 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:
In your response you might address any or all of the following prompts:
Successful responses will:
In your response, use at least a few of the terms below (and apply them correctly):
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.   Context: As you read The Handmaid’s Tale, pay attention to two big ideas:
1) World-building (Setting) This isn’t just “where and when.” It’s how the entire society operates: its rules, routines, symbols, and what people are permitted (or not permitted) to do. 2) Narrative Voice This is how the story is told and who is telling it. Offred’s voice shapes what we notice, what we trust, and what we question. These two things work together: the setting shows us what kind of world Gilead is, and Offred’s voice shows us what it feels like to live there. After this week’s reading, you can see that The Handmaid’s Tale blends genres: it’s speculative, realistic, and dystopian. You’re also learning that Gilead’s rise and its religious government controls nearly every part of life in what used to be the United States. Finally, you’re starting to see that Offred is full of contradictions: she is oppressed, but she also finds ways to be resistant. Even when the system tries to erase her identity, she uses memory and storytelling to hold on to her sense of self. This also connects to the difference between “freedom from” (freedom from danger or chaos) and “freedom of” (freedom to choose your own life). Prompt: Write a response about this week’s reading that explains how the setting and Offred’s narrative voice help Atwood highlight themes like:
In your response, use at least a few of the terms below (and apply them correctly):
Success Criteria: 1. Make a clear claim (what Atwood is showing and why it matters). 2. Use the vocabulary accurately (choose terms that truly fit your examples). 3. Use specific evidence from the text, such as:
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, 2/5/2026. 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, 2/7/2026.  Each student has been assigned a topic (you will find your name in the list at the bottom of the page).
1. After reading As I Lay Dying, you will respond to your assigned prompt in a 400-550 word informal response. 2. Once you have posted your informal response as a blog entry (I suggest typing on a word document and then copy/pasting into the blog entry box - ADD WORD COUNT AT END OF RESPONSE), you will then read all of your colleagues' entries. 3. You will then respond to 2 colleagues' entries (each in a different topic from yours and from each other) in 100-150 word informal responses. This is similar to the usual blog entries that we have completed, except that you will discussing and responding to different topics. This is an important activity and, done correctly, will expose you to at least three different lens analyses of As I Lay Dying. In light of the importance of this activity, I will be counting this assignment as a 200 point Summative Assessment (100 points for Primary Responses and 50 points each for Secondary Responses). The Due Dates are: -Primary Responses must be completed by Sunday, May 4th at midnight. -Secondary Responses must be completed by Tuesday, May 6th at midnight. Topics: 1. Family and Honor - Samantha, Abigail, Edgar, Jahnai As I Lay Dying could be read as a metaphor for any family; the Bundrens are stuck together on a long journey, to help or hurt each other. The conflicts between feelings of desire, love, honor, and a longing for identity outside the family eventually lead to disaster. How do the Bundrens exemplify "family values?" How do they fail to? Does Faulkner see the Bundrens as a typical American family? (Are most people like this?) Do you? 2. Religion - Nathaniel, Cynthia, Akwasi The religious characters in the book (Whitfield, Cora) have very little positive impact on the Bundrens. Addie explicitly rejects religion after her affair with Whitfield. Cora uses her religious outlook chiefly as a way to judge and criticize the impoverished and low-class Bundrens. Anse often quotes scripture to justify his own selfish actions. Do you agree with Faulkner’s depiction of religion in modern life? If so, build upon it. If not, create a counter-argument. 3. Mortality and Ritual - Brittani, Thomas, Arvinda To the ancient Greeks, burial ritual was an extremely important religious task, representative of the loyalty a person has engendered in his family in life. Agamemnon speaks from hell to Odysseus: "As I lay dying, the woman with the dog's eyes would not close my eyes as I descended into Hades." He is referring to his wife Clytemnestra, whom conspired to murder him. Do the Bundrens betray Addie, or do they honor her? Does Addie betray them by asking Anse to make the journey to Jefferson? Does it matter what happens to our bodies after we die? 4. Sanity - Elizabeth, Nicole, Denean “Sometimes I think it aint none of us pure crazy and aint none of us pure sane,” says Cash. He then decides that if a person acts without thinking about how his actions affect other people, he is crazy. Do you agree with Cash? Are we all a little crazy? How does society use the word “crazy”—or even “mental illness”— to define people? Does Darl deserve his fate? How are Darl's "special powers" of narration related to what happens to him? 5. Perspective - Maricarmen, Stephanie, Patricia Comment on the multiple perspectives of the novel. What do we learn cumulatively about the characters through their various voices? What is the effect of these shifts in view? Which is the truer perspective of ourselves: the one from our eyes or from the eyes of others? You may analyze in depth one voice, or contrast two opposing voices (Darl and Jewel, for example). 6. Desire - Shayna, Kayla, Abril All of the family members use their mother’s burial as an excuse to go to town in order to acquire something. Which desires are more sympathetic, and which are less so? Is this a betrayal of Addie? Do our modern desires for material goods come between us and those we love? 7. Symbolism - Julie, Thalia, Adam Faulkner's shifting voices often finds commonality in elemental natural symbols: water, fire, horse, earth, sky, eye, wood, bird, etc. Choose one or more of these and make a unified comment on the symbol's ties to an allusion, perspective, insight, comment, or traditional generic convention. |
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