Mod A: Narratives that Shape Our World
Unit description:
Stories and storytelling play a powerful role in reflecting the ideas, attitudes and values of a given context. Narratives have power in their ability to connect experiences, and expose, affirm or question cultural beliefs and practices. The speculative narrative is a form of storytelling that has the potential to shape our perceptions of our world. The focus of this unit is to explore how composers have used narrative to create speculative worlds as metaphors for the fears, desires and concerns of their own contexts. These narratives of speculation, presenting imaginative visions of the future, have the capacity to influence the way we think about power, authority and identity in our own world. In this unit students will undertake study of a range of speculative narratives across textual forms (novel, short story, film, poetry, and nonfiction), with a focus on how composers tell stories that utilise the conventions of narrative to create imagined worlds as reflections of their contextual concerns. Students will explore how these stories influence the way that individuals and societies understand themselves, and how stories have the power to challenge existing political and cultural structures and practices. |
Focus Questions
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Lesson One
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Create a three-sentence description, based on the title of what this unit will be about. Consider the connotations of the words in the module.
What sort of stories will be the focus of this unit? Brainstorm speculative texts that they may already know. Watch the short video beside to enhance your understanding of the purpose of telling stories |
Examine Resource 2 - Quotes about stories, storytelling and narrative.
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Activity:
Create in a mind map that explores the purpose and importance of storytelling as a universal element of human experience.
Create in a mind map that explores the purpose and importance of storytelling as a universal element of human experience.
Lesson Two
As humans, we all create our own narratives, and are surrounded by narratives. We are constantly telling stories, and ‘reading’ stories. Narratives exist everywhere. We tell ourselves and others stories all the time, even unconsciously. Social media is powerful form of storytelling.
What if a Girl in the Holocaust Had Instagram?'https://www.ntnews.com.au/news/national/controversial-social-media-campaign-asks-what-if-a-girl-in-the-holocaust-had-instagram/video/5188654b2457788674588bdea6b3df0e
Questions:
Questions:
- How is a social media post a narrative?
- The nature of narrative is a continual process of revision and selection. How does this short clip highlight this idea of selection and revision in social media storytelling?
- How do our own narratives, and the narratives of others on social media, shape our understanding and perceptions of our world?
Lesson Three
Rubric
In this module, students explore a range of narratives from the past and the contemporary era that illuminate and convey ideas, attitudes and values. They consider the powerful role of stories and storytelling as a feature of narrative in past and present societies, as a way of: connecting people within and across cultures, communities and historical eras; inspiring change or consolidating stability; revealing, affirming or questioning cultural practices; sharing collective or individual experiences; or celebrating aesthetic achievement. Students deepen their understanding of how narrative shapes meaning in a range of modes, media and forms, and how it influences the way that individuals and communities understand and represent themselves.
Students analyse and evaluate one or more print, digital and/or multimodal texts to explore how narratives are shaped by the context and values of composers (authors, poets, playwrights, directors, designers and so on) and responders alike. They may investigate how narratives can be appropriated, reimagined or reconceptualised for new audiences. By using narrative in their own compositions students increase their confidence and enjoyment to express personal and public worlds in creative ways.
Students investigate how an author’s use of textual structures, language and stylistic features are crafted for particular purposes, audiences and effects. They examine conventions of narrative, for example setting, voice, point of view, imagery and characterisation and analyse how these are used to shape meaning. Students also explore how rhetorical devices enhance the power of narrative in other textual forms, including persuasive texts. They further develop and apply the conventions of syntax, spelling, punctuation and grammar for specific purposes and effect.
Students work individually and collaboratively to evaluate and refine their own use of narrative devices to creatively express complex ideas about their world in a variety of modes for a range of purposes and critically evaluate the use of narrative devices by other composers.
In this module, students explore a range of narratives from the past and the contemporary era that illuminate and convey ideas, attitudes and values. They consider the powerful role of stories and storytelling as a feature of narrative in past and present societies, as a way of: connecting people within and across cultures, communities and historical eras; inspiring change or consolidating stability; revealing, affirming or questioning cultural practices; sharing collective or individual experiences; or celebrating aesthetic achievement. Students deepen their understanding of how narrative shapes meaning in a range of modes, media and forms, and how it influences the way that individuals and communities understand and represent themselves.
Students analyse and evaluate one or more print, digital and/or multimodal texts to explore how narratives are shaped by the context and values of composers (authors, poets, playwrights, directors, designers and so on) and responders alike. They may investigate how narratives can be appropriated, reimagined or reconceptualised for new audiences. By using narrative in their own compositions students increase their confidence and enjoyment to express personal and public worlds in creative ways.
Students investigate how an author’s use of textual structures, language and stylistic features are crafted for particular purposes, audiences and effects. They examine conventions of narrative, for example setting, voice, point of view, imagery and characterisation and analyse how these are used to shape meaning. Students also explore how rhetorical devices enhance the power of narrative in other textual forms, including persuasive texts. They further develop and apply the conventions of syntax, spelling, punctuation and grammar for specific purposes and effect.
Students work individually and collaboratively to evaluate and refine their own use of narrative devices to creatively express complex ideas about their world in a variety of modes for a range of purposes and critically evaluate the use of narrative devices by other composers.
Focus Questions
· How is storytelling a universal element of human experience?
· What are the conventions of narrative and how are they crafted to tell speculative stories?
· How do the composers of speculative narratives use imagined worlds to comment upon and reflect their own contexts?
· How do speculative narratives have the potential to shape our perceptions of our world, and challenge existing structures and practices?
· How do composers create complex, multifaceted characters to connect with readers for intellectual and emotional impact?
· In what ways do composers manipulate narrative voices and point of view to reflect different concerns?
· How and why do stories resonate with their audiences across time?
Below, record in five dot points what you expect to learn about, and record in five dot points learning experiences that you expect to undertake.
· How is storytelling a universal element of human experience?
· What are the conventions of narrative and how are they crafted to tell speculative stories?
· How do the composers of speculative narratives use imagined worlds to comment upon and reflect their own contexts?
· How do speculative narratives have the potential to shape our perceptions of our world, and challenge existing structures and practices?
· How do composers create complex, multifaceted characters to connect with readers for intellectual and emotional impact?
· In what ways do composers manipulate narrative voices and point of view to reflect different concerns?
· How and why do stories resonate with their audiences across time?
Below, record in five dot points what you expect to learn about, and record in five dot points learning experiences that you expect to undertake.
Optional Reading + Questions
Lesson Four/Five/Six - Narrative types and conventions/introduction to the speculative narrative
Learning Intention: Students gain understanding of narrative types and conventions and the features of speculative narratives within the context of example texts.
Metanarrative:
A metanarrative (also called grand narrative) is an overarching story or storyline that gives context, meaning, and purpose to all of life. A metanarrative is the “big picture” or all-encompassing theme that unites all smaller themes and individual stories.
The concept of a metanarrative is similar to a worldview—something that gives meaning to life and the individual events that take place in life. Marxism, Freudianism, Free Market Capitalism, and Enlightenment Emancipation would be examples of metanarratives in that every event in life and history can be seen through one of these lenses.
Religious world views are also metanarratives. Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and Christianity all offer metanarratives to explain various events in history and the contemporary world. A metanarrative has the power to explain and purports to be true for all of life.
The term metanarrative was brought into prominence by Jean-François Lyotard in his 1979 book The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge. In this book, the author characterises the postmodern condition as that of increasing scepticism of all metanarratives. Indeed, post moderns generally do not accept any overarching story that gives meaning to all of life. Instead, they focus on small, individual narratives that give meaning to their own lives.
