4. Shopping #2

• Engels
• Upper Secondary (Key Stage 4)
• GCSE

Lesson objectives 

We will consider our reading

Offred = Of Fred

Ofglen = Of Glen

Ofwarren = Of Warren

Patronymic names 

In what way does the loss of the handmaids’ real names help the state of Gilead to control its citizens?

Patronymic = a name derived from that of the father or a paternal ancestor usually by the addition of an affix (Merriam-Webster) 

Pater = Greek 'father' 

Onyma = Greek 'name' 

Read the extract from:  (pg 24 - pg 25)

" A shape, red with white wings around the face, a shape like mine, a nondescript woman in red carrying a basket, comes along the brick sidewalk towards me....

To: 

...But I'm ravenous for news, any kind of news; even if it's false news, it must mean something.

Read this extract closely. 

What does it reveal about:

1. Ofglen?

2. The narrator?

3. How Gilead restricts language?

Pick out linguistic features used by Atwood and explain what effect they have on the author/reader relationship.

Use quotes to support your ideas. 

Research this quote from the Old Testament. 

1. What do these lines mean? 

2. What do they mean in Gilead? 

3.What is the correct response? 

"And she cried out with a loud voice and said, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed be the fruit of your womb!" (Luke 1:42)

Lesson objectives 

Reflection and goal planning for your paper 1 

Characterisation through connotations 

Language usage in descriptive passages 

In the ‘shopping’ section, what does the reader learn of how the authorities of Gilead control women?

(Find evidence). Once you have done that, how would you group these methods? 

Shopping 

Methods of control

Walking in pairs for surveillance

Rate the word 1 to 4

1. I do not know the word, and I have never seen it before. 

2. I've heard or seen the word before, but I'm not sure what it means. 

3. I know the word and can recognise and understand it while reading, but I probably wouldn't feel comfortable using it in writing or speech. 

4. I know the word well and can use it correctly in writing or speech. 

Eugenics 

Word of the day

Eugentics (n) = The study or practice of attempting to improve the human gene pool by encouraging the reproduction of people considered to have desirable traits and discouraging or preventing the reproduction of people considered to have undesirable traits.

Word of the day

What do you think the Greek root genos means if you consider the meaning of this word?

There was concern that genetic profiling might lead to a form of eugenics, in which parents are told which children they can bring into the world.

birth, give birth or beget.

3, 2, 1 bridge reflection 

Consider your essay and write in the notes section of your pie-chart feedback: 

               things I have learnt through the process of unseen guided textual analysis.

              questions I still have. 

              challenge I have faced. 

       

3

2

1

How will I build a 'bridge' to overcome this challenge. What will I do? 

What is the importance of this to your reading? 

Atwood (and her narrator) don’t reveal everything about this world in one go. They drop clues about what is going on.

Hints about the past and present

Find at least two quotes for each of these points: 

1. The different roles that people have in the present 

2. The not too distant past (p. 17)

3.A time before her life was like this (p. 21)

“Low status: he hasn’t been issued a woman, not even one.”

Find three more quotes about Nick when he is first introduced. 

Discuss the denotation, then analyse to show the connotations of the words used to describe him. 

Remember: the connotation can be telling us about the narrator or the setting of Gilead and not just about Nick. 

Lesson objectives 

How Atwood describes inner and outer worlds

We will consider references to the second wave feminism 

We will consider the topic of storytelling 

We will learn about modernism and postmodernism 

We will discuss an allusion in the novel 

Nick - bad boy or danger? 

He's too casual (pg 23) 

He's not servile enough (pg 23)

may be stupidity  (pg 24) 

Smells fishy (pg 24) 

smell a rat (pg 24) 

Misfit as odour (pg 24) 

Not fish or decaying rat: tanned skin, moist in the sun, filmed with smoke (pg 24) 

He has a cigarette stuck in the corner of his mouth (pg 23)

Rate the word 1 to 4

1. I do not know the word, and I have never seen it before. 

2. I've heard or seen the word before, but I'm not sure what it means. 

3. I know the word and can recognise and understand it while reading, but I probably wouldn't feel comfortable using it in writing or speech. 

4. I know the word well and can use it correctly in writing or speech. 

Eugenics 

Word of the day

Eugentics (n) = The study or practice of attempting to improve the human gene pool by encouraging the reproduction of people considered to have desirable traits and discouraging or preventing the reproduction of people considered to have undesirable traits.

Word of the day

What do you think the Greek root genos means if you consider the meaning of this word?

There was concern that genetic profiling might lead to a form of eugenics, in which parents are told which children they can bring into the world.

birth, give birth or beget.

Inner and outer worlds (pg 32 - 35/ chapter 5)

1. What is the significance of the encounter with Janine/Ofwarren?

2. What is significant about the lack of dialogue here? How do the Handmaids communicate?

3. What details does the narrator notice about the Japanese tourists ?

4. What is significant about the dialogue here?

Janine/Ofwarren and the tourists. Find, in your text, the point when Ofwarren/Janine is introduced and the description of the visiting Japanese tourists. Answer these questions in your class notebook or exercise book.

How is Atwood able to present the inner and outer world here? What is the significance of this? (Consider the narrative voice – what is said and what is thought/told to the audience).

Inner and outer worlds (chapter 6)

What aspects of this event are highlighted through these comparisons? 

Could we speak of a semantic field? If so, around what central idea? 

Identify the similes and metaphors used by Atwood when describing The Wall 

'look like dolls on which faces have not yet been painted' (pg 38) 

'as if their heads are sacks, stuffed with some undifferentiated material, like flour or dough. (pg 38) 

'like scarecrows'  (pg 38) 

'The heads are zeros' (pg 38) 

'heads of snowmen with the coal eyes and the carrot noses fallen out' (pg 38) 

'The heads are melting.' (pg 38) 

Read the notes on the historical context and the text and answer these questions in your exercise book. 

1.How does the author begin his argument? Summarise the introduction to the text in two to three sentences and cite evidence from the text. 

2. What is the purpose of the author's introduction? 

3. As used in paragraph 2, what does the word "countenance" most closely mean? 

a) Any form of facial expression

b) to condone or advocate 

c) to alter or change 

d) to inform

Opposition to the Women's Rights Movement 

4. Which of the following quotes best supports the answer to 3? 

a) "let the old law be changed, or the new law be made" 

b) "Even at the fall, it is woman only who is addressed" 

c) "'He shall rule over thee'" 

d) "the man is not told to exercise his authority as a punishment" 

5. What does the phrase "diamond hours" in paragraph 5 suggest about the author's views of a woman's life and purpose? 

a) The author uses the phrase "diamond hours" to portray the ideal marriage: strong, unchanging and valued. 

b) The author's word choice of "diamond hors" is a play on diamond engagement rings: the author is scorning women's expensive tastes and superficial view of marriage. 

Opposition to the Women's Rights Movement 

Argument: The anonymous writer argues that to grant women the rights advocated in the Women’s Rights Movement would be antithetical to Christianity, and that doing so would devalue not only the Christian marriage but the church itself.

Opposition to the Women's Rights Movement 

Concepts we generated: 

Power dynamics, oppression, patriarchy, identity, rebellion 

Concepts HL literature