The Contemporary Dystopian Novel: “Are there any questions?”
Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale
Honors English 4/Peters
Unit learning goals:
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To conceptualize the distinction between a utopian and dystopian society.
To define the purpose and stylistic elements of a dystopian novel.
To identify the institutional controls utilized in maintaining a dystopian society.
To delineate the hierarchal roles of power in the novel’s dystopian society.
To identify and discuss the historical, cultural and social context for the novel’s
purpose.
Unit-based vocabulary:
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Utopia/dystopia
Dystopian controls
Propaganda
Monotheocracy
Republic
Text-based vocabulary:
Gilead
2. Offred
3. Luke
4. Commander
5. Handmaid
6. Martha
7. Econowife
8. Unwoman
9. The Colonies
10. The Eyes
11. Nolite te bastardes
carbondonum
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Epigraph
Patriarchy
Palimpest
The ceremony
Soul Scrolls
Prayvaganza
The Wall
Particicution
Salvaging
Gender treachery
The “Red” Center
Jezebel’s
Supplemental vocabulary:
College Programmed Vocabulary Unit Four: Action Words
Fictional reading selections:
The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood
Non-fictional reading selections:
Writing With Intent, Margaret Atwood (selected excerpt)
Film selections:
Bill Moyers: On Faith and Reason (PBS interview with Margaret Atwood)
Frontline: Secret State of North Korea (2014 film), selected scenes
Chernobyl Diaries (2012 film), selected scenes
Jerry Falwell on 9/11 (Interview with Pat Robertson, The 700 Club)