A metanarrative speaks of absolute, universal truth. An individual narrative speaks of what is “true for me” and “gives meaning to my life.” Postmodern thinking rejects metanarratives because it rejects universal truth. Postmoderns view a single narrative giving meaning to all lives as an impossibility.
Story Archetypes or ‘Masterplots’:
‘These are the stories we tell over and over in myriad forms and that connect vitally with our deepest wishes, values and fears. They are skeletal and adaptable, and they can recur in narrative after narrative. The rags to riches Cinderella story is one of them. Its variants can be found frequently in European and American cultures. Its constituent events elaborate a thread of neglect, injustice, rebirth and reward that responds to deeply held anxieties and desires. As such, the Cinderella masterplot has an enormous emotional capital that can be drawn on when constructing a narrative. To the extent that our values and identity are linked to a masterplot, that masterplot can have a strong rhetorical impact. We tend to give credibility to narratives that are structured by it. There are some masterplots that would appear to be universal: the quest, the story of revenge, seasonal myths of death and regeneration. But the more culturally specific the masterplot, the greater its practical force in everyday life. All national cultures have their masterplots, some of which are local variations on universal masterplots.’ H. Porter Abbott, The Cambridge Introduction to Narrative, Cambridge University Press, 2002.
Journalist Christopher Booker identified seven story archetypes, or masterplots, in his 2004 text The Seven Basic Plots:
Conventions of Narratives:
Conventions should include:
Metanarrative:
A metanarrative (also called grand narrative) is an overarching story or storyline that gives context, meaning, and purpose to all of life. A metanarrative is the “big picture” or all-encompassing theme that unites all smaller themes and individual stories.
The concept of a metanarrative is similar to a worldview—something that gives meaning to life and the individual events that take place in life. Marxism, Freudianism, Free Market Capitalism, and Enlightenment Emancipation would be examples of metanarratives in that every event in life and history can be seen through one of these lenses.
Religious world views are also metanarratives. Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and Christianity all offer metanarratives to explain various events in history and the contemporary world. A metanarrative has the power to explain and purports to be true for all of life.
The term metanarrative was brought into prominence by Jean-François Lyotard in his 1979 book The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge. In this book, the author characterises the postmodern condition as that of increasing scepticism of all metanarratives. Indeed, post moderns generally do not accept any overarching story that gives meaning to all of life. Instead, they focus on small, individual narratives that give meaning to their own lives.
A metanarrative speaks of absolute, universal truth. An individual narrative speaks of what is “true for me” and “gives meaning to my life.” Postmodern thinking rejects metanarratives because it rejects universal truth. Postmoderns view a single narrative giving meaning to all lives as an impossibility.
Story Archetypes or ‘Masterplots’:
‘These are the stories we tell over and over in myriad forms and that connect vitally with our deepest wishes, values and fears. They are skeletal and adaptable, and they can recur in narrative after narrative. The rags to riches Cinderella story is one of them. Its variants can be found frequently in European and American cultures. Its constituent events elaborate a thread of neglect, injustice, rebirth and reward that responds to deeply held anxieties and desires. As such, the Cinderella masterplot has an enormous emotional capital that can be drawn on when constructing a narrative. To the extent that our values and identity are linked to a masterplot, that masterplot can have a strong rhetorical impact. We tend to give credibility to narratives that are structured by it. There are some masterplots that would appear to be universal: the quest, the story of revenge, seasonal myths of death and regeneration. But the more culturally specific the masterplot, the greater its practical force in everyday life. All national cultures have their masterplots, some of which are local variations on universal masterplots.’ H. Porter Abbott, The Cambridge Introduction to Narrative, Cambridge University Press, 2002.
Journalist Christopher Booker identified seven story archetypes, or masterplots, in his 2004 text The Seven Basic Plots:
- Overcoming the monster
- Rags to riches
- The quest
- Voyage and return
- Comedy
- Tragedy
- Rebirth
Conventions of Narratives:
Conventions should include:
- Plot/archetypes/‘masterplot’
- Conflict
- Characterisation
- Setting
- Sequencing of events/framing/time
- Point of view/narrative voice
- Language/style
- Genre
- Tropes
- Ideas/themes
- Speculative Stories - introduction to speculative narratives
Speculative Stories |
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Speculative stories take our existing world and change it by asking ‘What if?'
What, then, would be the purpose of speculative narratives?
Writers use imagined worlds to comment upon and reflect their own contexts. Speculative narratives have the potential to shape our perceptions of our world, and challenge existing structures and practices.
Speculative Fiction Notes
What, then, would be the purpose of speculative narratives?
Writers use imagined worlds to comment upon and reflect their own contexts. Speculative narratives have the potential to shape our perceptions of our world, and challenge existing structures and practices.
Speculative Fiction Notes
- An imagined world setting in which the ‘laws’ are different to our own but easily recognisable
- A macro narrative involving the abuse or corruption of power
- Dystopian worlds - environmental destruction, technological danger, oppressive regimes, removal of freedoms
- Conflict between the state and the individual (macro/micro conflict)
- A protagonist who challenges society’s expectations and faces difficult odds
- Specific/blended genres - science fiction, horror, fantasy, dystopian, post-apocalyptic
- An exaggeration of current contextual concerns
- Masterplots such as ‘overcoming the monster’, ‘the quest’, ‘voyage and return’, ‘rebirth’
Dig Down - Muse (Matt Bellamy)
The song and video were released in 2017.
*What recent events of political situations might songwriter Matt Bellamy be responding to through the lyrics, music and video?
* Consider who the protagonist might represent and who she is fighting against.
Critical response: How does Bellamy use the conventions of a speculative narrative to make a comment on his society and challenge the socio-political landscape? Comment on plot/masterplot, conflict, characterisation, setting, sequencing, point of view/narrative voice, language/music/film devices, genre, tropes, ideas.
*What recent events of political situations might songwriter Matt Bellamy be responding to through the lyrics, music and video?
* Consider who the protagonist might represent and who she is fighting against.
Critical response: How does Bellamy use the conventions of a speculative narrative to make a comment on his society and challenge the socio-political landscape? Comment on plot/masterplot, conflict, characterisation, setting, sequencing, point of view/narrative voice, language/music/film devices, genre, tropes, ideas.
Research Task
- Research a song of your own choosing own that could be viewed as a speculative narrative and complete the following questions
- - What events might have inspired this song (during the writer’s context or before/after)
- - Who is the protagonist? What are they fighting against?
- Critical response: How does this song/lyrics/film clip use the conventions of a speculative narrative to make a comment on the society and challenge the socio-political landscape? Comment on plot/masterplot, conflict, characterisation, setting, sequencing, point of view/narrative voice, language/music/film devices, genre, tropes, ideas.
Lesson Seven
Learning Intention: Students gain understanding of narrative types and conventions and the features of speculative narratives within the context of example texts.
Super-Toys Last All Summer Long
Brian Aldiss (1969)
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Questions
What happens when human beings create artificial beings to love them? What is the human responsibility to these life forms? |
Lesson Eight and Nine
Learning intention: Gain understanding of the social, political, historical and personal context of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ through group research and presentation.
