As I reread Othello to determine how I will engage you in the text, I find myself questioning why I find this particular story line intriguing, and I am reminded that Shakespeare's work transcends the ages. 

Why?

Is it so difficult to believe that you could fall in love with someone who others find inappropriate for you? Or that you might find yourself questioning whether you are "good enough" for that person? Or maybe, that others, jealous of your good fortune in love and life, seek to do you harm? 

Shakespeare oversimplified? Sure, but it works, and here's why: 

1. If you can first connect with the text on a personal level, it will help you begin to make sense of the language, its intricacies and nuances. 

2. If you can identify with the thematic concepts in the play, you will find analyzing the meaning much easier, which means you can analyze at a much deeper level. 

3. If you can analyze the meaning at a deep level, you can understand how the devices Shakespeare uses add to the complexity of the play, which will help you understand why "it" works - even 400ish years later. 

4. If you can learn to appreciate Shakespeare's ideas on why people act as they do...more on that later. 

Final thoughts -- Shakespeare did not deal much in symbols, but he was politically savvy. Ask yourself what was happening in England in 1604? Why make Othello black? What purpose did that serve for Shakespeare in both a political and commercial sense?