Jessica Contreras

English II
May 30, 2018

Rough draft

In the story “Othello”, the story shows drama between the marriage of a man described as a moor
called “Othello” and a beautiful women called “Desdemona”. Iago is a cruel man who has betrayed and
manipulated every person throughout the story in a way. Iago wanted to get his revenge because othello
didn’t pick him to become his lieutenant, but he picked cassio. Iago gets his revenge by destroying the
relationship between Desdemona and Iago, giving their marriage problems and leading Othello to
question Desdemona’s faithfulness. Soon the story reveals the truth and Iago had consequences come to
him. People now live in a different world than we used to a while ago, our lives reflect on others before
us. High Schoolers now probably are or have learned about Shakespeare and his art, but kids now
probably don’t think much of it or possibly that it could intrigue them, because these stories are old. As
Mechelle Boston said in her article “Six reasons Shakespeare remains relevant 400 years after his death”,
“Shakespeare reveals a different face to different cultures to different people at different times.” Now
people wonder if shakespeare is still relevant to today’s society and should it be taught in school? I
believe that it should still be taught in schools due to topics that could possibly intrigue them, such as
jealousy, drama, romance, ambition, etc., it focuses on emotions and situations that people could probably
recognize in modern day life, and it shows people the changes of literature throughout the years and how
it’s reflected on writers today.

First, I believe that shakespeare is still relevant in modern time and should be taught to high
school because shakespeare uses topics in his story that intrigue kids such as drama, jealousy, and
romance. In Othello log 6, i wrote, “Adultery should be illegal in the U.S..” I believe this relates with
shakespeare being relevant because shakespeare uses topics that teens face most of their lives once. I
believe that now in modern time adultery is considered a common thing in one's life when building a
relationship with someone. Most teenagers find topic such as adultery as intriguing because it brings other
feelings such as anger, jealousy, and drama.In the text Othello, Othello says in Act 5 Sc.2, “I look down
towards his feet; but that’s a fable.—If that thou be’st a devil, I cannot kill thee” (Shakespeare 336). This
brought a good part to the play because people were intrigued that Iago had betrayed his friend Othello,
and after Othello had murdered his wife he had realized that Iago manipulated him. This brings children
to become intrigued by the drama in the story, since Iago wasn’t being honest and Othello becoming
jealous of the so affair of desdemona and cassio, which wasn’t true, which shows teens topics that they
are into in their time of life. As Emma Somersett said, “ Shakespeare relates to basic human nature like
love, jealousy, and romance, etc..” Shakespeare uses topic that are very important and relatable to most
people in their lives.
 Second, I believe that Shakespeare’s language and readings should be relevant to teenagers who
are learning about it because Shakespeare focuses his stories on certain topics that reveal emotions and
situations that people will recognize. In, Othello log 5, i wrote, that i was once close with my sister and i
felt betrayed by her leaving me for her boyfriend. I believe that this connects with how shakespeare is
relevant because most people have a time in their lives where they find someone and have a great
relationship with, until one of you decide to leave and then suddenly both of you feel betrayed by one
another because you lost your relationship. In othello, Othello & Desdemona says in Act 5 Sc. 2,
“OTHELLO:By heaven, I saw my handkerchief in ’s hand! O perjured woman, thou dost stone my heart
And mak’st me call what I intend to do A murder, which I thought a sacrifice! I saw the handkerchief!
DESDEMONA: He found it, then. I never gave it him. Send for him hither.Let him confess a truth”
(Shakespeare 77). This focuses on the emotions that Othello feels, he feels betrayed by Desdemona’s
“unfaithfulness” and Desdemona feels betrayed as well because she knows that she is faithful but doesn’t
know how to prove it to Othello because he won’t listen. Iago put on a scheme to make it seem that
Desdemona and Cassio had an affair and it drove Othello to become jealous, creating a whirlwind of
emotions throughout the story. Michelle Boston wrote that, “Shakespeare work was intriguing and
interesting.” Therefore, teenagers should read and learn Shakespeare because his work could make people
imagine these stories in real life and give it a pop because of his amazing literature which could possibly
intrigue student to make their own books or learn more about Shakespeare and other writers.

On the other hand, Other people believe that Shakespeare should not be taught for high schoolers
because they think that his literature is old and the English literature has improved and progressed
throughout the years, so teenagers should learn about the modern literature. In Act. 1 Sc.3 of Othello,
Desdemona speaks on her love for Othello, “ My noble father, I do perceive here a divided duty. To you I
am bound for life and education. My life and education both do learn me How to respect you. You are the
lord of duty. I am hitherto your daughter. But here’s my husband.And so much duty as my mother
showed To you, preferring you before her father, So much I challenge that I may profess Due to the Moor
my lord” (Shakespeare 208). I believe Shakespeare should be taught because his work was a good piece
of work that continues to stay relevant to the world due to his topics and emotions he puts into his work.
In Conclusion, Shakespeare should be taught to high schoolers today because his work still
remains relevant intriguing student to possibly make their own book, pushing them to a career to make
such stories such as Shakespeare made. Shakespeare uses topics that mostly every person has heard of or
can relate to in their life at least once, giving a good point to make kids write about their own personal
stories or make up their own and use Shakespeare's writing to help high schoolers wrote and read better.
Shakespeare remains relevant, just because it is old doesn’t mean people from our time shouldn’t be able
to read about it. The past has always made people progress to become better and give better. Most writers
today have probably learned from Shakespeare and other famous people who are old, and have improved
their writing over the past years using their experience with Shakespeare’s stories. Therefore, Shakespeare
remains relevant because it has shown improvement throughout the years with out own writing and will
continue to do so.