Context
Is The Handmaid's Tale a representative example of Canadian
literature, a feminist novel, a bleak look at a possible conservative and fundamentalist future, or a criticism of humanity's violent and oppressive tendencies? As it turns out, the novel might fit all of these descriptors. |
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Lesson Ten/Eleven/Twelve
Revise the conventions of the genre, such as:
o An imagined world setting in which the ‘laws’ are different to our own but easily recognisable
o A macro narrative involving the abuse or corruption of power
o Dystopian worlds - environmental destruction, technological danger, oppressive regimes, removal of freedoms
o Conflict between the state and the individual (macro/micro conflict)
o An oppressed protagonist who challenges society’s expectations and faces difficult odds
o Specific/blended genres - science fiction, horror, fantasy, dystopian, post-apocalyptic
o An exaggeration of current contextual concerns
o Masterplots such as ‘overcoming the monster’, ‘the quest’, ‘voyage and return’, ‘rebirth’
o An imagined world setting in which the ‘laws’ are different to our own but easily recognisable
o A macro narrative involving the abuse or corruption of power
o Dystopian worlds - environmental destruction, technological danger, oppressive regimes, removal of freedoms
o Conflict between the state and the individual (macro/micro conflict)
o An oppressed protagonist who challenges society’s expectations and faces difficult odds
o Specific/blended genres - science fiction, horror, fantasy, dystopian, post-apocalyptic
o An exaggeration of current contextual concerns
o Masterplots such as ‘overcoming the monster’, ‘the quest’, ‘voyage and return’, ‘rebirth’
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DYSTOPIAN CHARACTERISTICS:
Perception (often conflicted and biased) of a ‘perfect world’
Totalitarian control
Conformity, censorship, surveillance, restricted freedoms, oppression
A protagonist who sees the system for what it is and questions/rebels
DYSTOPIAN PROTAGONISTS
Handmaid’s Tale
A woman oppressed by a patriarchal system
Hunger Games
A lower-class teen who becomes a ‘sacrificial lamb’
Children of Men
A former resistance fighter who become the protector of a pregnant teen in an infertile world
1984
A government worker who takes part in his society’s censorship agenda
Fahrenheit 451
A ‘fireman’ who burns the books that his society has banned
Brave New World
An upper-caste lab worker who rebels against his cloning society’s systems
Perception (often conflicted and biased) of a ‘perfect world’
Totalitarian control
Conformity, censorship, surveillance, restricted freedoms, oppression
A protagonist who sees the system for what it is and questions/rebels
DYSTOPIAN PROTAGONISTS
Handmaid’s Tale
A woman oppressed by a patriarchal system
Hunger Games
A lower-class teen who becomes a ‘sacrificial lamb’
Children of Men
A former resistance fighter who become the protector of a pregnant teen in an infertile world
1984
A government worker who takes part in his society’s censorship agenda
Fahrenheit 451
A ‘fireman’ who burns the books that his society has banned
Brave New World
An upper-caste lab worker who rebels against his cloning society’s systems
We admire the best dystopian novels because they’re written well and depict people we can relate to. We’re fascinated by the terrible things these characters face, and by how some react bravely and some react cowardly or with resignation. We, as readers, rubberneck to see the misery; we can’t avert our eyes even as we’re enraged by what despots and other vicious officials are doing to citizens. And we’re compelled to turn the pages as we wonder if rebels and other members of the populace can somehow remake a wretched society into something more positive. We also wonder who will survive and who won’t.
Last but not least, we admire dystopian novels because, by giving us worst-case scenarios of the future, maybe our current society can be jolted enough to avoid those scenarios eventually happening in real life. Like some of the characters in dystopian novels, we might feel a little against-all-odds hope. Then again, maybe not…
- Dave Astor, 2012, The Huffington Post
Last but not least, we admire dystopian novels because, by giving us worst-case scenarios of the future, maybe our current society can be jolted enough to avoid those scenarios eventually happening in real life. Like some of the characters in dystopian novels, we might feel a little against-all-odds hope. Then again, maybe not…
- Dave Astor, 2012, The Huffington Post
Analysis Questions - Chapter One
- How does the opening paragraph represent the past, and the passing of time?
- What is a palimpsest and how is this metaphor further developed through Atwood’s imagery?
- Describe Atwood’s narrative voice. Whose point of view is represented? How would you describe the tone and how is it created? What is the impact of the collective first person ‘we’?
- What key images, words, or allusions establish setting and hint that Offred’s world is different to our own in this chapter?
- Atwood juxtaposes imagery of sex between past and present. Explore the effect of this contrasting imagery and how it foreshadows what is to come in the narrative.
‘I remember that yearning, for something that was always about to happen and was never the same as the hands that were on us there and then, in the small of the back, or out back, in the parking lot, or in the television room with the sound turned down and only the picture flickering over lifting flesh.’
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‘The Angels stood outside it with their backs to us. They were objects of fear to us, but of something else as well. If only they would look. If only we could talk to them. Something could be exchanged, we thought, some deal made, some trade-off, we still had our bodies. That was our fantasy.’
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6. What does this passage reveal about Atwood’s imagined world? How does her language create a sense of fear and foreboding? How are the handmaids characterised here?
' We learned to whisper almost without sound. In the semi-darkness we could stretch out our arms, when the Aunts weren’t looking, and touch each other’s hands across space. We learned to lip read, our heads flat on the beds, turned sideways, watching each other’s mouths. In this way we exchanged names, from bed to bed: Alma. Louise. Dolores. Moira. June.’
7. What conflicts are established in the opening chapter and how does Atwood explore them?
Re-imagined Worlds
To remind you:
- Fiction is not real - it involves imaginary characters and events
- Conventional fiction follows its won set of rules, however has to seem plausible but not real
-Shape by text constraints means that often the boring bit are cut out
- Teleological is when the text is plots, whereas real life often can seem random, pointless, complex
-Aesthetically arranged refers to a sense of order or beauty in alternative, fictional worlds - but also darkness and severity
Across the course of human history, writers, actors, artists and musicians (and more recently filmmakers and web designers) have been creating literary worlds - fictional places and experiences in their art - to create a place for readers, audiences, viewers and listeners to experience imaginary places and times that can be very like the world we know or completely different.
To remind you:
- Fiction is not real - it involves imaginary characters and events
- Conventional fiction follows its won set of rules, however has to seem plausible but not real
-Shape by text constraints means that often the boring bit are cut out
- Teleological is when the text is plots, whereas real life often can seem random, pointless, complex
-Aesthetically arranged refers to a sense of order or beauty in alternative, fictional worlds - but also darkness and severity
Across the course of human history, writers, actors, artists and musicians (and more recently filmmakers and web designers) have been creating literary worlds - fictional places and experiences in their art - to create a place for readers, audiences, viewers and listeners to experience imaginary places and times that can be very like the world we know or completely different.
Consider the following:
The personal, social, historical and cultural context of the text
Its genre, form and structure
Distinctive features of the text
Our own contexts
In order to understand:
Ideas about the complex relationship between individuals and society
Perspectives on the diversity of human experience
Alternative readings of the text
The value of the text.
Creative Writing Activity
In order to consider why Atwood chose to open her novel in the school gymnasium, we need to consider what other setting she could have used.
Rewrite the first page of the novel, reflecting the same ideas, thoughts and feeling - using a different setting. This could be another room in the school, or another location in Gilead. (500 words)
Reflect on choice you have made - do you think your setting has the desired effect, similar to the novel (200 words).
In order to consider why Atwood chose to open her novel in the school gymnasium, we need to consider what other setting she could have used.
