Othello, like many of Shakespeares plays, treats women poorly. He depicts them as weak and easily manipulated. Although the women of this play do have intelligence and seem to know what is going on, they choose to go along with the men, until it is too late. They put up with so much mistreatment, and end up dead.

I read Aimin's Blog, and I agree with her on most of her main points. Othello's downward spiral really becomes present in Act 3, and his language shifts from romantic to dark and mean. The jealousy is clearly taking root in his mind. I found it an interesting theory that the handkerchief story is a lie, and I hadn't considered that before. Perhaps Othello is behaving like everyone else and lying for his own gain. If he is, I think this is another sign of his downward spiral. Lastly, I believe Aimin is right that Othello's Jealousy is beginning to spill over into each encounter with a character, and even Desdemona can see it now. I liked how Aimin's thoughts were very well organized in her blog, with a good flow from one point to another.

Scene 3 is where the real action begins. Iago's manipulations take hold, and Othello really begins to deteriorate.
    Equally interesting is Othello's view of Iago. In line 136 Othello says, "And for I know thou 'rt full of love and honesty..." He couldn't be more wrong if he tried! Later Othello seems to get suspicious, and accuses Iago of "conspiring" against Cassio. He is right, but he lets Iago pursuade him otherwise. Iago even warns Othello off jealousy, calling it hr "Green-eyed monster". Right after that Othello seems to have confidence in Desdemona saying, "...For she had eyes, and chose me. No, Iago, I'll see before I doubt; when I doubt, prove..." (p 131) Othello says he has to have proof in order to doubt her. Yet a page later, he seems to doubt her by saying he thinks she is honest, but nature can err. Even more, just a page turn later, on 135, Othello exclaims "Why did I marry?". He goes on after Iago departs exclaiming yet again how honest Iago is.
On 141 Othello is sure Desdemona has cheated on him. "What sense had I <of> her stol'n hours of lust?", he says. Yet only a page turn away on 143, Othello demands proof again of Desdemona's affair from Iago, calling him a "Villain"for suggesting his accusations could be true. He asks for "the ocular proof". He continually flip flops throughout the scene between belief in Iago and wanting proof. He finally, sadly, settles on belief in Iago and no proof whatsoever.
    Scene 4 is also full of interesting things, but mostly I was concerned with Othello's speech deteriorating. He begins in his full on Captain-mode, giving speeches and using fancy words with eloquence. But at the end, and particularly on page 159, Othello can barely manage more than repeating his exclamation for his handkerchief. "The handkerchief!" he demands five times, not including his original speech for it. This clearly shows Othello's downward spiral and fixation on the handkerchief and proof of Desdemona's faithfulness.

    Scene 1 is interesting only because, despite its brevity, it contains vital information about Iago's plot. He deftly manipulates Cassio. Cassio even pays him! All just to get some facetime with Desdemona in the hope she can help him win back Othello. He has no idea he directly is helping Iago to his own downfall. Of course, all this has to go through Emilia. She is the one with access to Desdemona, and she does get Cassio an audience.
    Scene 2 is even shorter, only a few lines, and in this Othello sends Iago on a ship to go speak on his behalf to the Senate. He retains his commanding presence in words.

Othello's Voice and Downward Spiral
    Othello doesn't do very much in Act 2. He gives a few pretty speeches, talks about how much he loves Desdemona, sorrows over Cassio brawling. He still has his grand manner of speaking and uses very commanding language. But he doesn't seem to be very active plot-wise. Most of the action is created by Iago and his schemes and manipulation. His plan is only starting to unfold, so Othello hasn't fallen very far yet.
    I did think it was interesting how at the very beginning Othello reffers to Desdemona as "...my fair warrior!" (73) and then at the end of the act, tries to shield her from the more unsavory happenings. He says, "All's well <now,> sweeting. Come away to bed... Come, Desdemona. 'Tis the soldiers life To have their balmy slumbers waked with strife." (p 99) I thought this was funny, since he had hailed her as a soldier at the start, but now decides she should not be exposed to the brawl.

