Hello, everyone.

Welcome to your lesson today on constructing an argument about "Othello." I'm Miss Sutherland and I'll be teaching you today.

I'm so glad you've joined me and I can't wait to get started with today's learning.

In our lesson today, we'll be learning how to construct a clear argument.

Our arguments today will be focusing on Othello as a tragic hero.

We have three keywords today.

The first one is thesis.

A thesis is a statement that is put forward to be proved.

We are going to learn how to write excellent thesis statements in today's lesson.

Our next keyword is evaluative.

Evaluative means expressing a judgement or opinion about something.

We are going to be evaluative in our essay today when writing about how Othello is presented as a tragic hero.

And our last keyword is purpose.

A purpose is the reason for which something is done.

We'll be exploring Shakespeare's purpose in presenting Othello as a tragic hero today.

Pause the video and make a note of those keywords.

Excellent.

In our first learning cycle today, we'll learn what it means to create an effective essay introduction, and then we will learn how to construct a clear and effective argument.

Today we'll be writing about the character Othello.

So let's start off with introductions.

In today's lesson, you are going to be answering the following question, starting with Act 5, to what extent do you believe Shakespeare has presented Othello as a tragic hero? What should an introduction to a response include? Let's think about that now.

An introduction should include reference to the author and text, reference to the question being asked, contextualization of the act, scene or chapter, and a clear and interesting thesis.

So starting with Act 5, to what extent do you believe Shakespeare has presented Othello as a tragic hero responsible for his own downfall? Our introduction might read something like this: William Shakespeare's tragedy "Othello" explores the titular character's downfall from noble general to jealous, irrational killer.

In Act 5, the audience witnesses Othello's demise as he's tormented with guilt and commits suicide next to the body of his wife.

Arguably, Shakespeare uses Othello's tragic tale to illustrate the ease in which noble heroes can fall when they trust too easily and let their passions govern them.

This introduction is effective because it includes a reference to the author and text.

The author is Shakespeare and the text is "Othello," and it is a tragedy.

This introduction also includes reference to the question being asked.

So we're asked, to what extent is Othello a tragic hero responsible for his own downfall? We've referenced the idea of Othello being a tragic hero when we talk of him being a noble general and a noble hero.

And lastly, we include a contextualization of the act, scene or chapter when we say in Act 5, the audience witnesses Othello's demise as he's tormented with guilt and commits suicide next to the body of his wife.

There we've mentioned a bit about what happens in that scene to make sure the reader can follow our line of argument.

We also end the introduction with a clear and interesting thesis.

Arguably, Shakespeare uses Othello's tragic tale to illustrate the ease in which noble heroes can fall when they trust you easily and let their passions govern them.

Our thesis is essentially an argument about the whole play, including the writer's purpose.

An introduction, as you may have seen, moves from the general to the specific.

We start off with a general sentence about the text as a whole.

We then zoom into the focus of the question and then we give a specific thesis or a specific argument relating to that question.

Let's break down the introduction we just read into three sections.

First, we need a general sentence about the text.

This is William Shakespeare's tragedy "Othello" explores the titular character's downfall from noble general to jealous, irrational killer.

Notice how parts of this sentence can be applied to any essay on "Othello" because the ideas in it are general.

The purpose of this sentence is to ground the reader in the topic of my essay.

Next, we have a contextualization of the scene.

In Act 5, the audience witnesses Othello's demise as he's tormented with guilt and commits suicide next to the body of his wife.

Remember, it's really important to contextualise the scene, character or chapter you're writing about so that the reader can follow your line of argument clearly and knows exactly what you're going to reference in this essay.

And lastly, we have a thesis statement.

Arguably, Shakespeare uses Othello's tragic tale to illustrate the ease in which noble heroes can fall when they trust you easily and let their passions govern them.

Your thesis statement needs to be specific.

It needs to respond directly to what the question is asking you.

And this involves talking about Shakespeare's purpose when presenting the theme or character in question.

Let's check your understanding of what we've just talked about.

