"My mistress' eyes" by William Shakespeare: Tone

        In William Shakespeare's poem "My mistress' eyes," he uses a different kind of tone for a love poem.  Instead of being affectionate it seems in the first twelve lines that the speaker is insulting the mistress.  The speaker continuously says less than desirable things about his mistress until the last two lines.  The speaker even goes as far to say, "I love to hear her speak, yet well I know/That music hath a far more pleasing sound," (Shakespeare, 885).  The speaker also comments on the mistress' eyes, lips, skin, hair, cheeks, breath, and voice.  In the first twelve lines, he only says bad things about the woman.  But finally he says that his love for her is very rare and true.  The speaker says that she may believe all the things he has said but that he loves her very much.

"Barbie Doll" by Marge Piercy: Satire

        In Marge Piercy's poem "Barbie Doll" she aims the satire of the poem not at the young girl but at the society.  The poem describes how girls are treated once they begin puberty.  At this time girls become more curvy and are told by their peers sometimes that they are fat as depicted by this poem.  Piercy is chiding the society for making girls get nose jobs and plastic surgery.  She is also scolding society for putting such pressure on young girls.  The irony of the phrase "the magic of puberty" is that magic is usually seen as a good thing, where here it is shown as bring on the bad things, such as " a fat nose on thick legs," (Piercy, 835).  There is also meaning in the title of the poem, "Barbie Doll".  The type of body the young girl wants resembles a barbie doll.  She wants a smaller nose, small waist, small legs, and perfectly shaped.  Piercy depicts the type of body society thinks every girl should have and what some girls will do to get that body.

"Hunters in the Snow" by Tobias Wolff: Characterization

        In Tobias Wolff's "Hunters in the Snow," the three main characters are not like normal hunters.  They each have very strong personalities and different quirks about them.  Frank's dialogue and actions help characterize him throughout the short story.  At the beginning of the short story, Frank did not join Kenny in making fun of Tub.  Instead of making fun of Tub's obesity, "He smiled and looked off," (Wolff, 187).  After the three men reach the sight they wish to begin hunting though Frank joins in the mockery.  This proves himself to not be a static character.  Later after Frank confesses to Tub of his love for a fifteen-year-old girl, Frank perpetuates Tub's eating disorder to make himself feel better.  This change shows that Frank is selfish and cares about feeling good.

Othello: Act V

       As Shakespeare's play, Othello, comes to a close the events become very chaotic.  After the deaths of Roderigo, and Desdemona, Iago becomes desperate for his plan to work.  His desire for the downfall of Othello was too great for him also to save himself.  This is his flaw.  His hatred of Othello is in turn bringing down himself.  Out of desperation he murders his wife.  But, before he murders Emilia he becomes frantic when she starts telling Othello the truth.  He says, "You piece of filth, you're lying," (V. ii. 244).  In this line Iago is speaking to Emilia as she tells Othello the truth of everything.  In Iago's fury he loses his temper and kills Emilia.  Iago's character has changed significantly now.  He is now letting his emotional, passionate side be shown to everyone.

Othello: Act V: Changes

       In Shakespeare's tragedy Othello, as act V begins to unfold Iago is frantically trying to make his plan come together.  After Roderigo is stabbed by Cassio, Iago frantically stabs Cassio's leg.  This is the first time that Iago's plan is starting to become rough.  Throughout the first scene Iago expresses concern directly to the audience about his concern for the night.  He tells the audience that, "This is the night, that either makes me or fordoes me quite," (V. i. 138-139).  This aside shows Iago with a little fear that things may not go the way he wishes.  He openly admits that the next several hours are what will decide his future.  This would affect him for the rest of his life.  He understands that if he is caught he would be killed but if he isn't then Othello may be out of his life forever.

