How Effective Is The Opening Of The Handmaids Tale? Concentrate Of The First Four Chapters, Incorporating Analysis Of Characterisation, Themes And Atwood's Use Of Symbolism
How Effective Is The Opening Of The Handmaids Tale? Concentrate Of The First Four Chapters, Incorporating Analysis Of Characterisation, Themes And Atwood's Use Of Symbolism The first four chapters act as an effective and appropriate introduction to the Handmaid's Tale. Throughout the first four chapters, Atwood uses several techniques, and also the creative anti-chronological feature of the novel to the engage the interest of the reader. Chapter 1 immediately sets up the time scale of the novel, within the first sense Atwood cleverly employs the past tense, 'We slept in what had once been the gymnasium', the interesting combination of the past tense and a contemporary feature of life, suggests to the reader that the novel is set in a future. Atwood then appeals to the reader, through Offred's description of the former gymnasium. Atwood also takes the first chapter as an opportunity to introduce the reader to the ironic parallels of the hierarchical society of Gilead, Atwood intrigues the reader by contrasting the pleasant connotations of the words 'Angels' and 'Aunts' against the vengeful, militaristic feel of words like 'guns' and 'cattle prods'. Offred's descriptions of her surroundings are vivid, her description contains use of each of the senses, and she smells 'the pungent scent of sweat, shot through with the sweet taint of chewing gum and perfume', this invites
J.K. Rowling's fifth book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Harry - review.
Independent Reading Assignment In J.K. Rowling's fifth book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Harry with his friends Ron and Hermione helped to save Harry's godfather from Lord Voldermort. Harry Potter, the main character of the story, is a fifteen-year-old boy who is an orphan. Harry Potter is also a wizard who is learning at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. His closest family member is Sirius Black. Sirius Black is a convicted murderer although he did not murder anyone. Ron Weasley his best friend comes from a big, poor wizard family. His entire family has red hair. Hermione Granger is another one of Harry's good friends. She is a very clever witch even though she comes from a muggle family. A muggle is a person that does not have any magical power in them like Hermione's parents. Albus Dumbledore is the old and wise Headmaster of Hogwarts and is the only wizard that Lord Voldemort fears. Lord Voldemort is the most powerful, dark wizard of all time and the whole wizarding world fears him greatly. Harry has begun to have very strange dreams about being inside the body or the object that Voldemort is possessing at that time. Harry believes that these dreams are actually occurring in the real world. Dumbledore can see that Harry is having these dreams and does not think that it is a good idea for them to continue. This was mainly due to the
Generalizations about Children's Books & Children's Reading.
Submission 2 Julie Krenzler Paper 1 Wed. May 19th, 2004 Generalizations about Children's Books & Children's Reading I had, in my mind, some of the prescribed generalizations that people have about children's books, but I thought that I would conduct a small-scale poll of my own. I had printed out a hard copy of the assignment and had brought it to my boyfriend's house so that I could generate ideas while he watched a basketball game (he's a die-hard Pistons fan). During one of the intermissions, he leaned over and read the assignment sheet and asked me the golden question, "Generalization about children's books? What does that mean?". Ah, my research had begun. I asked him to imagine a children's book in his hand and to tell me what was inside. He had pictured a Doctor Seuss' book and recounted generalizations such as, a large font, silly, uncomplicated words, colourful pictures, elementary plot, short, simple sentence structure and rhyming words. I felt my boyfriend had succinctly narrowed into the public's general thoughts about children's literature far more than I could have, probably because I have studied children's literature and know differently, or do I? In this world there are generalizations that are absolutely false. They are tales and legends made up by people who witness one or two occurrences, and then decide that it is an
'The Handmaid's Tale' - Based on your reading of the text so far, what do you find interesting about the way Atwood presents the character of Offred?
