Othello I-III

Manipulation is present in the Acts I-III of Othello by William Shakespeare. Most of the manipulation that takes place in the story revolves around the antagonist character of Iago. I think that the scene with the most manipulation is the scene with Cassio drinking. In the story, Iago finds a way to manipulate every character. While doing this, Iago still finds a way to make himself look like the innocent one. Iago manipulates Cassio into drinking to try to get him in trouble and to lose his rankings. Even though he resists at first, Cassio gives into the pressures and takes a drink. Cassio at first states, "Not tonight, good Iago" (Shakespeare, II.iii.28) but preceeds to drink anyways. In this scene, Montano is also manipulated by Iago. Montano is forced to be in a fight with Cassio to insure that a commotion is made. As the scene goes on, Iago is looked at as a friends who cannot betray those who he cares deeply for. I am sure as the story goes on that Iago will continue to manipulate characters in the story.

Othello I-III

Revenge has been a key component in the Act I-III of Othello by William Shakespeare. Throughout the course of the story, Iago has been planning revenge on Othello. One reason that Iago is seeking revenge is for supposedly sleeping with his wife. The ironic thing about this situation is the fact that Iago has no proof of this affair. Iago also does not seek any answers about the affair. Instead, he plans revenge for the supposed act. The other reason that Iago seeks revenge is because Othello is given a promotion over Iago. Iago believes that he should have been promoted over Othello because Othello has no experience in the battlefield. On the first page, Iago states that Othello is a soldier "that never set a squadron in the field" (Shakespeare, I.i.21). This quote is talking about how Othello has never taken part in a battle, and never set foot on the battlefield. The plan of revenge has began to fall through, but I expect that throughout the course of the story, more of the plan will begin to unfold.

Othello I-III

Tensions are beginning to develop at the end of act III of Othello by Shakespeare. The biggest tensions I have noticed so far is the tension between Othello and Desdemona. I think the first sign that there is going to be tension occurs at the very beginning of the story, when Roderigo tells Brabantio about the marriage between Othello and Desdemona. Right as he finds out about this, he already does not approve of it. Brabantio states "My daughter is not for thee" (Shakespeare, I.i. 98). When everyone gets married, they want to have approval from those that they love. Desdemona is denied this from the beginning, which I think leads her to second guessing their marriage. I think the second guessing is the beginning of the tension between Othello and Desdemona. As the story progresses, tension grows as Cassio enters into the picture and leads Othello to believe that Desdemona loves someone else. The tension finally peaks at the end of act III. Othello yells "Away!" and exits the stage (Shakespeare, III.iv.92). As the story goes on, I think tension will continue to build between Othello and Desdemona.

Othello I-III

So far in the story Othello by William Shakespeare, racism has been present. Throughout the course of the story, racism has been used towards many characters. One character in which racism is used toward the most is Othello. In the story, Iago never refers to Othello by his actual name. He is often referred to by a racial slur. He is also treated poorly by the rest of the characters in the story. For example, Brabrantio talks about how Othello must have used magic to get Desdomona to marry him. Brabantio states, "Damn'd as thou art, thou hast enchanted her" (Shakespeare, I.iii.63). Brabantio implies that Desdemona, since she was so beautiful, would not have married a black man unless she was "enchanted". As the rest of the story goes on, I assume that racism will continue to be a key aspect.

Getting Out

I feel like the poem Getting Out by Cleopatra Mathis is about a couple that went through a divorce. At the beginning of the story, I think that it talks about the time that they were together, maybe the last year of their marriage. It says, "that year we hardly slept, waking like inmates who beat the walls" (Mathis, 1). The diction used in this line makes compares their marriage to being a prisoner in a prison. As the poem goes on, the reader learns that there were many problems within the marriage while they were still together. For example, it talks about them arguing saying, "finally locked into blame, we paced that short hall, heaving words like furniture" (Mathis, 13). As the poem continues, the reader learns that he two people in the relationship still have feelings for each other. The fact that he still has pictures of the two of them leads to the idea that there is something between them. They also still write each other an annual letter. In the letter, its almost like they are still trying to convince each other that they did the right thing by getting a divorce. "And in the yearly letter, you're sure to say you're happy now" (Mathis, 19). It seems like there were just subtle differences that led to the two of them getting divorced, but even though their divorced, they still love each other.

You're Ugly, Too

Number three in the questions after the story "You're Ugly, Too" by Lorrie Moore kind of stuck out to me. The question is "This story makes extensive use of jokes. Discuss  the importance of jokes to the characterization of Zoe and to the jokes as  a whole." Throughout the course of the story, Zoe makes a variety of jokes, including some that are funny and some that are not. For example, when she is talking to her little sister about her wedding, she says "I'm not married? Oh, my God. I forgot to get married" (Moore, 355). At this moment, I think she makes a joke because she does now how to cope with her younger sister getting married before in any other way. I think that she makes so many jokes because that is the only way that she knows how to communicate with others. I also think that she does not know the difference between  jokes and sarcasm. A lot of her "jokes" are just sarcastic comments that she makes that I think she legitimately thinks are funny jokes. I think this impacts the meaning of the story as a whole in the fact that Zoe is seen different by society, than she sees herself. She may think that she is funny, but other people do not perceive her as a funny person. She thinks of herself differently than others perceive her.

Popular Mechanics

"Popular Mechanics" by Raymond Carver can be read as a retelling of the story I Kings 3 in the Bible. In the story involving Solomon in the bible, there is a conflict consisting of two women  and a baby. Going along with that, in the story "Popular Mechanics", the characters consist of a man, a woman, and  a child. In both of the stories, there is a custody battle over the child. Both stories also consist of parents who are settling the issue in a very immature way. In the story about Solomon, woman battle through arguing with each other. In "Popular Mechanics", the parents of the child settle the dispute by going through a game of tug-of-war over the child. Both of the stories end with unhappiness for the parents. In the story about Solomon, the judge declares that sense a decision cannot be made by the women as to whose baby it is, the child shall be cut into two and each of the mothers given half of the baby. The ending to "Popular Mechanics" is kind of like that. I do not think that the baby was literally split into two pieces, but the baby was killed while parents grabbed a hold of the limbs and pulled on them with all of their strength. "But he would not let go. He felt the baby slipping out of his hands and he pulled back very hard" (Carver, 35).

The Story of An Hour

Imagery is used throughout the short story "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin. Starting in the fifth paragraph of the short story, Chopin begins painting a picture of a scene in a nature. The scene being described is being seen by Mrs. Mallard after finding out about the death of her husband. "There were patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds" (Chopin, 6). Throughout the rest of the story, the author uses imagery to describe the freedom that Mrs. Mallard believes to have following the death of her husband. The author describes the freedom as "something coming to her and she was waiting for it" (Chopin, 9). The poem paints a picture of freedom coming to her and a weight being lifted off of her shoulders. It was like her husband was controlling her. Since he has passed away, she is now pleased to embrace the freedom that she has now been gifted with. The author uses imagery to paint of picture of the life that would come for Mrs. Mallard now that her husband has passed away and she is free to enjoy her life.