Language, Voice & Storytelling Flashcards
“I lie, then… and step sideways out of my own _. Out of time. Though this is ______, nor am I out of it.”
“I lie, then… and step sideways out of my own time. Out of time. Though this is time, nor am I out of it.”
Offred’s reclining in “Night” underscores her dissociation—her very sense of chronology is weaponized by Gilead to disorient and control her.
“Keep your ___ down, I used to tell _______, and see it _____. It’s no use. This is the way I talk to myself, on the way home
“Keep your head down, I used to tell myself, and see it through. It’s no use. This is the way I talk to myself, on the way home.”
The private interior monologue becomes Offred’s only refuge—and the only place she can exercise any freedom of thought.
“________ is what you are used to. This may not seem _______ to you now, but after a time it will. It will become _________.”
“Ordinary is what you are used to. This may not seem ordinary to you now, but after a time it will. It will become ordinary.”
Aunt Lydia’s mantra transforms terror into routine, showing how language normalizes atrocity.
“Time’s a ____, I’m caught in it. I must ______ about my secret name and all ways back. My name is _____ now, and here is where I live.”
“Time’s a trap, I’m caught in it. I must forget about my secret name and all ways back. My name is Offred now, and here is where I live.”
In “Scrabble,” Offred laments how Gilead’s renaming and time‑regimentation erase her past and future.
“My ____ is a thing I must now ________, as one composes a ________.”
“My self is a thing I must now compose, as one composes a speech.”
Offred consciously “performs” herself each day—her own identity becomes a crafted narrative to survive.
i ______ like to believe this is a story im telling. I ____ to believe it. I ______ believe it.
i would like to believe this is a story im telling. I need to believe it. I must believe it.
-emotional necessity, not sure if she has an audience, but crafting narrative helps her survive
when we think of the past its the beautiful things we pick out. We want to believe it wa all like that
when we think of the past its the beautiful things we pick out. We want to believe it wa all like that
selective memory as trauma responce, filters horrir through beauty to preserve sanity
its ______ to say a thing exactly the way it was… I’ve ___ to put some of the ____ things in as well
its impossible to say a thing exactly the way it was… I’ve tried to put some of the good things in as well
unreliability of memory, deliberate resistance to Gileads clean official version of the truth
this is a _____________. All of it is a _____________
reconstruction
meta narrative moment. admits flaws in story, insists on telling it anyway
it didnt ______ that way either. I’m not sure how it ________; not
______. All I can hope for is a ______________:
it didnt happen that way either. I’m not sure how it happened; not
exactly. All I can hope for is a reconstruction:
challenges narrative authority, protest in a society where official truth is state controlled
what i ____ is that I must not ____
what i feel is that I must not feel
dissasociated to cope with trauma, especially during state mandated violence
aunt lydia: you cant help how you _____, but you can help how you _______
you cant help how you feel, but you can help how you behave
supression of emotion- survival, trauma induced silence
Historical notes:
Are there any __________?
questions
deeply personal narrative reduced to academic analysis, male scholars pick apart her trauma
historical notes: ‘‘we must be cautious abt passing moral judgement upon the Gileadeans’’
'’we must be cautious abt passing moral judgement upon the Gileadeans’’
academic detatchment reinforces how voice and truth are manipulated after events, suggesting voice (even reclaimed) not enough