Jonathan Newcombe 'The Handmaid's Tale' October 2002 Based on your reading of the text so far, what do you find interesting about the way Atwood presents the character of Offred? 'The Handmaid's Tale' is a novel written in the early 1980's by Canadian author Margaret Atwood and published in 1986. 'The Handmaid's tale' reveals an eerie dystopia that is set in our future, we learn about a society called Gilead where every law is based on manipulated extracts from the bible. As a result of the new society reading has been outlawed, women's bodies are used as instruments and education doesn't exist. 'The Handmaid's tale' combines a bleak futuristic reality, feminism and politics to create a dystopian atmosphere that draws the reader into questioning the rules of the new society and those of their own. In the opening chapter the reader is quickly introduced to a new world and to Atwood's chosen style of narration. We are introduced to novel by one of Offred's memories, a time in her past but in the reader's future. Offred and some other girls are sleeping in what used to be a school gym. As Offred describes her surroundings she suggests that something has happened to America. 'Army issue blankets, old ones that still said U.S'. Although we are not sure what has happened this heavily suggests that the U.S no longer exists. This is the first time the reader is
In many ways the ideas in this dystopian novel are more important than the characters - with the exception of Offred and Moira. The other characters tend to function as members of groups or as representatives of certain ideological positions.
CHARACTERISATION In many ways the ideas in this dystopian novel are more important than the characters - with the exception of Offred and Moira. The other characters tend to function as members of groups or as representatives of certain ideological positions. However, as Offred insists, every individual is significant, whatever Gilead decrees, and her narrative weaves in particularities: she continually writes in other voices in sections of dialogue, in embedded stories and in remembered episodes. It is a feature of Atwood's realism, even within a fabricated futuristic world, that she pays dose attention not only to location but to people and relationships. OFFRED Offred, the main protagonist and narrator, is trapped in Gilead as a Handmaid, one of the 'two-legged wombs' valued only for her potential as a surrogate mother. Denied all her individual rights, she is known only by the patronymic Of-Fred, derived from the name of her current Commander. Most of the time she is isolated and afraid. Virtually imprisoned in the domestic spaces of the home, she is allowed out only with a shopping partner and for Handmaids' official excursions like Prayvaganzas and Salvagings. At the age of thirty-three and potentially still fertile, she is a victim of Gileadean sexist ideology which equates 'male' with power and sexual potency, and 'female' with reproduction and submission to the
How does Atwood present Offred's situation and character to us in 'The Handmaid's Tale'?
How does Atwood present Offred's situation and character to us? 'The Handmaid's Tale is a futuristic novel about what could happen if we returned to our original bible-based values. In my opinion it is essentially a fable about fundamentalist Christian America. Offred is the main character in 'The Handmaid's Tale' by Margaret Atwood. It is written in first person narrative with Offred been the narrator. It is written with assumed knowledge of the reader, so it reads like it is Offred's diary. In the first chapter of the book this use of the first person and the use of assumed knowledge makes the reader intrigued and want to read on. This is always essential in an opening chapter. The first chapter is short, so as not to give much away to the reader. The opening paragraph uses a narrative flashback, which is a commonly used literary device in the novel. This flashback makes Offred seem older than she is as she is reminiscing of the old times and this is a common thing for an older person to do. She also sounds as though she wishes it was the old times again with the basketball games and the dances. At this stage the reader does not know why she is sleeping in an old gymnasium and there are no longer any basketball games or dances. The reader will be intrigued to why she is there. In the first chapter there are only very subtle clues to why she is there and I think this is
How do the mother's talk-stories and Chinese folklores help Maxine Hong Kingston embark on a journey towards self-understanding?