What should you include first in your introduction? A thesis statement, a contextualization of the scene, single word analysis or a general sentence about the text.

Pause the video and answer that question now.

Well done if you said the first thing that you should include in your introduction is a general sentence about the text.

Remember, introductions move from the general to the specific.

The first thing we write is a general sentence about the text, and the last thing we write is a specific thesis statement about the question we're being asked.

I now want you to write your own introduction for the question starting with Act 5.

To what extent do you believe Shakespeare has presented Othello as a tragic hero responsible for his own downfall? As you write your introduction, remember, you need a general sentence about Othello.

You then need to contextualise Act 5.

And lastly, you need a thesis statement that references Shakespeare's purpose.

Pause the video and write your introduction now.

Lovely.

Now, I want you to self-assess your response.

Identify where you have included the following: a general sentence about the play "Othello," where have you contextualised Act 5, and where have you written your thesis statement, which talks of Shakespeare's purpose? Pause the video, reread your response and identify those three things in your introduction.

Off you go.

Great job.

Remember, a brilliant introduction sets your essay off for success.

Let's move on to our second learning cycle where we'll construct an argument about "Othello." You are going to use a single paragraph outline to support your argument today.

Here is how you should lay out your single paragraph outline.

Firstly, you need a topic sentence which introduces the main idea of each paragraph.

You're then going to need supporting details.

Supporting details are information and ideas you gather from the text.

They can be quotes and your own comments.

They must support the topic sentences.

Lastly, a closing sentence concludes the arguments or main ideas in your paragraph.

Today we're going to focus on topic sentences.

So what is the role of a topic sentence? Pause the video and discuss that with your partner.

A topic sentence will introduce the main idea of your paragraph.

It will concisely summarise your ideas.

Remember, you need a topic sentence for each of your main body paragraphs.

I now want you to think about is the success criteria of every topic sentence the same? Pause the video and discuss.

Topic sentences can be adapted to fit the purpose of your writing, although there are some elements that stay the same.

A good topic sentence should be clear and coherent, concisely summarise your main idea, clearly reference the writer's name, if this is available, and use evaluative adjectives to show an interpretation.

So there is your success criteria for each of your topic sentences that you write today.

Now answer this question to check your understanding of everything we've learned so far about topic sentences.

Which is not part of the success criteria for a topic sentence? Include detailed language analysis.

Concisely summarise your ideas, reference the writer's name clearly, or be clear and coherent.

Pause the video and check your understanding.

Well done if you said including detailed language analysis is not part of the success criteria for a topic sentence.

Detailed language analysis comes into our supporting details section where we'll zoom into the keywords.

You do need to concisely summarise your ideas in your topic sentence.

You do need to reference the writer's name clearly, and you do need to be clear and coherence.

Now, let's look at how we can improve our topic sentences further.

Here is an example topic sentence.

Shakespeare presents Othello as a tragic hero in Act 1, Scene 3 through blank verse.

So the reference to blank verse is a device that adds no meaning to the argument at present, and there is no link made between being a tragic hero and using blank verse.

So this topic sentence is unclear.

Let's make it better.

Shakespeare emphasises Othello's noble and heroic qualities in Act 1, Scene 3.

More specifically, he shows Othello's eloquence and esteem as he confronts the Duke's harsh accusations.

We've now used the phrase more specifically to clearly develop the idea.

So we're explaining the reason that Othello is a tragic hero is because his noble and heroic qualities are shown through his eloquence.

And we're also using evaluative adjectives, such as noble and heroic to state a judgement or interpretation of a character, rather than citing a device.

Remember, leave your mention of devices to the supporting detail section.

This topic sentence also concisely summarises what is in the paragraph and introduces key ideas.

It summarises that in this paragraph, we'll be talking of Othello's heroic qualities in Act 1, Scene 3.

So in summary, to make a good topic sentence, you should concisely summarise the ideas in the paragraph.

You should use more specifically to develop your ideas.

And you should use evaluative adjectives to state a judgement about a character.

