Language, Form and Imagery

Start with literary techniques

Begin with Literary Techniques in Othello, a mind map that brings together techniques and examples from the play. It includes metaphors and animal imagery associated with Iago. Use it to identify a technique, then look at the example alongside it and consider the effect of the language.

The notes created from the map offer another way to explore the material. They include animal and black-and-white imagery, allusions, figurative language, soliloquies, verse and prose, and dramatic irony. You can move between the map and the notes as you study.

Explore imagery in more detail

After the overview, look at a mind map focused on animal imagery. The map on animal imagery in Othello considers what Iago’s images suggest about his outlook and his view of human nature. Animals also links animal imagery to relationships and race.

For a wider view, try Othello: Language, Form, Structure. It includes imagery, irony, repetition, opposites and personification. Compare its ideas with those in the animal imagery maps, noting where the resources explore similar images in different ways.

Use maps for quiz practice

There are no quizzes listed on this page, but the maps can still help you prepare questions. Pick a technique or image from a map and write a question about it. Then return to the map or notes to check the ideas you included.

A free account lets you make your own quiz and save your quiz scores. You could build questions around the examples and interpretations you want to practice.

Connect your study

Language, Form and Imagery is a section of the Othello unit in Literature. Use its resources to bring your work on individual images and techniques together with your study of the play. Choose a map and make your own questions as you study.