Rewrite the first page of the novel, reflecting the same ideas, thoughts and feeling - using a different setting. This could be another room in the school, or another location in Gilead. (500 words)
Reflect on choice you have made - do you think your setting has the desired effect, similar to the novel (200 words).
Analysis Questions - Chapter Two - Setting, Character, and Language
1. What is the effect of the asyndeton and lack of adjectives in the opening sentence, ‘A chair, a table, a lamp’? What does this immediately suggest about this place?
2. Create a visual representation of Offred’s room. What words would you use to describe this setting? Compare your image to a partner. How were your representations similar/different?
3. What might the ‘relief ornament in the shape of a wreath’ and the simile, ‘like the place in a face where the eye has been taken out’ connote about Offred’s world?
4. What is the impact of addressing suicide in such a desensitised and indifferent tone, ‘They’ve removed anything you could tie a rope to,’ and even as a reprieve, ‘It’s those other escapes, the ones you can open in yourself, given a cutting edge’? What does this suggest about the lives of the handmaids?
5. In this chapter there is a strong sense of restriction and restraint in this society. How does Atwood’s restraint with language mirror the oppressiveness of Offred’s world?
6. Chapter 2 introduces Offred’s language play, her musings on language, and her reflection on her deliberate language choices, which continue through the novel.
a. What is the effect of the following examples of antanaclasis (antanaclasis is a rhetorical device in which a phrase or word is repeatedly used where the meaning of a word changes in each case)?
2. Create a visual representation of Offred’s room. What words would you use to describe this setting? Compare your image to a partner. How were your representations similar/different?
3. What might the ‘relief ornament in the shape of a wreath’ and the simile, ‘like the place in a face where the eye has been taken out’ connote about Offred’s world?
4. What is the impact of addressing suicide in such a desensitised and indifferent tone, ‘They’ve removed anything you could tie a rope to,’ and even as a reprieve, ‘It’s those other escapes, the ones you can open in yourself, given a cutting edge’? What does this suggest about the lives of the handmaids?
5. In this chapter there is a strong sense of restriction and restraint in this society. How does Atwood’s restraint with language mirror the oppressiveness of Offred’s world?
6. Chapter 2 introduces Offred’s language play, her musings on language, and her reflection on her deliberate language choices, which continue through the novel.
a. What is the effect of the following examples of antanaclasis (antanaclasis is a rhetorical device in which a phrase or word is repeatedly used where the meaning of a word changes in each case)?
‘… this could be … a room in a rooming house, of former times, for ladies in reduced circumstances. This is what we are now. The circumstances have been reduced; for those of us who still have circumstances.’
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‘Waste not want not. I am not being wasted. Why do I want?’
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b. ‘The bell that measures time is ringing. Time here is measured by bells, as once in nunneries.’ Here Atwood employs antimetabole (derived from a Greek word which means “turning about”, it is a literary term or device that involves repeating a phrase in reverse order). What is the effect?
c. What is the significance of Offred’s language choices here: ‘The door of the room – not my room, I refuse to say my – is locked’?
d. What is the effect of Offred’s figurative language for the following?
c. What is the significance of Offred’s language choices here: ‘The door of the room – not my room, I refuse to say my – is locked’?
d. What is the effect of Offred’s figurative language for the following?
‘She thinks I may be catching, like a disease or any form of bad luck.’
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‘There remains a mirror, on the hall wall… round, convex, a pier-glass, like the eye of a fish, and myself in it like a distorted shadow, a parody of something, some fairytale figure in a red cloak, descending towards a moment of carelessness that is the same as danger. A Sister, dipped in blood.’
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‘There’s a grandfather clock in the hallway, which doles out time, and then the door to the motherly sitting room, with its fleshtones and hints.’
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‘Like a path through the forest, like a carpet for royalty, it shows me the way. The carpet bends and goes down the front staircase and I go with it, one hand on the banister, once a tree, turned in another century, rubbed to a warm gloss.’
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e. Offred reminisces about language and conversation:
‘I know what you mean, we’d say. Or, a quaint expression you sometimes hear, still, from older people: I hear where you’re coming from, as if the voice itself were a traveller, arriving from a distant place. Which is would be, which it is. How I used to despise such talk. Now I long for it. At least it was talk. An exchange, or sorts.’ What does the word ‘quaint’ suggest about the present? How is the voice a traveller from the past? Why does Offred long for talk she once despised?
‘Fraternize means to behave like a brother. Luke told me that. He said there was no corresponding word that meant to behave like a sister. Sororize, it would have to be, he said. From the Latin. He liked knowing about such details. The derivations of words, curious usages. I used to tease him about being pedantic.’ What do we discover about Luke? What is the significance of the lack of a feminine form of the word ‘fraternize’ to the narrative?
‘I know what you mean, we’d say. Or, a quaint expression you sometimes hear, still, from older people: I hear where you’re coming from, as if the voice itself were a traveller, arriving from a distant place. Which is would be, which it is. How I used to despise such talk. Now I long for it. At least it was talk. An exchange, or sorts.’ What does the word ‘quaint’ suggest about the present? How is the voice a traveller from the past? Why does Offred long for talk she once despised?
‘Fraternize means to behave like a brother. Luke told me that. He said there was no corresponding word that meant to behave like a sister. Sororize, it would have to be, he said. From the Latin. He liked knowing about such details. The derivations of words, curious usages. I used to tease him about being pedantic.’ What do we discover about Luke? What is the significance of the lack of a feminine form of the word ‘fraternize’ to the narrative?
Optional Viewing
Lesson Thirteen
Learning Intention: Students analyse how Atwood creates complex, multifaceted characters to connect with readers for intellectual and emotional impact and to convey her thematic concerns.
‘Character is an important concept in narrative as a driver of the action, a function in the plot, a way of engaging or positioning a reader or as a way of representing its thematic concerns. Characters may be a medium through which ideas and societal attitudes and values are conveyed. The representation and interpretation of character depends on personal and cultural values.’
Activity:
Allocate a character to groups or pairs of students. Consider: o Serena Joy o The Commander o Moira o Aunt Lydia o Janine o Nick o Luke o The Marthas o Ofglen Complete a detailed analysis of allocated character. Provide one copy to Miss, who will compile your thoughts into a booklet. |
Lesson Fourteen
1. ‘My name isn't Offred, I have another name, which nobody uses now because it's forbidden. I tell myself it doesn’t matter, your name is like your telephone number, useful only to others; but what I tell myself is wrong, it does matter. I keep the knowledge of this name like something hidden, some treasure I’ll come back to dig up, one day. I think of this name as buried. This name has an aura around it, like an amulet, some charm that’s survived from an unimaginably distant past. I lie in my single bed at night, with my eyes closed, and the name floats there behind my eyes, not quite within reach, shining in the dark.’ Chapter 14
a. Why is our protagonist narrator unnamed throughout the novel? b. What does the convention of naming handmaids after their commanders reveal about this society? c. How does Atwood’s figurative language here highlight the grief of Offred’s loss of identity combined with a sense of hope for the future? d. What is Atwood speculating about her own world? 2. How does Atwood convey both strength and vulnerability in Offred’s characterisation? Provide examples from throughout the novel. 3. ‘I try not to think too much. Like other things now, thought must be rationed. There’s a lot that doesn’t bear thinking about. Thinking can hurt your chances, and I intend to last.’ Chapter 2. Offred is a survivor - compare her fate to other handmaids in the novel in the novel. How does she survive? |
4. Offred’s narrative is a familiar one to speculative/dystopian fiction – an oppressed individual who challenges his or her oppressive society – the rebel. Yet Offred’s rebellions are small – she intends to survive. In Chapter 4, she makes eye contact with a Guardian – a forbidden act. ‘It's an event, a small defiance of rule, so small as to be undetectable, but such moments are the rewards I hold out for myself, like the candy I hoarded, as a child, at the back of a drawer.’
a. What other small acts of rebellion or defiance does Offred engage in? Provide quotes.
b. How do these acts of defiance, these ‘rewards’ assist in her survival both psychologically and emotionally?
