William Shakespeare

I'm 17years old and in year 12 at a school in England, as part of my English literature course i must write an essay under the title "examine the presentation of Desdemona in Othello". I'm not sure what to write and help would be very much appreciated! Thus far i have written this opening:

Desdemona, the daughter of Brabantio, is a member of the upper class society in Venice. Thus her decision to break with tradition and wed the ‘unsuitable’, and most unlikely suitor, Othello is a shocking and dramatic choice. Through this extraordinary opening Shakespeare provides an impeccable introduction to Desdemona’s equally extraordinary character.

 thanks! kate

http://www.enotes.com/othel lo/desdemona-character-analysis

Kate, check out this link to the Enotes character analysis of Desdemona.  It's been years since I read this play, so I can't help more than this.  You should follow this link and then see the other materials available to you through Enotes on this play.

Good Luck!

You might want to approach the essay by discussing, yes, how she is considered "upper class" in society and how she has married "beneath" her and on top of that, a "colored" man. 

I would also discuss her characteristics, obviously.  In essence, what you are writing is a character analysis.  A character analysis is a close examination of a character in a piece of writing, so one must examine many facets of a character, including their habits, personality traits, motivations, interactions with others, spiritual and personal beliefs, etc.  I hope this helps!

This link may help since you're writing, what is in essence a character analysis:
http://www.enotes.com/topics/how-write-character-analysis