So Scene 3 is a very interesting scene. We meet Desdemona, soon to be the cause of so much strife. Iago's first scheme is revealed and played out. he infuriates and sets Brabantio upon Othello. Through this we learn who Othello really is. We find him not to be a despicable devil as Iago has made us think, but a confidant, good man who has truly won Desdemona's heart. Othello, we discover as he speaks, is very confidant and clearly a person who has a commanding presence. It will be very interesting to see if he retains this presence and confidence in words as he is driven mad by Iago. I find it a bit ironic that Othello says, "...Rude am I in my speech, And little blessed with the soft phrase of peace;" because he is the most loquacious and elegant speaker of them all. Where others speak a short sentence, he gives a paragraph of description.

I am also very interested in the foreshadowing of this scene. At one point Brabantio says to Othello "Look to her, Moor, if thou hast eyes to see. She has deceived her father, and may thee." This lays the first hint of what is to come. Its like a little joke from Shakespeare. Its like he can say 'I told you so'.

If I didn't know better I would hate Othello. Iago is so convincingly the one who deserved the lieutenant position, and his sense of injustice seems justified. Obviously I know this is all a lie, but Shakespeare clearly designs this so that a first time reader without previous knowledge of Iago's evil would believe the namesake of this drama was the scoundrel, not Iago. We are meant to identify with Iago's sense of injustice and fall prey to his manipulations ourselves, perhaps so that later as Iago manipulates the other characters, we understand how convincing he is, and just how evil.

Fear has a special place in the minds and hearts of all humankind.

Fear is a motivator. In August Derleth's short story "The Lonesome Place" fear is an essential element to the story. Derleth uses his story to show how common fear is in all our lives, and also to show how possibly our greatest fear of all, even as small children, is of being alone. He titles the grain elevator "The Lonesome Place" He could have called it any spooky name, but he chose to call it lonesome because that's where his fear really comes from. He writes, "We were never afraid to go past the lonesome place together."I think this is because their fear stems either from being attacked while alone, or from just being on their own. They are only seven, which the narrator says to his mother is not very old. They could be afraid to go anywhere in the dark alone. Or they don't fear that place when they are together because they wont have to fight alone.

Either way, the narrator uses this childhood fear to explain a guilt he has about a small childs murder many years later. He says he is guilty of it even though he didn't do it himself. This story is to explain how he eventually ignored his fears, yet they came back years later with harsh consequences. He feels that because he didnt do anything about these fears, he is responsible for what happened. Fear is an explanation for that feeling he has of guilt.

Soooooo...... PROM. Yeah. That distant event you thought for years would never come. Don't you feel so grown up? I know this makes me feel older. Ever since I was little I would watch TV shows with girls dressing up pretty and having a great time, and they make it sound like the best thing to happen throughout all of high school. I couldn't wait to be just like them: riding in a limo wearing a super gorgeous sparkly dress with a super hot date and all my best friends. So many movies (and people) glorify this. They make it seem like it is the epitome of our slow, boring existence.

But I'm going to tell you... ITS NOT. <AH! GASP! OMG! WHAT!?!>

I think in all the excitement  and the hype people are forgetting what prom is really about.

Its NOT about the dress. You don't need to spend $$$ to look totally fab and gorgeous. Your beautiful no matter what you wear. Honestly, dressing up is a big part of the fun, and I'm not saying you shouldn't do it, but please, spend and sparkle responsibly.

Its NOT about the date. You don't need a date to have fun. I know I don't care if I have a date or not (I know lots of people say that and don't mean it, but seriously I don't really expect to be getting a date. And I don't care if I do or not). If you have a date, that's great! I think it's so cute how my friends are pairing up and taking chances asking their crush, or just a friend, to accompany them for the night. Every time I see two people come together like that it makes me really happy. I think this is a part of what prom is about. Taking a chance, coming together to have fun, that is part of the atmosphere. Coming in a group without a date is just as much in that spirit.

