Extended response- Iago

Shakespeare’s Iago from the play Othello is an extremely complex villain, who develops various ‘versions’ of himself to embody the themes of jealousy and manipulation. The heinous crimes he sets out to achieve are unfathomable, yet without this unusual character the play itself would be little more than a light romantic drama. His heightened devious nature comes across only within his many monologues, and Shakespeare used these to evoke frustration within the audience, but to also strengthen the themes of jealousy and manipulation.

Othello is one of the most famous literary works that focuses on the dangers of jealousy. The play is essentially a study of how jealousy can be fueled by mere circumstantial evidence and can destroy lives. At the beginning of the film, it becomes apparent that Iago is jealous of Cassio’s lieutenant position; he believes that Cassio is ‘mere prattle without practice’ (Act 1, scene 1, line 26). However, Iago’s role in this theme is not only that he is jealous himself of Cassio, but that he uses other peoples jealousy’s to his advantage. This is seen through his control over Roderigo; Iago knows of Roderigo’s love for Desdemona and uses his multiple personality to appear as a friend to Roderigo. However, in reality, he is fueling Roderigo’s jealousy by telling him things like ‘Desdemona is directly in love with [Cassio]’ to eventually cause a fight between Cassio and Roderigo and obtain the lieutenant position (Act 2, Scene 1, line 210). Shakespeare positions the audience to recognize Iagos true purpose through the use of monologues. Through these monologues you can see that Iago is not the friend that he poses to be to either of these men. Therefore, Iagos jealousy of Cassio fuels many themes within the play. In Othello, jealousy takes many forms, from sexual suspicion to professional competition, but it is, in all cases, fueled by Iagos destructive personality.

Othello's villain, Iago, may be literature's most impressive master of deception and manipulation. Iago plots with consummate sophistication, carefully manipulating many characters such as Othello, Roderigo, and Cassio through the use of multiple personalities. He has the ability to orchestrate a complicated interweaving of pre-planned scenarios. Iago's deception is potent because of his patience and his cleverness. Shakespeare uses Iago’s monologues to help the reader understand the various personalities of Iago. Iago uses his manipulation of Roderigo to gain the lieutenant position, however his biggest manipulation in the play is of Othello, ultimately leading to the destruction of many characters. At the beginning of the play, Iago is seen as “most honest” (Act 2, Scene 3, line 7). He then uses this trust of many characters to deceive them. For example, Cassio’s like in Iago allows him to convince Cassio to drink, whilst both knowing full well that Cassio does not handle his alcohol well. Whilst this is happening, Iago sneakily convinces Montano that Cassio is a drunk to set up a false image of Cassio, saying “’tis to his virtue a just equinox” (Act 2, Scene 3, line 107), hurting Cassios reputation. This night then leads to a fight between Roderigo and Cassio, because Iago convinces Roderigo that Cassio was in love with Desdemona. Therefore, it is obvious that through Iago’s false personalities and ability to manipulate each character, Othello can be seen as a great tragedy.

The character of Iago is so layered that one could delve significantly deeper into his nuances and personality; however it is undeniable that Iago plays the main role in plot development within the play. Iago plays a role within every tragedy within the play, which is ultimately leaded by the jealousy and manipulation that is evident. With Shakespeare’s fine usage of techniques that hint at Iago’s haunted personality- Shakespeare is able to conjure up a complicated villain.

Pride and Prejudice questions

I have read to chapter 6 (don't worry mrs admen I have planned to finish by this time next week) in Pride and Prejudice. A general run through of the chapters thus far include the news of Bingleys arrival and the fuse between the family, the ball and Bingleys obvious love for Jane, Darcy being introduced as a rude and disagreeable individual, Jane admits her likings for Bingley to Elizabeth and Darcy begins to admire Elizabeth. There are fundamental themes that already appearing in the text, such as love and reputation. Love is obvious as the Bennets are always searching for love, it appears that marriage is an extremely important thing to these people. The reputation is also obvious through the way the characters, especially Mrs Bennet, talks.

Elizabeth Bennet, the second daughter of the Bennet family, is the protagonist of the book 'Pride and Prejudice'. She appears to be the most intelligent of the Bennet sisters. She copes with her perky mother well and is close with her father. She has numerous admirable qualities- she is lovely, clear, and in a novel defined by dialogue, she can converse brilliantly. 

Although I am only a short way through the book, I am enjoying it. I like the love theme and the drama it seems to bring with it. The only think I don't like is the way it is written, as in 'olden day' speech. It sometimes confuses me. 

My Daddy's a Diver Questions.

1.     Use the checklist of short story genre requirements to assess how well the story meets these. Give specific evidence in your response.

·       Has a title- “My daddy’s a diver”

·       There is no clear goal to the character to achieve.

·       It is in a closed setting with the time period less then 24 hours.

