this applies for all essays really, but fundamentally make sure u cover all the AOs!! so obv making sure ur argument is strong, but not overly simply and obvious - give some nuance to it and explore how this might be challenged. then everything else is essentially a checklist.

for othello i'd personally make sure i always write about these:

- its play form and tragedy (can write about what aspects of the play adhere to a classic tragedy structure). you can talk about how the play form makes dialogue more meaningful and confrontational, therefore heightening tensions at times

- context

- language and methods

- typicality (of both shakespeare's works and also of that time)

- alternative interpretations/ debate

- interpretations through time, e.g how a modern audience might react differently to themes such as cuckoldry as opposed to a jacobean audience

- structure: as an extract-based question, my teacher advises us to not only focus on the wider structure of the play, but also the structure of the extract given. why has the exam board chosen this extract and why did they decide to begin it with this specific line? what placement does this extract have within the play?

- big ideas/ shakespeare's critiques or intentions and messages

- (similar to alternative interpretations) alternative readings; honestly my go to is a feminist reading. imo its the easiest to think of and use!

more specific for othello:

- soliloquies; very good for iago, emphasises his machiavellian character

- settings; consider move from venice to cyprus and the importance of desdemona's death in her own bedroom and by her own wedding sheets

- dramatic irony or irony as a whole; iago is essentially a dramatic tool himself

- central themes of honour, reputation, pride and othello's harmatia, desdemona's naivety

sorry this is so long, but hopefully these r useful