap") and assonance of the 'i' sound in the second line to better adapt sound to sense.

Othello 3

The relationship between Michael Cassio and Iago is very similar to the complex relationships Iago has with various other characters. While Iago appears to protect Cassio from Othello's rage, after Cassio's drunken brawl, Iago really intends to hurt Cassio's reputation and wreck Othello's marriage. Iago decieves Cassio in saying, "I had rather have this tounge cut from my mouth Than it should do offense to Michael Cassio" (97). Iago's friendliness to Cassio decievingly demostrates to everyone, except the audience, that Iago indends to help Cassio. Yet in reality Iago has much more sinister plans. Through Iago's soliloquies dramatic irony is created between Iago and the audience. The true evil of Iago is only known by the audience as he continues to decieve all other characters.

Chapter 12 Notes

Rhyme and Meter
Rhythm

• Rhythm refers to any wavelike recurrence of motion or sound
• In speech it is the natural rise and fall of language
• In every multi-syllable word, certain syllables are accented or stressed
• Stressing certain parts of words to indicate a certain meaning is rhetorical stress
• Pauses:
• Also based on pauses: end-stopped line ends a line at normal speech pattern, run-on line moves on into the next line without pause
• Pauses in lines are caesuras
• Poetic line is the basic rhythmic unit of free verse
• Prose poems follow prose rhythms

Meter

• Meter is the identifying characteristic of rhythmic language that "we can tap our feet to"
• One basic unit of meter is the foot: normally one-accented syllable plus one or two unaccented syllables.
• The other basic measurements of verse are lines and stanzas
• Metrical Variations: call attention to sounds because they depart from norm
• Substitution - replace regular foot with another
• Extrametrical syllables added at the beginnings or endings of lines
• Truncation - omission of an unaccented syllable at either end of a line

• The process of identifying metrical form is scansion: identify prevailing foot, name number of feet in the line, describe stanzaic pattern

Stranger Prompt 4 Outline

Thesis: Through the span of the novel, Meursault embodies the absurdist philosophy and ultimately accepts the greatest truth of absurdism.

Body 1: Meursault actions and relationships have no deeper meanings. Meursault's intentions are based solely on the pro and cons of the matter.

• Meursault's murder of the Arab had no connection to his emotional state or his current situation. Meursault simply killed the man, in such a detached manner, because he could. He had the ability to kill the man so he took it. ~"I can either shoot or not shoot"
• Meursault's relationship with Marie is spawned from the pure pleasure that it provides. He has no deeper intentions to marry her or love her. In leaving out the fact that they had sex, Meursault hides (and makes it very clear) the fact that he gets pleasure from Marie and he ~"enjoys her company"

Body 2: Every other character attempts to attach meaning to Meursault's actions. The extreme difficulty and frustration they have in doing this shows that Meursault truly has no intentions.

• The prosecution in Meursault's trial focuses intently on the death of Maman and how that affected (or did not affect) Meursault. The prosecution attempts to connect Meursault's lack of empathy to his murder. But Meursault only kills because "the sun made [him] do it" 
• Marie ponder's Meursault's detachment from the relationship. She figures that Meursault's kisses are attributed to his love, even though they truly are not. There is large miss communication.

Body 3: While living his final days in his cell, Meursault discovers the true point of absurdism. He realizes that everyone will die eventually and recognizes the “gentle indifference of the world". He realizes that because life has no meaning, he does not need to care about what others think  he does not need to abide by the rules of society. Meursault identifies himself as an outsider, a stranger.

The Stranger 5

During Meursault's trial, every participant attempts to put meaning into Meursault's actions. Instead of looking solely at Mersault's murder and the objective evidence, the persecution chooses to focus on Mersault's inner psyche and emotions. The attempted to put attribute meaning to Meursault's meaningless actions. Meursault comments on their feudal efforts saying, "But all the long speeches, all the interminable days and hours that people had spent talking about my soul, had left me with the impression of a colorless swirling river that was making me dizzy" (104). The death of Maman and Meursault's lack of sympathy have no effect on Meursault's decision to murder (as Meusault says, his narration may be biased and misleading). Meursault goes through live weighing each decision he makes on pros and cons. No decision affects another.