Although Othello entered into a period of crazed jealousy and darkness towards the end of his life his original pure "light" disposition was genuine. 

For my focus I am looking deeper into light and dark imagery but not through just race alone like many other people are focusing on. I think it is interesting to look at light and dark race-wise as well as good vs evil and how characters appear to others vs how their real character actually is. After reading all of the blogs in the light vs dark section I found that Emma had some similar and interesting ideas. She thought that the handkerchief symbolized purity which I did not think of. This was a really cool idea though because purity has such a prominent role in the play and it was a totally different way to look at the whole handkerchief scene than I did. She also noticed the frequent references to heaven vs hell which I saw as well and it connected to my study of good vs bad. Sam's blog also had some interesting ideas. She noticed that the racial tensions were playing a part in the loss of love in Othello and Desdemona's marriage. I didn't really think much of this before but it makes sense that something like their marriage would not last during such a racially discriminating time period. She also noticed sexual discrimination which I didn't pay much attention to before but now I am interested to look for more examples as I keep reading.

In this act of the play I found it very interesting to track the possession and location of Desdemona's handkerchief. It began in Egypt, a place that Othello most likely holds much pride and respect for, and was then given to Othello's mother. Naturally the handkerchief already meant a lot to Othello when it was given to him. He then gave it to Desdemona who he cherished more than anything when he presented it to her on their wedding day. Desdemona kept the handkerchief until Othello complained his forehead hurt and she attempted to  wrap it around his head to ease the pain. He cast it away however, showing it no longer meant anything to him after he had given it to a woman he no longer loved. Emilia then found it on the floor and was forced to give it to Iago. Iago then left it in Cassio's room as a little part of his plan to further increase Othello's jealousy. Later, when Othello found out that Desdemona did not pick up the handkerchief when he dropped it, it threw him over the edge and all he wanted was to rid himself of her.

I think that the handkerchief symbolizes love. Othello's mother gave him love and so did Othello to Desdemona on their wedding day. The love between the two lost its meaning after Othello became murderously jealous and was shown by the dropping of the handkerchief. Desdemona attempted to show Othello love by caring for his headache but he rejected her action. Once the love lost its meaning it found its way into the hands of Iago where he unsentimentally incorporated it into his plan. Othello however still saw it fit to hold it over Desdemona's head once she saw it was gone as well. He asked her where she left the handkerchief-the love- and complained of how important it was to him. His mother gave him the love he eventually gave her and that he is blaming her for losing. In reality however it was Othello who threw away the love by dropping the handkerchief and tearing apart the marriage but his crazed mind saw it fit to make Desdemona take the blame. 

Throughout this act of the play I noticed that Iago's manipulative personality and Othello's ability to be persuaded really became more apparent than ever. I couldn't help but picture everyone as unaware pawns in Iago's hands. Othello hopelessly follows Iago like a dog and believes every word that comes out of his mouth. This was especially apparent in Act 3 scene 3 when Othello was questioning Cassio's integrity in an enormous rant. Once Iago says Cassio is honest however Othello immediately accepts it without question. 

In Act 2 I noticed a lot of character development and most of the characters true intentions were starting to shine through. Othello to me seems to have a maturity about him none of the other characters possess. When everyone was getting drunk during the night Othello came in like a light and shed a sense of reason and responsibility on the scene. He also is the most honest and dedicated character, being true and loving to his wife Desdemona. The love makes him a very joyous man as well. Iago says Othello "Is of a constant, loving, noble nature, And I dare think he'll prove to Desdemona A most dear husband." This undying love and commitment to her may be the source of the extreme jealousy Othello eventually develops.

In Act 1 Scene 3 I noticed many more opposites including a new one- love vs hate. Iago says multiple times how much he hates Othello. He uses derogatory terms while talking about him, not calling him by his name but rather referring to him as "the Moor." He also talks of how he is seeking "revenge" against Othello and it is all that he desires. This strong hate really contrasts the love seen just before between Othello and Desdemona who want to fight the discrimination of others to be together. Another opposite I noticed was when Othello was mentioning the "rough" quarries, rocks, and hills touching the heavens. Heaven is such a pure place and it really contrasts with the description of the large rough rocks. Iago in his last line speaks of how they must "bring this monstrous birth to the worlds light." The light symbolizes the white forces going against Othello and this also shows Iago's manipulative abilitiesLastly I noticed two contrasting images when Brabantio was speaking. "That will confess perfection so could err, Against all rules of nature, and must be driven To find out practices of cunning hell." Perfection and hell to me stuck out as complete opposites which also go along with the contrasting of good and evil I noticed before.
On race I noticed a difference between the way people talk to Othello vs how they talk to other white people. 
DUKE: Valiant Othello, we must straight employ you against the general enemy Ottoman (To Brabantio:) I did not see you. Welcome gentle signior. We lacked your counsel and your help tonight.
It seemed to me like the Duke spoke to Brabantio in a more respectful tone than the demanding and more causal tone he spoke to Othello in. This seems related to the race issue and the overall lack of respect for black people at this time.  

