Michelle J. Stoll
Carver Center for Arts and Technology, Baltimore County Public Schools
School phone number: 410.887.2775

English 10, Gifted and Talented; 90 minute period

Core Learning Goal #1:

The student will demonstrate the ability to respond to a text by employing personal experiences and critical analysis.

Baltimore County Public Schools Indicator #3:

Explore the universality of human experience in a variety of art forms to compare and contrast the treatment of theme.

Objective:

Students will analyze Verdi’s Otello and Shakespeare’s Othello (3.3) and focus on the theme of jealousy in order to write a compare/contrast essay.

Summative Assessment:

Unit test on Othello.

Background:

Students have read Act 3 of Othello.

Motivator:

• Brainstorm—What makes a good marriage or a good love relationship?
• Students will list elements of a good marriage/relationship.
• TRUST—circle this element.
• Is trust an important element in military life? How?
• Elicit what they learned from news reports on the Iraqi War.
• How capable is Othello of trusting the people in his life?
• Elicit answers in regards to his military life and his love life.
• If trust ebbs out of your marriage, what seeps in to take its place?
• JEALOUSY

Transition:

“I want you to listen to a piece of music that is related to the play we are reading and is also related to the brief discussion we just had on trust in marriage.”

Procedure:

1. Teacher will play Verdi’s Otello—only the segment that coincides with Shakespeare’s Othello 3.3. When done, explain to students that this is Verdi’s Otello (brief introduction of opera composer Verdi).
2. Questions: With what scene from Shakespeare’s Othello would this music coincide? Why? Pair-share to arrive at a consensus.
   Although it’s an opera sung in Italian, can you understand the meaning? Explain. Can you understand the scene message through Verdi’s music? Explain.
3. Students will read the selected 100 lines from Othello (3.3.167-283). Teacher will ask students guide questions and have students paraphrase the text to check comprehension. Question: What emotion dominates by the end? JEALOUSY.
4. Students will listen to Verdi’s Otello again and will be instructed to determine if the dominant emotion is the same as the one in Shakespeare’s Othello. Discussion.
5. Students will learn about contour lines in music (handout) and will draw a contour line as the teacher plays Verdi’s Otello again. Pair-share contour lines and discuss.
6. Teacher will direct students to use the contour line to help them analyze certain elements of the “shape” of Verdi’s opera segment by completing a worksheet on Verdi’s Otello. This will be group work. After sharing worksheet answers through class discussion, students will realize that the overall effect must link back to the theme of jealousy.
7. In groups students will revisit the 100 lines of Shakespeare’s Othello. Each group will draw a contour line of the emotion/tension throughout the scene (graph paper will have intervals of 10 lines), and complete the worksheet on Shakespeare’s Othello in order to analyze certain elements of the “shape” of Shakespeare’s play. Again, the students’ response in the “overall effect” column should comment on jealousy.
8. Journal entry (ECR) to be finished for homework: Compare and contrast Verdi’s and Shakespeare’s treatment of the theme of jealousy by examining the elements of each art form that elicits this emotional effect.

Formative Assessments:

list of elements of a good marriage
Pair-share, class discussion
Contour lines, worksheets
Journal entry (ECR)

Connection to current curriculum:

Teaching Othello fits well into the 10th grade World Literature curriculum. I am required to teach Macbeth; then I will choose to teach Othello. Parallels between the two dramas include both protagonists suffering from a loss of perspective and a tragic downfall from misleading information.

Connection between English and the arts:

Verdi was inspired by many of Shakespeare’s dramas; hence, Verdi’s opera Otello evolved carefully from Shakespeare’s play Othello. Teaching this lesson will demonstrate to students how a reading of Othello is not strictly limited to a traditional English class, but touches on many of the fine arts: music, visual arts, and theatre. Students will draw convincing parallels in dramatic rhythm, technique, and convention between these two genres of musical and literary drama with regards to Othello.

(Notes for students)

MUSIC

Contour Line—a hand drawn line across a page that charts the rhythm of the music by plotting the high and low notes and the length of intervals of these notes in order to determine the mood/emotion of the piece.

Rubric for Compare/Contrast Essay:

4	Includes a well-written thesis statement that gives a clear indication of what your analysis has led you to conclude; compares and/or contrasts three elements, either by the block or point-by-point method of organization; consistently uses specific examples and a great amount of detail; draws a viable conclusion from the evidence presented; quotes accurately and documents quotations in correct M.L.A. format.
3	Includes a structured thesis statement that gives some indication of what your analysis has led you to conclude; compares and/or contrasts at least two elements, either by the block or point-by-point method of organization; uses some specific examples and details; draws a conclusion from the evidence presented; includes quotations, some of which may not be documented correctly.
2	Includes a thesis statement that may not be written in an acceptable format or may not have conclusions of your analysis; compares and/or contrasts at least two elements, either by the block or point-by-point method of organization; uses broad or vague language when giving examples; tries to draw a conclusion from the evidence presented; includes little or no quotations, which may or may not be documented.
1	Includes a thesis statement that is not written in an acceptable format and draws no conclusions; compares and/or contrasts elements in a superficial manner with no specific details; includes little or no quotations and no documentation.

Worksheet on Shakespeare’s Othello

Directions: Examine the contour line your group drew as you read the selected 100 lines from Othello. Use this contour line to help you analyze the following elements of this scene.

Worksheet on Verdi’s Otello

Directions: Examine the contour line you drew as you listened to Otello. Use this contour line to help you analyze the following elements of this opera scene.