Othello Dramatic Reading

For this dramatic reading I chose to read a speaking part of Iago. I chose to do an aggressive and evil tone in my voice because Iago is explaining how he is going to set Cassio up. I also used power in my voice to show how Iago believed the Cassio was inferer to him.  I paused when Iago said “But here they come” in order to show him seeing them. I also put a tone of excitement in that sentence to show how excited he was to make Cassio look like a fool. I emphasized the last two lines because those were Iago’s personal goals for the night.

From this reading I learned that Iago is very manipulative. I also learned that he can have some evil tendencies and likes to perform revenge. He also doesn’t seem to care about anyone else but himself. This can affect the play as a whole because Iago could manipulate everyone. He has no fear of lying, so people could get caught up in all of his dramatic hurtful plots against people. Iago seems to be a very powerful man in Othello.

I believe that my exerpt complicated the conflict. Iago complicated the conflicted by plotting to get Cassio drunk in order to get what he wants. This would be the rising action because it is right before Cassio comes to be tricked into drinking. Iago is also a main conflict in Othello because he is very manipulative and often tricks people into getting what he wants. This has a big impact on the story line because Iago is planning to make Cassio offend many people.

Chapter 4: Marking Territory

Theme 1: Life choices can start at a young age.

Quote 1: “ Tony had now spent over a decade dealing drugs and knew how much money could be made in the game.”

This quote shows that even though Tony is only 18, he has a large knowledge about drugs. Since he was ten he has been in the drug game and was currently even when he was lecturing Wes.  This shows then even though he was just ten years old, he made a hug life decision by selling drugs. Selling drugs for Tony made him bitter and got him in trouble, which is setting him up for a bad future. By making the wrong decisions when young, you can set up your life to be not as bright as you hoped for.

Quote 2: “ In addition to the knife fight when he was younger, Wes had been arrested a few years back for stealing a car.”

This passage describes all of the trouble Wes has gotten into so far. By eight years old when he grabbed the knife, he lost all of his childhood innocence. Since he made poor life decisions when he was younger, it set him up to make bad life choices as a teenager. These life decisions became even larger when Wes decided to get into the drug game as he got older. These life choices of Wes’s at a young age might have determined his future. At a young age, life decisions can be made.

Quote 3: “ They were long away from their days of youthful innocence.”

From this excerpt, we can see how much Tony and Wes have changed since they were children. Their life choices when they were younger affected their futures as teenagers. The boys lost their “ innocence” as soon as they started to make poor life choices. If they hadn’t have gotten into the drug game at such a young age the outcome of their teenage years and future might have been very different. From this passage you can literally see the cause and effects of poor life choices made by Wes and Tony as they are growing up. Your future can sometimes depend on the choices you make when you are young.

Quote 4: Money can make people do irrational things.

“Wes didn’t think Tony was a hypocrite exactly, he knew why his brother felt obligated to warn him off.”

This quote shows hoe money can make people be irrational. Even though Wes knows how dangerous the drug game is, he is willing to risk it in order to get money. Wes sees how Tony has been affected by drugs and is constantly warned about getting into the game but still gets into drugs because of his greed. He also risks his family’s life by keeping drugs in his house, which is very dangerous. Wes was acting very irrationally because of his need for money. This shows how people can make poor and crazy decisions for money.

Quote 5: “He owed money but had no drugs to sell- he had to figure out how to make that money back quickly. The only way to do that was to go see his connects and hit the street again"

This passage shows how desperate Wes is for money. Even though he just got in trouble with his mom, he is not worried about that. Wes is worried about how he will get his money back because of all the lost drugs. Instead of thinking of ways to convince his mom that he did not do anything, he is thinking about his money. This also shows that even though he got beat up by his brother and got in trouble with his mother that he is willing to go back to the streets for money. This connects with the theme by showing how people react to the loss of money. People can make irrational decisions if earning money if a result of those choices.

Title Justification Paper #1

The Other Wes Moore is split into three different parts that each contains a collection of chapters. “ Fathers and Angels” is the section the book. These chapters contain the comparisons between Wes and the Other Wes Moore. The parallels include absent fathers, single mothers, and the environment they grew up in. The author Wes Moore, chose the title “ Fathers and Angels” to explain the roles of parents in Wes and the Other Wes’s life.