How do the mother's talk-stories and Chinese folklores help Maxine Hong Kingston embark on a journey towards self-understanding? A journey is the process of struggle and exploration. One has to experience this process in order to reach the destination. The mother's talk-story (no name aunt) originally serves the purpose of warning Kingston in repressing her sexual desires. 'Don't humiliate us'. Another folklore- Fa Mu Lan mainly serves the purpose of teaching Kingston filial piety. However, though not intentional, the mother's stories do help Kingston in embarking her journey towards self-understanding in two ways. First, by stop keeping silence. Second, voice out or fight injustice by using a pen. The no-name aunt story makes Kingston see that keeping silence for everything means helping to cover up harsh treatment towards women in the repressive patriarchal society. By keeping silence, she also helps in denying her aunt. 'But there is more to this silence, they want me to participate in her punishment. And I have.' Therefore she has to devote pages for her. Kingston cannot just keep silence anymore,' My aunt haunts me'. Not knowing the reason for her aunt pregnancy with other man, Kingston gives several interpretations herself. First, the aunt was a victim who was rapped and threatened. Second, as a willful woman who invited a lover. These interpretations make the reader
Examine the figure of the outsider in any contemporary British work of fiction.
Examine the figure of the outsider in any contemporary British work of fiction. Any outsider in contemporary British fiction, and indeed fiction in general, is normally significant because of the catalytic role that they usually play within the text. Dr. Faraday of Sarah Waters' The Little Stranger is no exception to this rule. However Faraday, in the role of 'the outsider' is responsible for a variety of functions and purposes within the novel which will be the focus of this essay. Faraday's primary role in the text is the narrator; all of the strange occurrences that happen in Hundreds Hall are told from his perspective. As an 'outsider' he never directly witnesses any of the events which means the reader is left with a third hand account of the goings on. However, as the character is not directly involved, he shares the reader's distance from the happenings meaning he, with the reader, is able to investigate with a reasoned approach. It is Faraday's shared scepticism of the 'supernatural explanation' for the events that occur at Hundreds Hall that make him a part of the 'fantastic' nature of Waters' novel. A fantastic text in the words of Tzvetan Todorov must: '...oblige the reader to consider the world of the characters as a world of living persons and to hesitate between a natural and a supernatural explanation of the events described. Second, this hesitation may
Explore the significance of the Historical Notes in light of the rest of the novel.
Explore the significance of the Historical Notes in light of the rest of the novel. The historical notes are an important part of the novel, they create an insight into Offred's story objectively and the way in which it came about. We observe Offreds story outside Gilead with another time shift into the future. The historical notes provide the background information of Gilead which Offred did not explain and give some understanding on the enigma's created within Offreds story. Most importantly the Historical Notes enable us to get a different perspective on the characters and Gilead. The most significant interest in the Historical Notes is the way in which Offred managed to tell her story to us. We learn from Professor Piexoto that Offred recorded her story on tapes. The dive into the future is made aware by the fact that Professor Piexoto had to get a technician to 'reconstruct a machine capable of playing tapes', we understand that this is well into the future AD2195 to be exact and makes us question whether Gilead is meant to take place some time now within our time in the beginning of the 21st Century. The truth that Offred recorded her story on tapes suggests that Nick did help Offred to escape Gilead. This is when we see that Nick was a good character and makes us feel good that he was a male within a society run by men who helped the women. We also assume that he
"Discus the themes touched upon in the extract and the language used - How relevant is this passage to the rest of the novel?"
"Discus the themes touched upon in the extract and the language used. How relevant is this passage to the rest of the novel?" "They were silent," describes the relationship between Ishmael and Hatsue later on in the novel but here we look before that when Ishmael realises that he has some affection for Hatsue. Both the main characters are involved in this extract; it starts to show an overview of there relationship. "The two of them sit side by side in the shallows" looking over the ocean, people would mistake these actions as them being very much in love with each other. "It goes forever," says Ishmael but there seems to be conflict between the issues "it ends somewhere". "It doesn't end it meets another one and pretty soon the water is back and mixes together" It's the "mixes" part of this quotation that is relevant to the rest of the novel because it brings up the subject of racism. Perspectives of discrimination differ from these two individuals because of their different cultural background. Hatsue is basically the alien in the world of Ishmael's country. Ishmael does not experience the discrimination that Hatsue and her family experience during the aftermath of the Pearl Harbor attack. Variations will always play a role in a relationship, but common interests shall bring two people closer than ever. A common perspective between Ishmael and Hatsue is recognizing