5. In Chapter 17 Offred returns to her room following the Ceremony and lathers her dry skin with butter, kept from her dinner, as beauty products are not allowed to handmaids.
a. What other small acts of rebellion or defiance does Offred engage in? Provide quotes.
b. How do these acts of defiance, these ‘rewards’ assist in her survival both psychologically and emotionally?
5. In Chapter 17 Offred returns to her room following the Ceremony and lathers her dry skin with butter, kept from her dinner, as beauty products are not allowed to handmaids.
‘Buttered, I lie on my single bed, flat, like a piece of toast. I can’t sleep. In the semi dark I stare up at the blind plaster eye in the middle of the ceiling, which stares back down at me, even though it can’t see. There’s no breeze, my white curtains are like gauze bandages, hanging limp, glimmering in the aura cast by the searchlight that illuminates this house at night, or is there a moon?
I fold back the sheet, get carefully up, on silent bare feet, in my nightgown, go to the window, like a child, I want to see. The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow. The sky is clear but hard to make out, because of the searchlight; but yes, in the obscured sky a moon does float, newly, a wishing moon, a sliver of ancient rock, a goddess, a wink. The moon is a stone and the sky is full of deadly hardware, but oh God, how beautiful anyway.
I want Luke here so badly. I want to be held and told my name. I want to be valued, in ways that I am not; I want to be more than valuable. I repeat my former name, remind myself of what I once could do, how others saw me.
I want to steal something.’
I fold back the sheet, get carefully up, on silent bare feet, in my nightgown, go to the window, like a child, I want to see. The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow. The sky is clear but hard to make out, because of the searchlight; but yes, in the obscured sky a moon does float, newly, a wishing moon, a sliver of ancient rock, a goddess, a wink. The moon is a stone and the sky is full of deadly hardware, but oh God, how beautiful anyway.
I want Luke here so badly. I want to be held and told my name. I want to be valued, in ways that I am not; I want to be more than valuable. I repeat my former name, remind myself of what I once could do, how others saw me.
I want to steal something.’
a. Offred’s opening simile is chremamorphic, describing herself as a piece of toast, yet the environment around her is personified, anthopomorphised – the ceiling ‘stares’, the snow has a ‘breast’, the moon is a ‘goddess, a wink’. Why does Atwood create this juxtaposition?
b. The asyndeton in ‘I fold back the sheet, get carefully up, on silent bare feet, in my nightgown, go to the window, like a child, I want to see’ creates a run-on sentence – what does Atwood reveal about Offred through this imagery and peculiar syntax?
c. How does Atwood use the feminie symbol of the moon to suggest Offred still has power?
d. How is the third paragraph proof of Offred’s resilience? Explore the anaphora and the verb ‘want’. They are demands as well as desires. What is the significance of Offred’s ‘former name’ here? Why does Atwood still not reveal it to us?
e. What does the final sentence, ‘I want to steal something’ reveal about Offred?
6. Offred reflects on her visit with the Commander in Chapter 24, after she has played Scrabble and he has asked her to kiss him:
b. The asyndeton in ‘I fold back the sheet, get carefully up, on silent bare feet, in my nightgown, go to the window, like a child, I want to see’ creates a run-on sentence – what does Atwood reveal about Offred through this imagery and peculiar syntax?
c. How does Atwood use the feminie symbol of the moon to suggest Offred still has power?
d. How is the third paragraph proof of Offred’s resilience? Explore the anaphora and the verb ‘want’. They are demands as well as desires. What is the significance of Offred’s ‘former name’ here? Why does Atwood still not reveal it to us?
e. What does the final sentence, ‘I want to steal something’ reveal about Offred?
6. Offred reflects on her visit with the Commander in Chapter 24, after she has played Scrabble and he has asked her to kiss him:
‘What I need is perspective. The illusion of depth, created by a frame, the arrangement of shapes on a flat surface. Perspective is necessary. Otherwise there are only two dimensions. Otherwise you live with your face squashed against a wall, everything a huge foreground, of details, close-ups, hairs, the weave of a bedsheet, the molecules of the face. Your own skin like a map, a diagram of futility, crisscrossed with tiny roads that lead nowhere. Otherwise you live in the moment, which is not where I want to be.
But that’s where I am, there’s no escaping it. Time’s a trap, I’m caught in it. I must forget about my secret name and all ways back. My name is Offred now, and here is where I live.
Live in the present, make the most of it, it’s all you’ve got.
Time to take stock.
I am thirty-three years old. I have brown hair. I stand five seven without shoes. I have trouble remembering what I used to look like. I have viable ovaries. I have one more chance.
But something has changed, now, tonight. Circumstances have altered.’
But that’s where I am, there’s no escaping it. Time’s a trap, I’m caught in it. I must forget about my secret name and all ways back. My name is Offred now, and here is where I live.
Live in the present, make the most of it, it’s all you’ve got.
Time to take stock.
I am thirty-three years old. I have brown hair. I stand five seven without shoes. I have trouble remembering what I used to look like. I have viable ovaries. I have one more chance.
But something has changed, now, tonight. Circumstances have altered.’
a. How does Atwood’s figurative language contrast having perspective with living in the moment?
b. How are Offred’s circumstances now different to her ‘reduced circumstances’ of Chapter 2, and why?
c. How is Offred’s perspective of her name represented differently to Chapter 14?
7. Atwood’s final section, the ‘Historical Notes’ at the end of the novel, provide a final comment on Offred, ‘But what else do we know about her, apart from her age, some physical characteristics that could be anyone's, and her place of residence? Not very much. She appears to have been an educated woman, insofar as a graduate of any North American college of the time may be said to have been educated… But the woods, as you say, were full of these, so that is no help. She does not see fit to provide us with her original name, and indeed all official records of it would have been destroyed upon her entry to the Rachel and Leah Re-Education Centre.’
b. How are Offred’s circumstances now different to her ‘reduced circumstances’ of Chapter 2, and why?
c. How is Offred’s perspective of her name represented differently to Chapter 14?
7. Atwood’s final section, the ‘Historical Notes’ at the end of the novel, provide a final comment on Offred, ‘But what else do we know about her, apart from her age, some physical characteristics that could be anyone's, and her place of residence? Not very much. She appears to have been an educated woman, insofar as a graduate of any North American college of the time may be said to have been educated… But the woods, as you say, were full of these, so that is no help. She does not see fit to provide us with her original name, and indeed all official records of it would have been destroyed upon her entry to the Rachel and Leah Re-Education Centre.’
‘… many gaps remain. Some of them could have been filled by our anonymous author, had she a different turn of mind. She could have told us much about the workings of the Gileadean empire, had she the instincts of a reporter or a spy.’
a. What is the impact of these final musings on Offred?
b. Why is it significant that Offred told her own personal narrative, rather than providing factual details about Gilead – the political macro narrative?
c. What comment do you think Atwood is making in having a male academic deliver this lecture?
