The Handmaid's tale

The Handmaid's Tale takes place in an unspeakably awful future that Margaret Atwood first envisioned in her 1985 novel of the same name. Spurred by a global plague of infertility, an extremist group called the Sons of Jacob staged a coup on the U.S. government and sent progressive American society reeling backwards to totalitarianism, organized on Old Testament principles. In addition to enforcing incredibly strict gender roles, Gilead has introduced an entirely new vocabulary for its citizens to internalize. Women must identify with their new position as Marthas, handmaids, or Wives. They must learn that the term "the Colonies" should inspire terror.

https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2018/05/197964/handmaids-tale-sayings-words-meaning-vocabulary

The Cold War

Berlin Wall

Korean War

Vietnam War

Cuban Missile Crisis

1984 - Literary Essay

Language and Culture II

Choose ONE of the following tasks and develop it thoroughly in an essay.
It should include an introduction, the main body and a conclusion.
Develop the corresponding theory, and account for it quoting from the novel.

Psychoanalytic Criticism (1930s-present)
How do the operations of repression or structure inform the work?
How can characters' behaviour, narrative events, and/or images be explained in terms of psychoanalytic terms: id, ego, superego?

MARXISM
Which class does the work claim to represent?
What conflict can be seen between the values the work champions and those it portrays?
What social classes do the characters represent?
How do characters from different classes interact or conflict?

New Historicism
How are events' interpretation and presentation a product of the culture of the author?
How does this portrayal criticize the leading political figures or movements of the day?
How does the literary text function as part of a continuum with other historical/cultural texts from the same period...?
How does the work consider traditionally marginalized populations?

Feminist
How is the relationship between men and women portrayed?
What are the power relationships between men and women (or characters assuming male/female roles)?
How are male and female roles defined? What constitutes masculinity and femininity? How do characters embody these traits?