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KS3 & KS4 English curriculum

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English
Year 9

'Othello'

25 lessons

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  • Shakespeare and the outsider

Description

In this unit, pupils explore Shakespeare's 'Othello'. They start by learning about Aristotelian tragedy and how Shakespeare adapted it. They read long extracts from across the play, and consider the presentation of Othello, Iago and Desdemona. Finally, they look at key themes, such as jealousy.

This unit uses and builds on pupils' understanding of Shakespearean form and language from the 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' and 'The Tempest' units. It also deepens their understanding of outsiders within Shakespeare, which was started in their exploration of Puck, Caliban and Ariel in previous units. This unit prepares pupils for their deep study of 'Macbeth' at GCSE where they will continue to learn about Shakespearean tragedy and the role of outsiders within his plays.

  1. Introduction to 'Othello' and plot exploration
  2. 'Othello' and Aristotle's conventions of tragedy
  3. 'Othello' and Shakespeare's conventions of tragedy
  4. Exploring Act 1, Scene 1 of ‘Othello’
  5. Exploring Iago from ‘Othello’ as a Machiavellian villain
  6. Exploring Act 1, Scene 3 of ‘Othello’
  7. Written analysis of Othello in Act 1, Scene 3
  8. Exploring Act 2, Scene 1 of Othello
  9. Analysing Iago’s soliloquy in Act 2, Scene 3 of ‘Othello’
  10. Analysing and writing about Iago from ‘Othello’
  11. Exploring Act 3, Scene 3 of ‘Othello’
  12. Exploring Act 4 Scene 1 of 'Othello'
  13. Exploring Act 5, Scene 1 of ‘Othello’
  14. Exploring the characterisation of Desdemona in ‘Othello’
  15. Exploring Act 5, Scene 2 of ‘Othello’
  16. Exploring Othello as a tragic hero
  17. Constructing an argument about Othello as a tragic hero
  18. Linking moments and quotations in 'Othello'
  19. Exploring motifs in 'Othello'
  20. Exploration of the theme of race in 'Othello'
  21. Using context effectively to discuss ‘Othello’
  22. Exploration of the theme of appearances and reality in 'Othello'
  23. Analysis of the theme of appearances and reality in ‘Othello’
  24. Exploration of the theme of jealousy in 'Othello'
  25. Analysis of the theme of jealousy in 'Othello'

  • Pupils need to be familiar with the plot of Othello
  • Pupils need to understand when Shakespeare was writing and how his plays would be performed
  • Pupils need to be able to write in analytical paragraphs, using relevant evidence to support a topic sentence
  • Pupils need to be able to select relevant quotations as evidence
  • Pupils need to understand how context can shape meaning in a text
  • Pupils need to understand the purpose and conventions of argumentative writing
See lessons in unit

38 units shown,

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