8. How has Atwood used her characterisation of Offred to comment on her 1980s context as a whole? What are Atwood’s key thematic concerns as revealed through her protagonist?
b. Why is it significant that Offred told her own personal narrative, rather than providing factual details about Gilead – the political macro narrative?
c. What comment do you think Atwood is making in having a male academic deliver this lecture?
8. How has Atwood used her characterisation of Offred to comment on her 1980s context as a whole? What are Atwood’s key thematic concerns as revealed through her protagonist?
Lesson Fifteen
Learning Intention: Students analyse and evaluate how composers manipulate narrative voice and point of view, and narrative structure, to reflect different concerns.
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Narrative as construct: Atwood makes it very clear to her readers that ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ is - as are all novels, of course - a construct. Offred tells us that her story is unreliable -a ‘reconstruction’. The first person present tense narrative voice is immediate and central to the success of the story’s point of view. Offred is the lens through which we see Gilead.
Atwood utilises a fragmented structure/non-chronological time sequence. Her narrative is divided into titled sections which shift between past and present in a stream of consciousness style to reflect Offred’s thought processes and her branching musings.
Narrative as construct: Atwood makes it very clear to her readers that ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ is - as are all novels, of course - a construct. Offred tells us that her story is unreliable -a ‘reconstruction’. The first person present tense narrative voice is immediate and central to the success of the story’s point of view. Offred is the lens through which we see Gilead.
Atwood utilises a fragmented structure/non-chronological time sequence. Her narrative is divided into titled sections which shift between past and present in a stream of consciousness style to reflect Offred’s thought processes and her branching musings.
1. Read the opening of Chapter 23.
‘This is a reconstruction. All of it is a reconstruction. It’s reconstruction now, in my head, as I lie flat on my single bed…
When I get out of here, if I’m ever able to set this down, in any form, even in the form of one voice to another, it will be a reconstruction then too, yet at another remove. It’s impossible to say a thing exactly the way it was, because what you say can never be exact, you always have to leave something out, there are too many parts, sides, crosscurrents, nuances; too many gestures, which could mean this or that, too many shapes which can never be fully described, too many flavours, in the air or on the tongue, half-colours, too many.’
a. Analyse Atwood’s pallilogy (repetition of the word ‘reconstruction’ throughout this passage). What is the effect?
b. How does the anaphora of ‘too many’ and the syntax of this sentence capture Offred’s inability to tell her story accurately?
c. What might Offred mean by ‘even in the form of one voice to another’?
d. Analyse Atwood’s noun choices. Why ‘parts, sides, crosscurrents, nuances’, ‘gestures’, ‘shapes’, ‘flavours’, ‘air’, ‘half-colours’?
e. What is Offred telling us about her reliability as a narrator?
2. What do we discover about the narrative as Offred muses, ‘I can’t remember exactly, because I had no way of writing it down’?
3. Read Chapter 40. Offred has sex with Nick for the first time to increase her chances of pregnancy, at the request of Serena Joy. Offred emphasises her unreliability by providing us with different versions of the event.
‘His mouth is on me, his hands, I can’t wait and he’s moving, already, love, it’s been so long, I’m alive in my skin, again, arms around him, falling and water softly everywhere, never-ending. I knew it might only be once.
I made that up. It didn’t happen that way. Here is what happened.
… “No romance,” he says. “Okay?”
… And so it goes. And so.
I knew it might only be once. Goodbye, I thought, even at the time goodbye.
… It didn’t happen that way either. I’m not sure how it happened; not exactly. All I can hope for is a reconstruction: the way love feels is always only approximate.’
a. What do these different versions of the event reveal about Offred’s desires?
b. What does this passage reveal further about Offred as a narrator and re-constructor of story?
c. What impact does the ambiguity have on the reader?
d. ‘So it goes’ is a famous line from Kurt Vonnegut’s novel Slaughterhouse Five. Research the meaning of the phrase as used by Vonnegut. What might be the impact of the allusion here?
4. Read the first six paragraphs of Chapter 41 (excerpts selected here).
‘I wish this story were different. I wish it were more civilised. I wish it showed me in a better light… I wish it had more shape. I wish it were about love, or about sudden realisations important to one’s life, or even about sunsets, birds, rainstorms, or snow.
… I’m sorry there is so much pain in this story. I’m sorry it’s in fragments, like a body caught in crossfire or pulled apart by force. But there is nothing that I can do to change it.
… Nevertheless it hurts me to tell it over, over again. Once was enough: wasn’t once enough for me at the time? But I keep going with this sad and hungry and sordid, this limping and mutilated story, because after all I want you to hear it… By telling you anything at all I’m at least believing in you, I believe you’re there, I believe you into being. Because I’m telling you this story I will your existence. I tell, therefore you are.
So I will go on. So I will myself to go on. I am coming to a part you will not like at all, because in it I did not behave well, but I will try nonetheless to leave nothing out. After all you’ve been through, you deserve whatever I have left, which is not much but includes the truth.’
a. What does the anaphora and verb choice of ‘wish’ in the opening paragraph reveal about Offred and her perspective on her story?
b. Offred apologises for her story being ‘in fragments, like a body caught in crossfire’. Is the novel unstructured? How does Atwood’s narrative structure mirror Offred’s point of view? Provide textual evidence in support of your view.
c. Offred has previously told us her story is a ‘reconstruction’. Here, she tells us it’s ‘truth’ and that ‘it hurts to tell it over, over again’. Why, then, does she tell it? Does this change your perspective of her reliability as a narrator? Can we believe what Offred tells us here? Find quotations, from elsewhere in the novel, which indicate the importance of communication.
d. Offred addresses her reader directly in second person here. Who is the ‘you’ that Offred is addressing? Give evidence for your opinion.
e. Offred describes her story as ‘sad and hungry and sordid, this limping and mutilated story’. How does this figurative description match Atwood’s thematic concerns? How would you describe this imagery? How can it reflect her context?
f. Atwood alludes to philosopher Descartes’ famous meditation ‘cogito ergo sum’, or ‘I think, therefore I am’, suggesting that thinking about one’s existence proves that existence in the pun ‘I tell, therefore you are’. What does this suggest about the power of narrative? Why does Offred need to believe this?
5. By careful selection of quotations, trace the gradual development of Offred’s relationship with the reader, starting with the distant, detached tone of the early chapters, ‘I try not to think too much. Thinking can hurt your chances, and I intend to last,’ moving through various stages to the second person direct address, ‘By telling you anything at all I’m at least believing in you, I believe you’re there. I believe you into being. Because I’m telling you this story I will your existence. I tell, therefore you are.’ Find more examples of how Offred builds her relationship with the reader.
6. The ‘Historical Notes’ and Pieixoto’s address. Atwood’s final section is presented as the transcript from a conference on the history of Gilead, some 200 years into the future. As with Offred’s narrative, it is presented in first person.
a. Why do you think Atwood chose to present this information in speech form rather than an academic third person voice?
b. We discover that ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, Offred’s story, was not a document, but ‘approximately thirty tape casettes’ and the arrangement of the structure of the narrative from the tapes ‘are based on some guesswork and are to be regarded as approximate’. What impact does this discovery have on the reader?
c.Consider the various layers of Offred’s narrative – a woman’s story constructed verbally and recorded, from past events, pieced together by two men in the distant future and transcribed into written text. What do you think is Atwood’s purpose in creating this distance from Offred’s story?
d. In failing to determine the identity of Offred from her story, Pieixoto instead researched the Commander to discover more. What comment is Atwood making about gender and power here?
e. How does Atwood comment on her contextual concerns in this section? Give evidence.
f. How does the allusion to Eurydice reflect Atwood’s core ideas?
g. ‘Voices may reach us from it; but what they say to us is imbued with the obscurity of the matrix out of which they come; and, try as we may, we cannot always decipher them precisely in the clearer light of our own day.’ How do Pieixoto’s closing remarks capture Atwood’s message about the nature of story?
h. Is ‘Are there any questions?’ a fitting end to the narrative? Why/why not?
