| logos | appeal to reasonOthello convinces Roderigo that Desdemona and Cassio are sleeping together, and later that he should kill Cassio. |
| pathos | appeal to emotionIago knows Othello loves Desdemona, so he will get particularly upset about her infidelity. |
| ethos | Appeal to character”You know I love you”Using Cassio’s reputation |
| metaphor | Animal/sexual metaphors |
| intimation | hinting to things”She did decieve her father…””Beware of jealousy””Men should be what they seem” |
| repetition | Animal/sexual imagesIago repeats Othello’s words to cast doubt |
| imagery | language that appeals to the sensesAnimal/sexual references to Brabantio, Othello |
| connotative language | implied meaningAnimal/sexual words: topped and cope |
| well-placed silences | on stage w/o speakingSlap sceneTalked about by Desdemona, Emilia |
| leading/rhetorical questions | Did Cassio and Desdemona…”Honest, my lord?””Indeed?” |
| ellipses | …, lets sentence/thought trail offSays bad things about Desdemona, then stops and excuses himself |
| paralipsis | calling attention to something by saying it’s not important”Leave it to time””But for a satisfaction of my thought” |
| irony | a contrast between expectation and reality”I have a conscience””You know I love you””Cassio’s my worthy friend” |
| understatement | litote, deliberately less intense statement than meaning”Scattering and unsure observance””I see this hath a little dashed your spirits””He is much changed” |
| apostrophe | directly addressesing an absent or imaginary person, or some abstraction”Arise, black vengeance” |
| soliloquy | speech to oneselfIago’s speech as he plans to “turn goodness into pitch”Othello’s speech as he prepares to kill Desdemona |
| crisis | where the conflict reaches a turning pointOthello believes Iago, they decide to kill Desdemona and Cassio |
| foreshadowing | the use of hints and clues to suggest what will happen later in a plotThe Willow SongDesdemona: “Shroud me in these sheets”Othello: “Chaos is come again” |
| blank verse | unrhymed iambic pentameter |
| iambic pentameter | a poetic meter that is made up of 5 stressed syllables (feet) each followed by an unstressed syllable |
| metaphor | a comparison without using like or asJealousy as the green-eyed monster |
| simile | a comparison using like or asThe thought of Emilia and Othello together gnaws like a poisonous mineral at Iago’s innards |
| personification | the act of attributing human characteristics to abstract ideas etc.Jealousy as green-eyed monster |
Othello Rhetorical+Literary Devices with examples
August 25, 2019