While reading Othello I decided to make my main focus on opposites that frequently present themselves throughout the play. Some that I have found already were numerous comparisons of light and dark. This is very interesting due to the fact race has a big role in the plot of the play. When Brabantio found out his daughter Desdemona ran away with a black man, Othello, he immediately called out "Light I say, Light!" This is very interesting directly contrasting light itself as an opposing force to Othello's black skin. This comparison will be interesting to follow throughout the play to see whether the light or dark force has the ultimate power over the other. There is also a lot of good vs evil appearing already in the characters with Iago being evil and sneaky but Othello seeming to emerge as the "good guy". This is another idea I am interested in looking into to see whether this is a play where good overcomes evil or vice versa. Both the light and dark and good and evil comparisons also can be related to race which will be a very fascinating connection to look deeper into.

One big thing I noticed stylistically about this short story was the frequent use of repetition. The ideas of running through the lonesome place to get to the light on the other side and the Thing waiting to get "the unwary boys and girls who had to pass through the lonesome place at night" were brought up again and again. This reminded me of the way most people tell scary stories with a lot of repetition to create uneasiness and stress the important points to the reader.

On fear I noticed many things in this short story. The lonesome place makes the reader remember childhood fears of monsters, loneliness, the dark, but with a terrifying twist at the end- the fears came true. Many times the reader can also relate to the actions of the characters. I could especially relate when they ran as fast as they could "sometimes with my eyes closed."  Derleth used countless adjectives while describing the lonesome place such as "dark, lightless, somber, haunted, solid", etc.  " He also heavily contrasted the lonesome place with everywhere else where the light was shining. The streetlights and stars provided comfort to the boys because whenever they could be seen it meant there were other people around.

 I think that the Thing the boys were afraid of was not really a monster like they claimed, but they were just simply afraid of walking home at night. "The sound of my footsteps slapping the sidewalk were Its steps pursuing. The hard breathing which was my own became Its breathing..." The "monster" was their alone selves. Many people do not like to admit their fears like the boys, so they created an imaginary monster so their fear did not seem so irrational. The monster gave them something tangible to be afraid of and when they talked about it they were indirectly referencing their fear of walking alone at night. They also discussed more rational fears of being brutally murdered while walking which made their fears seem more explainable. As the story progresses the image of the monster does as well. The boys were getting older and did not want their simple fear of being alone to be known. The boys also bragged about their encounters with the monster to make themselves seem valiant and braver than they really were. Eventually the fear's irrationality became obvious to the boys and vanished with age until it shockingly reappeared without warning.

At the beginning of the story the reader develops a fear of the narrator himself when he confesses to murdering someone. This fear goes away when it is revealed that the narrator did not actually have anything to do with the murder, he just believed he did. The boys took guilt for the death of the boy because they felt there was a way they could have helped prevent it. The only thing feared in the lonesome place was being by oneself and the boys knew it. The monster they created in their minds was their fear of being alone in a tangible form. The boy died alone, at the hands of the boys feared "monster",  and it does make sense that they felt guilty because they knew just how the boy felt when he died. They also believed that it was their own personal fear of themselves alone that killed him.

Well this is the second time this year we have been assigned to write about anything so i'll try to do my best to fulfill the requirement. Seeing that no genius idea for a topic is coming to mind I guess i'll write a little bit about my sisters bunny Rocky. This piece is probably going to end up being pretty casual too so here goes nothing...

1. The economic sequester

2. Fox news channel and website

3. I found the stories both online and on TV were extremely lengthy and went very in depth on the topic. On TV especially it seemed like the biggest topic they were covering and they frequently went back to it. 

4. The sentences were pretty complex and are confusing to those who do not understand the economy well. They also seemed a bit biased because they focus mainly on Republican politicians and their opinions and reactions. They did however have a lot of interviews of people from all over the country which was interesting.

5. The headlines on the channel and website were both very large and grab your attention. They also have interesting titles which are informative and make you want to keep reading. Some however were a bit dramatic starting with things such as "Gloom and Doom" over the economy.

6. The tone seems a bit frantic which is an impression I get a lot from Fox but it is also informative. Fox also seemed a bit angry about the topic overall and afraid of the fate of the economy. They did however lighten the mood with a few fun and more lighthearted stories and joked around a bit, nicknaming the upcoming snowstorm in the midwest the "snow quester". 

7. Online: Polls, pictures of the whitehouse and republican politicians instead of Obama himself, generally not too many graphics, many tabs to choose from, white background, under Fox  logo reads "Fair and Balanced"
Channel: Large graphics, scrolling information bar, red and blue color scheme, many polls and statistics shown on large charts and graphs, fast paced

8. Online Ads: The post standard, energyfromshale.org, ads and suggested videos about Romney, weight loss pills
Channel Ads: Cars, insurance, credit cards, and lots of perscription medication ads

9. Audience seems to be mainly conservative males who are educated enough to understand the situation with the economy