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lit > handmaids tale > Flashcards

handmaids tale Flashcards

1
Q

when can we see identity as a theme in Atwood’s novel?

A

Alias Grace

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2
Q

“we live in the spaces between stories.” what does this mean?

A

more identifiable with audience, offred could be anyone

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3
Q

ch 12 - being a handmaid is not something “born”

A

its a performance to survive

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4
Q

what is a key theme in Canadian literature?

A

survival
offred is a survivor of physical, psychological and sexual abuse

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5
Q

what does every totalitarian state work on?

A

the principle of the Panopticon

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6
Q

how is surveillance retained in totalitarian regimes?

A
  1. public punishment for dissidents
  2. networked system of spies
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7
Q

in ch 5, offred says “invisibility is modesty”

A

link to her old life

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8
Q

what did Chomsky say about totalitarianism?

A

it uses different measures to retain power than democratic states

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9
Q

how does Gilead mimic Nazi Germany?

A

each group in society has a little power over a different group but that’s it

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10
Q

what did Freud say?

A

“anatomy is destiny”

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11
Q

how can Gilead be viewed as a matriarchy?

A

female-female antagonism

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12
Q

in chapter 13, what does offred do?

A

narrates as if she’s stood in her own womb

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13
Q

in which ways do womens’ bodies belong to men?

A

handmaids- reproduction
Jezebels - sex
Marthas - labour

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14
Q

in the hn “our biggest mistake was teaching them to read”
what did Caral Sagan say?

A

“literacy is the path from slavery to freedom. There are many kinds of slavery and many kinds of freedom, but reading is still the path.”
link to book burning and banned books

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15
Q

what does offred say when she writes? what does this link to?

A

“pen is envy”
“penis envy”

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16
Q

what is the purpose of the historical notes?

A

tells about structures that Offred wouldn’t know
Gilead ended
the energies that Gilead was born from still exist

17
Q

what are the implications of “partial transcript”?

A

fragmented
biased

18
Q

what is the meaning of “university of Denay, Nunavit”

A

deny none of it (Offred’s story)

19
Q

How is Gilead so clever?

A

its genius is synthesis

20
Q

why is Peixoto so irritated?

A

not understanding more of Gilead
he is unconcerned by her safety and her identity, just the Commander’s identity

21
Q

why was the 2017 adaptation so significant?

A

Trump just came into power, and was attacking planned parenthood, had a Neo-Right approach

22
Q

what is the title?

A

a homage to Chaucer - otherwise lacks credibility if not from lit canon
“tale” - sexualisation, fantastical and lack of belief

23
Q

what is the significance of the epigraphs?

A

all male narratives, hn are male, Offred’s narrative is stuck between two male novels. mimics the recordings and the music either side

24
Q

where is the link to Anne Frank in the chapter structures?

A

totalitarian background and secrecy in high level of surveillance
Eyes = Gestapo

25
Q

what is the significance of the “palimpsest” of the gym?

A

old writing that was erased and written over - unity of past and present

26
Q

how is Offred’s novel paradoxical?

A

she keeps telling us she’s making it up, but that makes us trust her more

27
Q

“i think therefore you are”

A

Descartes “i think therefore i am”
sign of hope, constant ref to imagined reader, Anne Frank

28
Q

what is the context around Atwood’s location?

A

West Berlin - Berlin Wall / Soviet Empire, feelings of being spied on, able to reflect on US from a distance

29
Q

why was THT published in 1985?

A

she thought it was too radical

30
Q

what genre is THT?

A

speculative fiction, though makes references to classically dystopian texts, 1984, Brave New World.

31
Q

why is the novel set in USA?

A

Atwood didn’t sense the political extremism in liberal Canada

32
Q

what was Reaganism?

A

New Right, Birth Dearth, right to abortion, rising divorce rates, gay rights

33
Q

what is the birth dearth?

A

decreasing fertility rates

34
Q

what does the theocracy link to?

A

Founding Fathers of America and Puritanism, recalls the traditional values of female inferiority

35
Q

key word to use

A

Patroyonic (name derived from man)

lit (6 decks)

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