Remember, leave all the devices for your supporting details section.

So there we have three ways to make more effective topic sentences.

Now, I want you to identify which topic sentence is better.

We have topic sentence one.

Shakespeare shows how Othello is easily manipulated later in the play.

And topic sentence two, Shakespeare later exposes Othello's naive trust in Iago, allowing the audience to develop sympathy for him, at the same time as witnessing his hamartia.

I want you to identify which of those two topic sentences is better.

Make sure you justify your answer by completing this sentence.

Topic sentence X is better because.

Pause the video and identify which topic sentence is better, and then justify your answer.

Off you go.

Well done if you said topic sentence two is better because it clearly explains what the writer is doing and focuses firmly on the question, which is signposted with its use of key terminology.

So topic sentence two says that Shakespeare exposes Othello's naive trust in Iago, allowing the audience to develop sympathy for him.

Whereas topic sentence one talks about how Othello is easily manipulated, we can clearly see how topic sentence two is much more clear and precise with what Shakespeare does.

Also, topic sentence two uses the terminology hamartia.

That links it very well to the question since the question's asking us to what extent is Othello a tragic hero? And of course, we know that one characteristic of a tragic hero is hamartia.

So by using that key term, topic sentence two, makes sure it's firmly linked to the question.

We're now going to look at how to create an effective structure for our topic sentences.

It's not only the topic sentences themselves that need to be effective, but it's also the ordering and how we place them within our essay that matters.

Topic sentences should develop in a sequence to maintain focus on the argument.

So when planning our essays, we start off with a thesis statement, which is a general overarching idea about the play.

This might look something like this.

Arguably, Shakespeare uses Othello's tragic tale to illustrate the ease in which noble heroes can fall when they trust too easily and let their passions govern them.

We then move on to topic sentences which are specific and focused, and each of our topic sentences prove the thesis statement.

So our first topic sentence might sound like, Shakespeare emphasises Othello's noble and heroic qualities in Act 1, Scene 3.

We then have our next topic sentence, which might be Othello falls victim to Iago's manipulation, allowing the audience to develop sympathy for him, at the same time as seeing hamartia.

And lastly, Othello's horrific acts of violence fueled by jealousy, and later guilt and suicide in Act 5, allows Shakespeare to show Othello as a typical tragic hero responsible for his downfall.

Each topic sentence develops the thesis continuing to link to the question.

Notice how all of those topic sentences work together to prove the thesis that Othello is indeed a tragic hero.

And each of those topic sentences allow us to see how trusting too easily could be a flaw in a character.

All of the topic sentences also work together to show the damaging effect of trusting too easily and letting your emotions govern you.

I now want you to complete the planning grid below for the following question.

Starting with Act 5, to what extent do you believe Shakespeare has presented Othello as a tragic hero responsible for his own downfall? You will need a thesis statement.

Remember, that's an overarching argument in response to the question.

You're then going to need three topic sentences to support your thesis statement.

Remember to sequence them in a way that allows them to work together to prove the thesis statement.

You'll also going to need supporting details for each one of your topic sentences.

Remember, your supporting details section should include brief quotes and evidence to support your ideas.

Pause the video, and complete your planning grid now.

Well done on completing that planning grid in the response to the question.

I really liked the effort you put in to making sure your topic sentences include interpretations and judgments, not devices.

Now, reread your plan and identify where you've included the following, a thesis statement that addresses the writer's purpose, clear topic sentences that that develop in a sequence, embedded quotations, and interesting examples of language, form or structure.

Pause the video and reread your plan.

Add in whatever you may have missed.

Great work today, everyone.

Let's go through what we've learned.

Introductions could follow the three-part structure.

The thesis statement should address the writer's purpose or message in relation to the question focus.

Topic sentences should contain evaluative adjectives and phrases to show an interpretation, not devices.

And topic sentences should develop in a sequence to maintain focus on the argument.

Great work in today's lesson.

I hope you've enjoyed it and I look forward to seeing you next time.