Gentlemen, Your Verdict

In the short story "Gentlemen, Your Verdict" do you think the captain's decision was justified? Do you think that he had the right to choose who would live and who would die? Would you make the same decision?

Stories

Since we're starting short stories soon, I was thinking about why I hate them. What makes a story interesting for you? Why do you love some stories and dislike others?

For me it's character development. If there's a fantastic plot and terrible characters, the story is automatically pretty dull for me. On the other hand, if the characters are great and the plot is really boring, I can still like it. With short stories there isn't a lot of room for character development, so it mostly only focuses on the main theme.

We discussed this a bit in class today but I thought it was a good point. It was brought up that Othello is very easily swayed to follow Iago's hints. Why do you think he is so easily pursuaded by Iago?

Desdemona's Death

In class we discreetly discussed the reasons why Desdemona didn't seem to fight back at Othello when he told her he was going to murder her. Do you think she just accepted the fact that he would have killed her anyway? Why do you think she would ask to live for another night or day but still die in the end, and what would she have done in that night or day if she was given it? Present your reasons why you think she didn't use self defence and what you would do if you were in Desdemona's position at that time.

Movie Comparison

We spent today's class watching two different versions of Act 4 and Act 5. Which one did you like better, "Othello" or "O"? Why? Do you think the directors interpreted the text properly? What would you have done differently if you were the director?

Positive Or Negative Loss of Control

In class today we talked about is it ever justifiable to lose control of your emotions. The point about whether it is bad or good to lose control was discussed. But what if you lose control of your emotions in a positive way? Is that good or bad? What's the difference?

Emotional Turmoil

Some people say that it is bad to bottle up your emotions and yet there are others that believe that showing these emotions can be viewed as a weakness to be exploited by others. What are everyones views on this subject?