Shakespeare’s famous play of love turned bad by unfounded jealousy, begins in Venice with Iago, a soldier under Othello’s command arguing with Roderigo, a wealthy Venetian. Roderigo has paid Iago a considerable sum of money to spy on Othello for him, since he wishes to take Othello’s girlfriend, Desdemona as his own. Roderigo fears that Iago has not been telling him enough about Desdemona and that this proves Iago’s real loyalty is to Othello not him. Iago explains his hatred of Othello for choosing Cassio as his officer or lieutenant and not him as he expected. To regain Roderigo’s trust, Iago and Roderigo inform Brabantio, Desdemona’s father of her relationship with Othello, the “Moor” which enrages Brabantio into sending parties out at night to apprehend Othello for what must obviously be in Brabantio’s eyes, and abuse of his daughter by Othello. Iago lies that Roderigo and not himself, was responsible for angering Brabantio against Othello, Iago telling Othello that he should watch out for Brabantio’s men who are looking for him. Othello decides not to hide since he believes his good name will stand him in good stead.

We learn that Othello has married Desdemona. Brabantio and Roderigo arrive, Brabantio accuses Othello of using magic on his daughter. Othello stops a fight before it can happen but Othello is called away to discuss a crisis in Cypress, much to the anger of Brabantio who wants justice for what he believes Othello has done to his fair Desdemona. The Duke is in council with several senators discussing their enemy, the Turks (Turkish people). Brabantio complains to the Duke that Othello bewitched his daughter and had intimate relations with her. Desdemona is brought in to settle the matter, Othello meanwhile explains how he and Desdemona fell in love. Desdemona confirms this and the Duke advises Brabantio that he would be better off accepting the marriage than complaining and changing nothing. The Duke orders Othello to Cypress to fight the Turks, with Desdemona to follow, accompanied by the trusted Iago. Roderigo despairs that his quest for Desdemona is over now that she is married, but Iago tells him not to give up and earn money instead; soon Desdemona will bore of Othello. Alone, Iago reveals his intention to continue using Roderigo for money and his hatred of Othello (Othello picked Cassio and not Iago for his lieutenant). Iago explains that his plan is to avenge Othello is to suggest to Othello that Cassio is sleeping with Desdemona (Othello’s wife).

Othello begins on a street in Venice, in the midst of an argument between Roderigo and Iago. The rich Roderigo has been paying Iago to help him in his suit to Desdemona, but he has seen no progress, and he has just learned that Desdemona has married Othello, a general whom Iago serves as ensign. Iago reassures Roderigo that he hates Othello. Chief among Iago’s reasons for this hatred is Othello’s recent promotion of Michael Cassio to the post of lieutenant. In spite of Iago’s service in battle and the recommendation of three “great ones” of the city, Othello chose to give the position to a man with no experience leading men in battle. As he waits for an opportunity to further his own self-interest, Iago only pretends to serve Othello.

Iago advises Roderigo to spoil some of Othello’s pleasure in his marriage by rousing Desdemona’s family against the general. The two men come to the street outside the house of Desdemona’s father, Brabanzio, and cry out that he has been robbed by “thieves.” Brabanzio, who is a Venetian senator, comes to the window. At first, he doesn’t believe what he hears, because he has told Roderigo to stay away from his daughter before and thinks Roderigo is merely scheming once again in order to see Desdemona. Iago speaks in inflammatory terms, vulgarly telling the senator that his daughter and Othello are having sex by saying that they are “making the beast with two backs” (I.i.118). Brabanzio begins to take what he hears seriously and decides to search for his daughter. Seeing the success of his plan, Iago leaves Roderigo alone and goes to attend on Othello. Like Brabanzio, Othello has no idea of Iago’s role in Roderigo’s accusations. As Iago departs, Brabanzio comes out of his house, furious that his daughter has left him. Declaring that his daughter has been stolen from him by magic “charms,” Brabanzio and his men follow Roderigo to Othello.

The action of the first scene heightens the audience’s anticipation of Othello’s first appearance. We learn Iago’s name in the second line of the play and Roderigo’s soon afterwards, but Othello is not once mentioned by his name. Rather, he is ambiguously referred to as “he” and “him.” He is also called “the Moor” (I.i.57), “the thick-lips” (I.i.66), and “a Barbary horse” (I.i.113)—all names signifying that he is dark-skinned. Iago plays on the senator’s fears, making him imagine a barbarous and threatening Moor, or native of Africa, whose bestial sexual appetite has turned him into a thief and a rapist. Knowing nothing of Othello, one would expect that the audience, too, would be seduced by Iago’s portrait of the general, but several factors keep us from believing him. The fact that Iago immediately paints himself as the villain also prepares us to be sympathetic to Othello.

What I need to work on:
– Go more in-depth/add more details for my analysis because I would only cover the surface.
– Work on the structure of my introduction for future CATS and Papers.

She argues that inherent in the power of stories, is a danger—the danger of only knowing one story about a group. “The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.” Adichie’s video raises questions that fit directly with Facing History’s scope and sequence. Facing History begins with an exploration of identity with questions such as “Who am I?” “To what extent am I able to define myself?” “What labels do others place on me?” Defining oneself and the groups to which one belongs often means distinguishing “us” from “them.”

Link to video

This statue “Rumors of War” sculpted by Wiley has sparked many conversations about the many confederate statues in America. This piece of Wiley’s work offers a new perspective for the American people to explore, it offers the opportunity for people of colour to be represented because in the past they were never presented with such opportunities. It has generated discussions regarding whether or not statues of Confederate generals should remain or not because due to global movements such as #BlackLivesMatter has any people reconsidering what these statues represent and the connotations they may hold.

Essay

Flipgrid video

The story is about the life of an African-American Male named Emmanuel and the story interweaves with the event of The Finkelstein Five who were 5 children that were brutally murdered. The main characters experience of identity is having to adjust his identity which he refers to as his “Blackness scale” depending on the people he is surrounded by. For example, when he is on the phone for a job interview he turns his Blackness down to a 1.5, the reader can see he is using formal English and not his usual accent as he mentions the change in the voice he makes. Emmanuel is also taught from a young age to always be conscious about the way he acts and it is one of the most important things he has to think about in his daily life because it affects so much of what he does. It can be seen as a way of survival as his father tells Emmanuel this is for his safety. The social and cultural values and attitudes challenged in this story are the social injustices shown towards the Black community, specifically in America. When the man who murdered The Finkelstein Five was not sentenced to any sort of punishment this is seen as ludicrous. Although this was written in 2018, this is a very relevant topic to what is happening with the BLM movement.

Goals for the next CAT
– notion of representation and why this matters in the formation of individual identity
– mention the need to challenge stereotypes
– use some of the terminology we learned in this unit, in order to ‘name’ some of the ideas you explore here (dominant discourse about Asian stereotypes, for example)

Link to CAT #1

Ever since I moved to Singapore I have had to speak “Singlish” when I encounter the locals because when I speak English with my normal accent they don’t seem to understand what I say, but when I speak in Singlish they seem to understand perfectly. I am still speaking English but I think because Singlish is such a well know dialect in Singapore it is easier for the local people to understand. An example is when I am ordering food from a hawker I speak to the auntie in my Singlish accent so she can understand what I am saying better. When I speak Singlish I also have to shorten my sentences which by default makes then grammatically incorrect, but is easier for the locals to understand. Singlish has now become part of my Singaporean identity because I use it almost on a daily basis to communicate with the locals.