7. Offred uses other characters’ voices in her story, reconstructing their dialogue. Find examples of the following:
a. Aunt Lydia’s teachings at the Red Centre are reproduced in some detail, for example in chapters 13 and 20. She frequently talk in clichés, attacking sexual and other freedoms;
b.This is counterpointed by Moira’s earthy comments and demotic, often obscene, language;
c. When Offred recalls her mother’s feminist views, these too are reproduced in a different speech style;
d. When we reach the section Historical Notes, Atwood creates another, very different voice for Professor Pieixoto, whose rather cynical, detached style is in sharp contrast to Offred’s sensitive, thoughtful and emotionally engaged tone.
8. How does the immediacy of Offred’s first person, present tense narration conflict with the layered detachment from her story that we discover at the end? Why does Atwood position us to feel close to her through her story, then distance us from her at the end?
‘This is a reconstruction. All of it is a reconstruction. It’s reconstruction now, in my head, as I lie flat on my single bed…
When I get out of here, if I’m ever able to set this down, in any form, even in the form of one voice to another, it will be a reconstruction then too, yet at another remove. It’s impossible to say a thing exactly the way it was, because what you say can never be exact, you always have to leave something out, there are too many parts, sides, crosscurrents, nuances; too many gestures, which could mean this or that, too many shapes which can never be fully described, too many flavours, in the air or on the tongue, half-colours, too many.’
a. Analyse Atwood’s pallilogy (repetition of the word ‘reconstruction’ throughout this passage). What is the effect?
b. How does the anaphora of ‘too many’ and the syntax of this sentence capture Offred’s inability to tell her story accurately?
c. What might Offred mean by ‘even in the form of one voice to another’?
d. Analyse Atwood’s noun choices. Why ‘parts, sides, crosscurrents, nuances’, ‘gestures’, ‘shapes’, ‘flavours’, ‘air’, ‘half-colours’?
e. What is Offred telling us about her reliability as a narrator?
2. What do we discover about the narrative as Offred muses, ‘I can’t remember exactly, because I had no way of writing it down’?
3. Read Chapter 40. Offred has sex with Nick for the first time to increase her chances of pregnancy, at the request of Serena Joy. Offred emphasises her unreliability by providing us with different versions of the event.
‘His mouth is on me, his hands, I can’t wait and he’s moving, already, love, it’s been so long, I’m alive in my skin, again, arms around him, falling and water softly everywhere, never-ending. I knew it might only be once.
I made that up. It didn’t happen that way. Here is what happened.
… “No romance,” he says. “Okay?”
… And so it goes. And so.
I knew it might only be once. Goodbye, I thought, even at the time goodbye.
… It didn’t happen that way either. I’m not sure how it happened; not exactly. All I can hope for is a reconstruction: the way love feels is always only approximate.’
a. What do these different versions of the event reveal about Offred’s desires?
b. What does this passage reveal further about Offred as a narrator and re-constructor of story?
c. What impact does the ambiguity have on the reader?
d. ‘So it goes’ is a famous line from Kurt Vonnegut’s novel Slaughterhouse Five. Research the meaning of the phrase as used by Vonnegut. What might be the impact of the allusion here?
4. Read the first six paragraphs of Chapter 41 (excerpts selected here).
‘I wish this story were different. I wish it were more civilised. I wish it showed me in a better light… I wish it had more shape. I wish it were about love, or about sudden realisations important to one’s life, or even about sunsets, birds, rainstorms, or snow.
… I’m sorry there is so much pain in this story. I’m sorry it’s in fragments, like a body caught in crossfire or pulled apart by force. But there is nothing that I can do to change it.
… Nevertheless it hurts me to tell it over, over again. Once was enough: wasn’t once enough for me at the time? But I keep going with this sad and hungry and sordid, this limping and mutilated story, because after all I want you to hear it… By telling you anything at all I’m at least believing in you, I believe you’re there, I believe you into being. Because I’m telling you this story I will your existence. I tell, therefore you are.
So I will go on. So I will myself to go on. I am coming to a part you will not like at all, because in it I did not behave well, but I will try nonetheless to leave nothing out. After all you’ve been through, you deserve whatever I have left, which is not much but includes the truth.’
a. What does the anaphora and verb choice of ‘wish’ in the opening paragraph reveal about Offred and her perspective on her story?
b. Offred apologises for her story being ‘in fragments, like a body caught in crossfire’. Is the novel unstructured? How does Atwood’s narrative structure mirror Offred’s point of view? Provide textual evidence in support of your view.
c. Offred has previously told us her story is a ‘reconstruction’. Here, she tells us it’s ‘truth’ and that ‘it hurts to tell it over, over again’. Why, then, does she tell it? Does this change your perspective of her reliability as a narrator? Can we believe what Offred tells us here? Find quotations, from elsewhere in the novel, which indicate the importance of communication.
d. Offred addresses her reader directly in second person here. Who is the ‘you’ that Offred is addressing? Give evidence for your opinion.
e. Offred describes her story as ‘sad and hungry and sordid, this limping and mutilated story’. How does this figurative description match Atwood’s thematic concerns? How would you describe this imagery? How can it reflect her context?
f. Atwood alludes to philosopher Descartes’ famous meditation ‘cogito ergo sum’, or ‘I think, therefore I am’, suggesting that thinking about one’s existence proves that existence in the pun ‘I tell, therefore you are’. What does this suggest about the power of narrative? Why does Offred need to believe this?
5. By careful selection of quotations, trace the gradual development of Offred’s relationship with the reader, starting with the distant, detached tone of the early chapters, ‘I try not to think too much. Thinking can hurt your chances, and I intend to last,’ moving through various stages to the second person direct address, ‘By telling you anything at all I’m at least believing in you, I believe you’re there. I believe you into being. Because I’m telling you this story I will your existence. I tell, therefore you are.’ Find more examples of how Offred builds her relationship with the reader.
6. The ‘Historical Notes’ and Pieixoto’s address. Atwood’s final section is presented as the transcript from a conference on the history of Gilead, some 200 years into the future. As with Offred’s narrative, it is presented in first person.
a. Why do you think Atwood chose to present this information in speech form rather than an academic third person voice?
b. We discover that ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, Offred’s story, was not a document, but ‘approximately thirty tape casettes’ and the arrangement of the structure of the narrative from the tapes ‘are based on some guesswork and are to be regarded as approximate’. What impact does this discovery have on the reader?
c.Consider the various layers of Offred’s narrative – a woman’s story constructed verbally and recorded, from past events, pieced together by two men in the distant future and transcribed into written text. What do you think is Atwood’s purpose in creating this distance from Offred’s story?
d. In failing to determine the identity of Offred from her story, Pieixoto instead researched the Commander to discover more. What comment is Atwood making about gender and power here?
e. How does Atwood comment on her contextual concerns in this section? Give evidence.
f. How does the allusion to Eurydice reflect Atwood’s core ideas?
g. ‘Voices may reach us from it; but what they say to us is imbued with the obscurity of the matrix out of which they come; and, try as we may, we cannot always decipher them precisely in the clearer light of our own day.’ How do Pieixoto’s closing remarks capture Atwood’s message about the nature of story?
h. Is ‘Are there any questions?’ a fitting end to the narrative? Why/why not?