Othello: Act IV: Character Development

       Thus far in Shakespeare's play Othello, Iago has been portrayed as an inherently evil man. The level of his evilness is still being developed in Act IV.  This development deepens in the ways Iago expresses his hatred for Othello.  His plan seems to be just to ruin Othello's life.  He slyly convinces Othello to kill Desdemona in a different manner.  The Way Iago suggests blatantly points to Othello as the murderer.

" 'Get me some poison, Iago, this night.  I'll not expostulate with her, lest her body and beauty unprovide my mind again.  This night, Iago.'

' Do it not with poison, strangle her in her bed, even the bed she hath contaminated',"  (IV. i. 188-192).

If Othello stuck with his idea of poison it would be harder to trace the poison back to him.  The new plan of strangling Desdemona makes Othello the only suspect.  Iago secretly sneaks this new way of ruining Othello's life into what Othello believes as a better way of killing Desdemona.

Othello: Act IV; Dynamic Character

       In Shakespeare's tragedy, Othello, there are several dynamic characters.  One specifically is Othello himself.  At the beginning of the play he is very calm and cool headed when accused of drugging or using magic on Desdemona.  Othello simply tells the Senate to go ask Desdemona.  By the fourth act he has become distrusting and suspicious of Desdemona.  Othello's sarcasm in Act IV shows his distrust of Desdemona.

"What not a whore?" (IV. ii. 86).

In this scene Desdemona does not understand why Othello is being so suspicious towards her. She had not realized that his personality of absolute trust had change.  This change makes him a dynamic character.

Othello: Act III: Motive

       In Shakespeare's play Othello, Iago's motive to do the horrible things are very strong.  By the end of the third act he has already gotten his main motive accomplished.  This was becoming lieutenant.  Now the reader must decide if he is so evil to keep making Othello's life difficult just because of hate.  Shakespeare shows this through a series of soliloquies that Iago says.  He also says asides during the play.  These reveal that he is very evil and has an intense hatred for Othello.  Iago says, "Patience, I say.  Your mind perhaps may change," (III. iii. 453).  Iago says this after he has convinced Othello that Desdemona has cheated on him.  This shows that he is greatly evil and will stop at nothing to hurt Othello.

Othello: Antagonist

        In Shakespeare's play, Othello, the main character is depicted as the stereotypical gentleman.  He is kind, honest, trustworthy, and brave.  Iago is the opposite force of Othello.  He is very evil.  Some of his personality traits include, manipulation, hypocrisy, and just pure evil.  He is constantly manipulating many people at once to achieve his several goals.  In the end his main goal and ending point are making Othello's life very difficult and painful.  At the end of Act I Iago reveals to the audience his plans.  At this point he has decided to "abuse Othello's ear" (I. iii. 375) or manipulate him to believe everything Iago says.  So far, Iago has been successful in this first endeavor.

Othello: Act II: Irony

       In the play Othello by William Shakespeare,  he uses irony to help characterize Iago.  Throughout Act II Iago says derogatory things about women in general.  His main aversion to women is that they are manipulative.  He believes that they should only "suckle fools and chronicle small beer," (II. i. 159).  The irony in all of this is that Iago is very manipulative of the people around him.  He especially manipulates Cassio, Montano, and Othello.  But he also manipulates Roderigo.  This irony creates some frustration from the reader and Iago seems hypocritical in his opinions.  Shakespeare uses this irony to create an evil manipulative character.  

Othello: Act I: Diction

       In the Shakespearean play, Othello, Shakespeare intertwines racism into the lines of the characters subtly and bluntly.  Othello being from another region and of a different race is often the object of racist comments and jokes throughout the play thus far.  Iago describes Othello as "an old black ram... tupping your white ewe," (I. i. 88-89).  In this line Shakespeare uses the analogy of an animal to show that Iago views Othello like an animal.  Iago also calls Othello "the Devil," (I. i. 91).  Iago is not the only person who says racist comments about Othello.  The Duke and other characters of the play also do.  This allows the reader to understand that these comments are not always meant to be derogatory.  The comments are just part of the culture of the time.