·       The setting is used as his physical journey. It is also very descriptive and therefore easy to imagine.

·       There is no pattern the story.

·       Good use of minimal characters- Lizzie and the father.

·       There is more narration then dialogue, however, this is an effective technique.

·       Does demonstrate a balance between showing and telling

·       It does not show characterization to help achieve its purpose.

·       Uses imagery, figurative language extremely effectively.

·       Uses variation in sentence lengths such as “In this moment a man, not a fish, found himself weeping.“

·       The story does not resolve itself completely, and therefore does not surprise the reader.

·       The story is written from one perspective

·       Does not incorporate flashbacks

·       Uses a linear structure, has a beginning, middle and end.

2.     How well does the story connect with the reader? What emotions or thoughts does it elicit? How effectively does it use language to do this? Give evidence from the story in your response.

The story does not stay connected with the reader because there is no goal or twist invovled, which therefore makes it boring to read. Although he did involve emotions, they only came apparent at the beginning and end. Most of the story was based around describing the things he saw.

3.     What ideas, attitudes and values underpin this text? You may have already identified some of these in Question 2.

The central idea that underpins the story is that some people take family values for granted. Rather they should realize that many people have don’t have this opportunity to connect with their family. Running alongside this however is that attitude which is often embedded in society whereby people do not realize the importance of family. To emphasize these two elements to the audience is the key idea is that the dad is doing everything he can to supply for his daughter.

4.     What kinds of journeys do we see evidence of in this story? Explain your answer.

This short story is evident of physical and inner journeys. The physical journey embedded throughout this story is the journey of the fathers dive. He sees new things travelling from point A to B. The inner journey intertwined in the story is the relationship between the father and daughter, and also the grieving of the mans lost wife. This is apparent during the conversation between the daughter and father, and the mans thoughts at the beginning.

5.     How effective is the story as a whole?

As a whole, the story is quite effective when reaching for the reader’s emotions. The author clearly connects with the reader, which makes them intrigued in that the author has to say.

Homework Tuesday 7th Feb

My ideas to include in my assignment are:

• Gold Coast - Beaches
• Roma - Country
• Melbourne- City

Questions on Australia

2. Paragraphs 4 and 5 list the names of famous Australians. Write the areas/achievements they were famous for beside their names.

Bob Hawke: Robert Hawke was the 23rd Prime Minister of Australia from March 1983 to December 1991 and therefore longest serving Australian Labor Party (ALP) Prime Minister. After a decade as president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, he entered politics at the 1980 federal election and became Prime Minister within three years. He became the longest-serving and most electorally successful Labor Prime Minister, leading the ALP to four consecutive federal elections between 1983 and 1990. He is Australia's third-longest-serving Prime Minister.

Kevin Rudd: Kevin Michael Rudd is an Australian politician who was the 26th Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010. He has been Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2010. A member of the Australian Labor Party, Rudd has served in the House of Representatives since the 1998 federal election, representing Griffith, Queensland.

Joan Sutherland: One of the most remarkable female opera singers of the 20th century, she was dubbed La Stupenda by a La Fenice audience in 1960 after a performance of the title role in Handel's Alcina. She possessed a voice of beauty and power, combining extraordinary agility, accurate intonation, "supremely" pinpoint staccatos, a splendid trill and a tremendous upper register, although music critics often complained about the imprecision of her diction. Her friend Luciano Pavarotti once called Sutherland the "Voice of the Century"; Montserrat Caballé described the Australian's voice as being like "heaven"

John Farnham: John Peter Farnham, is an English-born Australian pop singer. As Johnny Farnham he was a teen pop idol from 1964 to 1979, and has since forged a career as an adult contemporary singer. His career has mostly been as a solo artist although he briefly replaced Glenn Shorrock as lead singer of Little River Band during 1982–1985. In September 1986 his solo single, "You're the Voice" peaked at No. 1 on the Australian singles charts. The associated album, Whispering Jack, held the No. 1 position for a total of 25 weeks, and is the highest-selling album in Australian history.[8] Both the single and the album had Top Ten success internationally including No. 1 in Sweden.

Patrick White: Patrick Victor Martindale White, an Australian author, is widely regarded as an important English-language novelist of the 20th century. From 1935 until his death, he published 12 novels, two short-story collections and eight plays. White's fiction employs humour, florid prose, shifting narrative vantage points and a stream of consciousness technique. In 1973, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature—and was the only Australian citizen to have been awarded the Literature prize until the South African-born J. M. Coetzee became an Australian citizen in 2006. The Vivisector, a novel about the life and times of a successful modernist painter, was shortlisted for the Lost Man Booker Prize in 2010.

