1. Responding to an essay
prompt
 Incorporate or restate the prompt in
your thesis
 Answer the question with your idea or
opinion
 The thesis should be a complete
sentence with one main idea
 The thesis is the point you want to
argue and support.

2. Responding to a prompt
 1. The play demonstrates the limits the
three women characters are subjected to
as women of the Shakespearian era.
Desdemona, Emilia and Bianca are
strong characters that often challenge
these limitations but can also present as
passive, naïve, submissive, and
victimized stereotypes.
 What do these contrarieties reveal
about how female gender roles are
handled in the play?

3.  The contrarieties in the female
characters’ behavior in the play
Othello reveal their struggle with the
limits placed on women in the
Shakespearean era.
 The contrarieties in the female
characters’ behavior in the play
Othello reveal Shakespeare’s attempt
at exposing the limitations of the
female gender roles during this era.

4. Responding to a prompt
 2. The play presents Othello as
tragically flawed, thus identifying him
as a “tragic hero”. He demonstrates
these characteristics throughout the
drama. Iago is able to manipulate
these flaws to bring about Othello’s
demise.
 Is Othello a tragic hero? What do
his actions, thoughts and deeds
reveal about the nature of this
“hero”?

5.  In the play Othello, the actions,
thoughts and deeds of the protagonist
Othello reveal the character to be the
epitome of tragic hero.
 In the play Othello, Othello’s pride,
insecurities and great fall from grace
reveal the character to be a classic
tragic hero.