Gilead: A Logical Conclusion

In an interview with Margaret Atwood about her book, The Handmaid's Tale, she explains that "This is a book about what happens when certain casually held attitudes about women are taken to their logical conclusions. For example, I explore a number of conservative opinions still held by many - such as a woman's place in the home. And also certain feminist pronouncements - women prefer the company of other women, for example. Take these beliefs to their logical ends and see what happens." In The Handmaid's Tale, Atwood demonstrates what could happen if the generalizations, stereotypes, and opinions of women in the past and present society were applied to the future society at an ultimate extreme. By writing about this in her book, do you think that she was demonstrating a point about the corruption of today's society? What might some other issues be that Atwood addresses in The Handmaid's Tale? What are other casually held areas and issues in today's society that, if blown extremely out of proportion, could create an oppressed and heavily controlled society like Gilead? What might that society look like?

In our society, we view women and men have specific duties that they perform. These duties have changed and developed over the years. In the early years, women were thought to only be in the kitchen and at home with the children while men were supposed to go to work and provide for his family. Now, women are able to have the same jobs that men can have while it is acceptable for a man to stay at home with his children. But, there are still very drastic views about men and women. For instance, a man can sleep with a lot of women and be considered "lucky" and a "stud." If a women were to sleep with a lot of men, she would be considered a "slut" and "loose." Are these generalizations correct? What other unfair comparisons do you notice in todays society? What gender rules are implied in The Handmaid's Tale?

Rights

Over the years, the roles of women have significantly changed. On June 4th of 1920, women were given the right to vote in the United States. Throughout history, men have had more rights than women. In the Handmaid's Tale, women have very specific roles in society. They have very few rights in this futuristic society. Rights are a main reason that people immigrate to our country. We often take our rights for granted. We all have gained rights in our country over the years. How have the roles of women changed over the years? What has caused these changes? Do we take these rights for granted? Do you think that citizen's of other countries enjoy the rights that we do? How do you predict that our rights will change in the future of our country?

October Outside Reading Selections

Well, here are your choices for your next outside reading project for AP English Literature and Composition.  In conjunction with our study of Margaret Atwood’s dystopian classic, The Handmaid’s Tale, I would like you to select another celebrated work of dystopian fiction for the month of October.  Please choose one of the following (which you haven’t previously read) as your text:

1984 by George Orwell

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

White Noise by Don DeLillo

Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler

Anthem by Ayn Rand

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

Brave New World  by Aldous Huxley

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest  by Ken Kesey

Slaughterhouse V by Kurt Vonnegut 

 

If you have difficulty locating a text, I have copies of many.  Enjoy!!! (Seriously, they're great books.)

 

A Satirical View

We all know that the satire in "A Modest Proposal' by Jonathan Swift is meant to shock the reader. He uses this strategy so that his other proposal now seem much more reasonable and productive. It is also used as a wake up call for all the people. The outrageous makes them shy away form even the idea of eating babies, so they start to think of any other solution that this extreme. What other ways does Swift use to illustrate the problem in his Modest Proposal? We are all writing a satirical piece for this class, so how is this satire useful? How is it detrimental? What causes it to be so effective, and what are the dangers of it being effective? Authors use satire to make a point. Is there easier ways to get their point across? Sure! Then way use satire and run the risk of others not understanding that it is indeed satire?