Paul Hogan: Paul Hogan became a worldwide success with his irresistible comic performance in Crocodile Dundee (1986), which he created and co-wrote. It earned him a Golden Globe for Best Actor as well as an Oscar (nomination for Best Screenplay). The versatile actor got his start in Australian television in a recurring role as comic relief on "A Current Affair" (1971). An expanded version entitled "The Paul Hogan Show" (1973) premiered on Australia's Nine Network and quickly propelled him to the top of the ratings chart. His dramatic role in the critically acclaimed television series "Anzacs" (1985) and his work in promoting Australia worldwide invested him into the Order of Australia and led to his appointment as "Australian of the Year".

Hogan was the executive producer/writer/star of the feature films Almost an Angel (1990) and Lightning Jack (1994) and starred in Flipper (1996) and Floating Away (1998) (TV). American audiences also remember Hogan from his now legendary commercials for the Australian Tourist Commission in which he invited us to say "g'day" and come "down under" so he could "slip another shrimp on the barbie".

Allan Border: Allan Robert Border AO is a former Australian cricketer. A batsman, Border was for many years the captain of the Australian team. His playing nickname was "A.B.". He played 156 Test matches in his career, a record until it was passed by fellow Australian Steve Waugh. Border still retains the world record for the number of consecutive Test appearances of 153 and the number of Tests as captain. He was primarily a left hand batsman but also achieved sporadic success as a part time left arm orthodox spinner. Border amassed 11,174 Test runs (a world record until it was passed by Brian Lara in 2005). He hit 27 centuries in his Test career. He retired as Australia's most capped player and leading run-scorer in both Tests and ODIs. His Australian record for Test Match runs stood for 15 years before Ricky Ponting overtook him during the Third Ashes Test against England in July 2009. Border was one of the 55 inaugural inductees of the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.

Robert Helpmann: Son of James Murray Helpmann & Mary, he was educated at Prince Alfred's College, Adelaide, South Australia. He first danced solo at the Theatre Royal, Adelaide in The Ugly Duckling in 1922. He went on to become the pricipal dancer at Sadlers Wells ballet from 1933 to 1950. World renowned as a dancer and choreographer, amongst his other achievements he was the director of the Australian Ballet Company. He directed the world tour of Margot Fonteyn in 1963.

Peter Brock: Peter Geoffrey Brock, AM otherwise known as "Peter Perfect", "The King of the Mountain" or simply as "Brocky" was one of Australia's best-known and most successful motor racing drivers. Brock was most often associated with Holden for almost 40 years, although he raced vehicles of other manufacturers including BMW, Ford, Volvo, Porsche and Peugeot.[1] He won the Bathurst 1000 endurance race nine times, the Sandown 500 touring car race nine times, the Australian Touring Car Championship three times and was inducted into the V8 Supercar Hall of Fame in 2001. Brock's business activities included the Holden Dealer Team (HDT) that produced Brock's racing machines as well as a number of modified high-performance road versions of his racing cars.

Steve Irwin: Stephen Robert "Steve" Irwin, nicknamed "The Crocodile Hunter", was an Australian television personality, wildlife expert, and conservationist. Irwin achieved worldwide fame from the television series The Crocodile Hunter, an internationally broadcast wildlife documentary series which he co-hosted with his wife Terri. Together, the couple also owned and operated Australia Zoo, founded by Irwin's parents in Beerwah, about 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of the Queensland state capital city of Brisbane. Irwin died on 4 September 2006 after being pierced in the chest by a stingray barb while filming an underwater documentary film titled Ocean's Deadliest. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ship MY Steve Irwin was named in his honour.

3. What does the author mean at the top of page 2 when he says that Australia seems to be in a state of ‘suspenseful indecision’?

That Australia as a country is contradicting how it is displayed to others. It cannot decide what sort of country it wants to be represented as.

4. On page 3 (half way down), the author begins a paragraph with the words….”The lack of a nation-binding capital….” What do you think he means by that?

That the people representing Australia are not even Australians themselves. “The lack of a nation-binding capital is another contributory factor, especially since so many of Canberra's essentials are so curiously un-Australian”. Suggesting that we cannot trust someone to run our country who doesn’t even call themsleves Australians.

5. Why does he think it is odd that Sydney is the focus for Australia Day celebrations?

He feels that the celebrations on Australia day is swamped my sponsored-ads directing themselves at Sydney, he discusses that it seems that the celebrating this day is obligation when it should be a choice.

6. Write a few short sentences that summarise what you think the author’s intention was in writing this article. What was he trying to draw our attention to?

The writer draws our attention the controversy in Australia’s appearance. He explains that the country tries to be laid-back and ‘typically Australia’ when in reality it is bound by government rules and laws. He also explains that the way we appeal to foreigners is not how it really is “…couch-bound residents prone to watching the telly rather than tending the snags.”

7. Do you agree/disagree? Why/whynot?

I do agree that the way we are portrayed to foreigners is not how it is in reality. We seen to attract the ‘lazy, laid-back’ lifestyle, however, it is quite contrary.