English Department

 Year 11 students are well into their level 2 standard, creating presentations for their chosen researched topics. In their final weeks our Year 12 students have been presented with a range of study activities for their upcoming externals and our Year 13 students have completed their last and biggest internal for the year, Portfolio Writing. 

We wish our senior students all the best for their upcoming external assessments. Below is an excerpt from one of our Excellence student portfolios.

Extract of Year 13 Work - Sophie Holmes

The concept of patriarchal systems, and how this contributes to the human feeling of jealousy at the thought of losing what should be theirs is explored in Othello. When considering the influence of the patriarchal system that has been prevalent in the Venetian setting of Othello, we can create an understanding of how this somewhat idealistic tendency can affect people’s subconscious way of thinking, and how they interpret the world around them. This is represented in this play by the majority of the male characters, and their attitudes towards their wives. An interesting passage I have found in Derek Cohen’s reading on Othello is “In his explanation to himself of her unfaithfulness, Othello acknowledges his wife's superior judgement. He declares himself to be, at least on a social and sexual level, an unfit husband: "Haply, for I am black, And have not those soft parts of conversation. That chambers have, or for I am declined into the vale of years” The argument implicit in these lines is that she has found him out, that her clearer judgement has triumphed. Thus the struggle in his mind is between his knowledge of his unworthiness and his passion for Desdemona.” I believe this insert from this critical text was crucially important for deciphering Othello’s self-image, and how this is loosely linked to the patriarchal systems of 1570 Venice.