Its NOT about the limo. Really that's just a long, expensive car you rent for the night. Their point? I don't see one. You will have just as much fun if you don't drive in one.

Its NOT about the after party. Sure its probably fun, but what makes it better than any other get together or party on any other day? Nothing.

Its NOT about the food or flowers or hair or makeup or tux. Obviously, you want to look your best. But what you eat, or how you look really doesn't matter.
One side note I will say on makeup: Please please please don't cake on the raccoon eyes, please. Your beautiful already. Makeup is an enhancer. Not a 'fixer'. There's nothing to fix anyway. I'm sure everyone would love see your gorgeous eyes, rather than see you hide behind all that black.

Basically, prom is definitely not about how you look. That is the worst misconception I have heard. If its about looking 'perfect' then why go at all? No one can look perfect. This shouldn't be a popularity contest or a beauty contest. People will look like whatever they look like, you can't change who you are.

But to ruin an experience our society has deemed as important as prom by making it about such superficial, unimportant ideals of beauty is just a crime.

What it IS about having fun and being with your friends and celebrating your youth and completing one of life's big milestones. The rest is just extra. Prom symbolizes growing up in a lot of ways. It's at the end of our junior year, it makes me realize, yet again, how we are almost seniors and how our lives are all about to change as we disperse out into the world in just a short year and a few months. It's also what I saw as a distant event, and never really though about, except how my 6 and 7 year old-selves couldn't wait to be those awesome 16 and 17 year olds in the movies. And now I am. Prom is exciting and fun, and offers many opportunities for fun with friends. May 18th can't come fast enough. And at the same time if it never comes then I don't have to grow up, and that would be just fine.

Two months is NOT a long time.
(Especially since a dress properly fitted can take 4-6 WEEKS to be altered. So ladies, do not wait to the last minute, you will regret it.)

Lets keep it in perspective people.

1) We are covering the Pope's Resignation.

2) I am studying the media outlet of Television Broadcasting through MSNBC on weekday mornings, namely Morning Joe.

3) I notice the length and depth of the stories depend on what they are discussing. When they do their sports section they debate for a good 10 minutes, and show clips and statistics. However when discussing smaller political stories they just give brief updates, with a picture or two. Larger stories get whole segments, such as the 10 minutes they spend discussing Time Magazine or another newspaper article. They also give the White House and Obama whole sections. The Pope was a large enough section to merit a 5-7 minute update, with minimal and repeated visuals.

4) Sentances, range from complex to simple based on who is talking. If Mika is talking she speaks with larger words, and more professionally, whereas her co-host Joe leans back in his chair and stretches as he gives his 4 word oppinion in simple terms. They deal mostly in facts, but give their own oppinions after reviewing the facts. They speak in understandable terms, but keep it intelligent.

5) Headlines and titles are meant to be catchy and intriguing. They often employ alliteration and asyndeton. Before each piece they are flashed across the screen in big letters as Mika reads them off.

6) Mika tries so so hard to keep the tone of the show on topic, informative, and to the point. Joe on the other hand prefers to go on tangents, get in arguments and be very informal. The overall tone tends to be a twist of Trendy, Objective, and a little Talkshowy.

7) The graphics for the show seem pretty standard for a news station. When covering sport they show the teams they are talking about playing, and when covering the white house they show the corespondent in front of the White House. The images depict or pertain to the topic they are discussing when the cameras are not covering the hosts and their guests from any one of their six views.

8) Of course on TV there is no escaping advertisements. They are played every 5-15 minutes and consist of a very wide range of thing, from Investment Banking to baby food to Swiffer mops and Febreese to sports shows. From this we can see the audience can be anyone. The commercials ranged from teenage oriented, to the elderly, the upper-middle class, stay at home moms, CEO's, etc.

9) I think Morning Joe is a show geared more towards adults of the middle class and people who have time to watch TV at 6 or 7 AM. I imagine this show being on in a suburb with the father watching the sport and politics section before he dashes off to work, and the mom watching the special interest piece on articles written by other medias or the human interest section before taking her kids to school.