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Year 9

Using context effectively to discuss ‘Othello’

I can integrate context skilfully into my written analysis on 'Othello'.

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Year 9

Using context effectively to discuss ‘Othello’

I can integrate context skilfully into my written analysis on 'Othello'.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Context refers to the historical, social, literary and biographical.
  2. Context should not be presented as isolated facts or generalisations.
  3. Context should be relevant to the analysis and embedded in the response.
  4. Context should develop your ideas and give an insight into the writer’s purpose and intention.
  5. Context can be used to analyse specific word choices or images, considering historic connotations or social importance.

Keywords

  • Tragedy - a play dealing with the downfall of a central character

  • Great Chain of Being - a hierarchy for all living things that Jacobean people believed in

  • Jacobean - the era in which King James I was on the throne

  • Embedded - incorporated deeply inside of a larger thing e.g. context embedded into a paragraph

  • Rennaisance - a cultural, artistic movement covering the 14th to 17th centuries

Common misconception

Context just needs to be included in a response to make it effective.

Context must not only be included but carefully considered, adapted and moulded to the point you are trying to make.


To help you plan your year 9 english lesson on: Using context effectively to discuss ‘Othello’, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Show students how examiners might add marks on for a more sophisticated exploration of context v simple exploration of context.
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Teacher tip
equipment-required

Equipment

You will need a copy of Shakespeare's 'Othello' for this lesson.

content-guidance

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
  • Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
  • Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering
supervision-level

Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

copyright

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
What genre of play is 'Othello'?
comedy
Correct answer: tragedy
history
Q2.
Starting with the most important, order the living things in the Elizabethan/Jacobean Great Chain of Being in order of importance.
1 - God
2 - Angels
3 - King/Queen
4 - Church
5 - Nobles
6 - Men
7 - Animals
Q3.
What is true of some views on race in the Elizabethan/Jacobean era?
Correct answer: darker skinned people were considered morally deviant
all people were considered equal
Correct answer: Jacobeans often feared 'outsiders'
Q4.
What is true of some views on gender in the Elizabethan/Jacobean era?
men and women were considered as equals
women had more power than men
Correct answer: women were considered as subordinates to men
Q5.
In 'Othello', how does Desdemona subvert gender stereotypes of the Jacobean era?
Correct answer: she elopes with Othello, without her father's knowledge
she is not listened to when she protests that she is faithful
she sings the willow song and succumbs to her suffering
Q6.
In Shakespeare's 'Othello', how does Othello's character contradict racial stereotypes of the Jacobean era?
he is a military general
Correct answer: he is introduced as a noble Moor: eloquent, humble, virtuous
he succumbs to jealousy

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
What are the four types of context you could reference when writing about a text?
author, historical, literal, biographical
Correct answer: literary, historical, biographical, social
social, conventional, historical, author
Q2.
What does historical context refer to?
Correct answer: What was happening at the time the text was written
What the shared cultural constructions of specific ideas were
If it fits into a literary movement
Q3.
Which statements are part of the literary context of 'Othello'?
Correct answer: Shakespeare was influenced by Aristotle's idea of tragedy
Jacobean England was xenophobic
Correct answer: Othello was based on the story 'Gli Hecatom' by Cinthio
Shakespeare was born in 1564
Q4.
What is not an effective way to include context?
embed it within the paragraph
use different types of context
make it relevant to the point you are making
Correct answer: tack it on at the end of your response
Q5.
The Great Chain of Being is...
Correct answer: a piece of social context that helps you discuss attitudes on race in 'Othello'.
a piece of biographical context that helps you discuss evil in 'Othello'.
a piece of literary context that helps you discuss tragedy in 'Othello'.
a piece of historical context that helps you discuss war in 'Othello'.
Q6.
Why may Shakespeare have chosen to set 'Othello' against a backdrop of late 16th century war against Christian Venice and the Muslim Ottoman Empire?
Correct answer: to further the exploration of attitudes towards outsiders
to show how excellent a warrior Othello was
to create drama and tension in the play