Category: Imagery

THT Blog #3-Narrative Form and Point of View

2/9/2026

The list is long of possible topics to discuss in this week's reading. Select one of the topic choices below to discuss how Atwood's use of Narrative Techniques and Imagery to illuminates your understanding of them:

Women's Bodies and Autonomy
Doubling and Identity
Power and Resistance
Time and Monotony
Isolation and Camaraderie
The Past and the Present
Surveillance and Conformity
Silence and Voice
Control and Religion
Hope and Despair

In your response you might address any or all of the following prompts:

Analyze Atwood's use of narrative techniques, such as fragmented structure, imagery, and Offred's reflective voice, to convey themes of control and resistance.
Consider how these techniques reveal Gilead's control over Offred's life and identity and, essentially, women as a whole.
Analyze Atwood's use of Offred's detachment and reflective narration to depict the Ceremony.
Analyze the narrative within the dystopian genre, focusing on the psychological effects of oppression and Atwood's feminist critique.

Successful responses will:

Develop a clear argument, using appropriate terminology (e.g., symbolism, metaphor, motif, narrative perspective, tone, dystopian characteristics, stream of consciousness, etc.).
Provide adequate and appropriately cited evidence that ties directly to the argument.
Explore a nuanced portrayal of the topic and prompt selected from the list above.

In your response, use at least a few of the terms below (and apply them correctly):

Analogy- A comparison between two things to clarify or explain an idea.
Direct Characterization-When a writer explicitly tells the reader a character's traits.
Indirect Characterization- When a writer reveals those traits through the character's actions, dialogue, thoughts, and interactions with others.
Motif-A recurring idea or symbol that supports a theme.
Symbolism-Using objects, characters, or settings to represent larger concepts (e.g., Offred's body as a symbol of control).
Imagery-Descriptive language appealing to the senses to create vivid mental pictures.
Narrative Lacuna-A deliberate or accidental gap or omission in a narrative.
Epizeuxis-Repeating words in immediate succession with vehemence or emphasis (e.g., "Crybaby. Crybaby").
Synesthesia-A literary device that mixes senses (e.g., "a red scream").
Binary Opposition-Contrasting concepts (e.g., light/dark, good/evil) used to emphasize themes.

Primary Blog Expectations (respond to the prompt above): 200-250 words, minimal errors in grammar and usage, thoughtful and thorough writing. Please use the name you were assigned in class as your nom de plume and be sure to add a word count. Due by 11:59 pm Friday night, 2/13/2026.

Secondary Blog Response Expectations (read everyone's primary responses, select two that interest you, and respond to their ideas): 100-150 words EACH, minimal errors in grammar and usage, thoughtful and thorough writing. Please use the name you were assigned in class as your nom de plume and be sure to add a word count. Due by 11:59 pm Sunday night, 2/15/2026.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy (2009) Part 1

1/15/2018

How is McCarthy able to make the post-apocalyptic world of The Road seem so real and utterly terrifying? Which descriptive passages are especially vivid and visceral in their depiction of this blasted landscape (pick at least 3 and please cite)? What do you find to be the most horrifying features of this world and the survivors who inhabit it?

Part One Expectations (respond to the prompt above): 200-250 words (post word count), minimal errors in grammar and usage, thoughtful and thorough writing. Please use the assigned "pen name" given to you in class as your nom de plume. DUE: Friday night at midnight!

Part Two Expectations (read everyone's first responses, select two that interest you, and respond to their ideas): 100-150 words EACH (post word count), minimal errors in grammar and usage, thoughtful and thorough writing. DUE: Sunday night at midnight!

AP Literature and Composition Blog

THT Blog #3-Narrative Form and Point of View

The Road by Cormac McCarthy (2009) Part 1

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