The title “ Fathers and Angels” shows the importance mothers have in both of the boys’ lives. The mothers are considered angles because of how hard they work to make life better. Both boys have mothers who worked very hard and sacrificed everything in order to set their children up for success. This title is also fitting because the mothers are always there watching over them just like angels. In the first chapter we see how much Wes’s mother sacrifices when his father dies. By Wes saying“ Since my father’s death, my mother had made the tattered brown leather couch in the living room her bed.” this shows how strong Joy is and how she is doing everything she can to watch over her children just like an angel would watch over a loved one. Mary also gave up getting her college degree in order to support her family. As money got tight Mary realized “with that grant now eliminated, it wouldn’t be enough” in order for her to keep going to college and have enough money to take care of her children. Mary was the angel that sacrificed everything for her family.

Overall, the tile “ Fathers and Angels” is used to describe the single-parent household living situations of both boys. It is also used to show how angel like the mothers are as they make numerous sacrifices in order to make their children liver better lives.  This collection of chapters is used to describe the similarities and differences between the two boys growing up. Although they both have absent fathers, they have strong mothers to always watch out for them. They have many similarities in their parent situations. Even though their mothers live in different environments, they both overcome obstacles in order to make their children’s’ lives better. Although the boys have a similar life background, you can already tell that their fates are turning out to be different.

Characterization Sonnets

Wes Moore

The death of his father made his mother cry

At a young age he did terrible in school

His mother questioned his father’s death, asking why

Where people on the streets did drugs to be cool

He nary wanted his father to die

His mother threatened military school

Wes longed for a two-parent household with a homemade apple pie

Alas didn’t take her seriously; he was acting like a fool

Moving to the Bronx where people did drugs and drank

At private school, becoming a minority

As he moved away from his friends, his heart sank

He needed to make learning and going to school a priority

Nary acting scared and always being tough

Because the Bronx was out to be vey rough

Other Wes Moore

Oh the other Wes Moore

At the age of eight

Fully he lived life even though he grew up poor

The other Wes determined his fate

As he grabbed the knife

The absence of his father made him mad

He has already taken a life

The tears of his mother made him sad

Tony warned him about the drug game

Rocks he sold

But he got distracted with the money and the fame

To people not that old

Lives impacted by these drugs

When all Wes needs is love and hugs

Chapter 3: Foreign Ground

Theme: Drugs can impact the person using them, and the people surrounding them.

Quote 1: “ A father who left his family and robbed his parents for money to buy rock.”

This quote is from a story being told by Wes’s friend about the addictiveness of the drug crack. The drug impacted not only the father’s life but also his families and the person that he robbed in order to get more drugs. This shows that drugs do not only affect the person using them. Crime can be involved with drug use as well. As more people started using the additive drug, neighbor hoods got less safe as crime rates and murders increased.

Quote 2: “ There was so much money to be made that drug gangs became rapidly expanded in their ranks, sucking in some of our best friends, and turf wars became deadly, aided by the influx of sophisticated firearms.”

From this quote Wes is explaining how many people got into highly violent “drug gangs” because there was so much money to be made. The people using the drugs were negatively impacted, but also the people that were selling them were impacted as well. Turf war shootouts were becoming more common as the drug reached popular demand. Loved ones and “ best friends” were being killed which left their families broken and torn apart. This quote shows the theme about how the user of drugs and the people surrounding them are affected.

Quote 3: “ Their mayhem spread from the gangs to the rest of their neighborhood.” “ Everyone felt threatened.” “ Everyone was defensive.”

This quote shows the true danger and harm one can be put in when using or surrounding them with drugs.  Gun violence started to increase and spread as drugs became more popular. The use of drugs affects “ everyone” because people were fearful of their lives from dangerous gangs.  Many innocent non-drug using people felt “ threatened” because they were in neighborhoods where drugs were common. This quote shows the theme about how many people can be affected by drugs even when they are not using them.

Quote 4:  “ Two incidents were decisive in Mary’s decision to move.” “First, Tony got shot in the chest during a botched drug deal.”

Tony was impacted greatly when he got shot in the chest over a drug deal. This shows the violent actions of what can happen when dealing with drugs. Her son being shot, which caused her to make the decision to move, also affected Mary. Tony’s mother was not using drugs but she was still highly impacted when her son got shot. This quote shows how multiple people can become affected from just one person’s decisions on using drugs.

Quote 5: “"We were starting to feel the fear that crept around the edges of our consciousness at dusk... Justin knew the rules; Never look people in the eye. Don't smile, it makes you look weak. Always keep your money in your front pocket, never in your back pocket. Know where the drug dealers are at all times. Know where the cops are at all times.

This quote shows how drugs affected Wes’s life. Even though he did not use crack, he felt the need to know where the drug dealers were at all times. This helps show the theme by showing how unsafe Wes felt because of the crimes and gangs in his neighborhoods. The crime rate was increasing because people needed money in order to buy more drugs. This quote shows how people can feel threatened in their own neighborhoods because of the violence that is caused by drugs.