7. Offred uses other characters’ voices in her story, reconstructing their dialogue. Find examples of the following:
a. Aunt Lydia’s teachings at the Red Centre are reproduced in some detail, for example in chapters 13 and 20. She frequently talk in clichés, attacking sexual and other freedoms;
b.This is counterpointed by Moira’s earthy comments and demotic, often obscene, language;
c. When Offred recalls her mother’s feminist views, these too are reproduced in a different speech style;
d. When we reach the section Historical Notes, Atwood creates another, very different voice for Professor Pieixoto, whose rather cynical, detached style is in sharp contrast to Offred’s sensitive, thoughtful and emotionally engaged tone.
8. How does the immediacy of Offred’s first person, present tense narration conflict with the layered detachment from her story that we discover at the end? Why does Atwood position us to feel close to her through her story, then distance us from her at the end?
Lesson Sixteen |
Learning Intention: Students synthesise meaning from the novel and identify Atwood’s thematic concerns as reflections of her context.
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- Consider the structure of the novel in sections, and the section titles.
a. There are seven sections called ‘Night’. What is common about these sections? How is Offred’s tone or mood here different to the other sections? Why ‘Night’ and what is the impact of beginning and ending with ‘Night’.
b. What do you notice about the language of the other section titles? - Atwood uses flashbacks (in literature we can discuss this as analepsis) to shift in time within the narrative.
a. Find examples of both internal analepsis (flashbacks to an earlier point within the narrative – within Gilead) and external analepsis (flashbacks to a time before the narrative started – before Gilead) that are significant to Offred’s story.
b. How does the seemingly random and fragmented nature of the movement between past and present in Offred’s narrative reflect her story itself? - The ‘Historical Notes' completely alter our perception of the novel. We have been made aware throughout that Offred's account is a construct, but now we are told that the order of the material is totally arbitrary. We are also asked to consider the Republic of Gilead not as a possible future state, but as one that existed in the past, as far as the speaker is concerned
a. In what ways do the Historical Notes change your perception of the novel.
b. What is Atwood’s purpose in closing her narrative with the Historical Notes?
c. Is this an effective way to end the novel? Why/why not?
e. What would have been the effect if the Historical Notes had been put as an Introduction rather than at the end of the novel?
Create a mind map of Atwood’s key ideas/concerns. These may include:
o Oppressive governance o Individual versus state conflict o Personal freedom/the nature of freedom/freedom and confinement o Human relationships and connection o Communication o The role of religion/fundamentalism o Identity and individualism o The nature of power o Patriarchal structures/gender roles and power structures o Survival o Hypocrisy o Storytelling and truth o Motherhood o Female sexuality and desire o Feminism and femininity o Conservatism vs progressivism/liberalism o Politics and control o Language as power o The results of complacency |
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Activity - Homework
1. Choose one of the themes discussed.
2. Create a TQE table (four TQE) support that theme.
3. Complete this again for a different theme.
1. Choose one of the themes discussed.
2. Create a TQE table (four TQE) support that theme.
3. Complete this again for a different theme.
Lesson Seventeen |
Learning Intention: Students explore with depth how Atwood manipulates features of language to represent her ideas.
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Atwood’s novel is rich in figurative language, as explored in the resources on setting, character, narrative voice and structure, but her work is also thick with Biblical allusion and language, rhetorical wordplay and explorations of language itself. Atwood also creates an ‘otherness’ about The Republic of Gilead through her neologisms.
- Find examples of neologisms throughout the novel. Make a list and identify the connotations of these new words.
- Explore the biblical language used in the dialogue between Offred and Ofglen in Chapter 4. What does the expectation of these statements and response suggest about this society? Find other examples of biblical language and allusion from throughout the novel.
- In Chapter 5 Offred muses on the changes in society past and present. Explore the passage where she thinks about visiting a laundromat in her past life. What is the impact of the rhetorical wordplay and repetition of ‘my own’ and ‘money’?
4. ‘There is more than one kind of freedom, said Aunt Lydia. Freedom to and freedom from. In the days of anarchy, it was freedom to. Now you are being given freedom from. Don’t underrate it.’ Analyse the impact on the juxtaposition between ‘freedom to’ and ‘freedom from’. How does this sum up the nature of this society?
5. How does Atwood use imagery of setting in Chapter 6 to create a shocking juxtaposition between past and present?
6. What is the purpose of Atwood’s exploration of the nuances of language in the opening paragraphs of Chapter 7, as Offred ponders the difference between ‘lie and lay’? Find examples of other times throughout the novel where Offred reflects on language.
7. At the end of Chapter 12, Offred reflects: ‘I wait. I compose myself. Myself is a thing I must now compose, as one composes a speech. What I must present is a made thing, not something born.’ What is the effect of the antanaclasis of ‘compose’? How is a sense of lifelessness created here?
5. How does Atwood use imagery of setting in Chapter 6 to create a shocking juxtaposition between past and present?
6. What is the purpose of Atwood’s exploration of the nuances of language in the opening paragraphs of Chapter 7, as Offred ponders the difference between ‘lie and lay’? Find examples of other times throughout the novel where Offred reflects on language.
7. At the end of Chapter 12, Offred reflects: ‘I wait. I compose myself. Myself is a thing I must now compose, as one composes a speech. What I must present is a made thing, not something born.’ What is the effect of the antanaclasis of ‘compose’? How is a sense of lifelessness created here?
Activity - Homework
Write a paragraph for each of two central ideas and then self- and peer-assess using class-developed criteria.
What is Atwood’s most powerful message and why? What questions do
you have about this world?
Write a paragraph for each of two central ideas and then self- and peer-assess using class-developed criteria.
What is Atwood’s most powerful message and why? What questions do
you have about this world?
Lesson Eighteen |
Learning Intention: Examine your own assumptions through examining literature critically.
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Literary criticism, the reasoned consideration of literary works and issues. It applies, as a term, to any argumentation about literature, whether or not specific works are analyzed.
Powerful works of literature invoke multiple readings. In other words, we can all read the same story or poem (or watch the same movie or listen to the same song) and come up with different, even conflicting, interpretations about what the work means. Who we are reflects how we read texts. Our experiences inspire us to relate to and sympathize with characters and difficult situations. Have we read similar stories? Have we actually faced some of the same challenges the characters in the story Literary Criticism? In addition, literary theories have unique ways to develop and substantiate arguments. Some theories draw extensively on the work of other critics, while others concentrate on the reader’s thoughts and feelings. Some theories analyze a work from an historical perspective, while others focus solely on a close reading of a text. Literary criticisms see the literary work from some point of views. For instance; social aspect, economy, psychology, history, and philosophy. Those aspects can enrich our knowledge as reader base on what aspect that become our focus because critics as tool for the reader to understanding what literary work talk about, what message that will be deliver to the reader. This is in line with what Tyson (2006) stated that “critical theory, I think you will find, provides excellent tools for that endeavor, tools that not only can show us our world and ourselves through new and valuable lenses but also can strengthen our ability to think logically, creatively, and with a good deal of insight”. It means that literary criticism can improve our capability in reading comprehension in order to understand broader about literary work. |
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Different Critical Literacy Theories
Some of the theories to view a piece of literature are:
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This is different to literary movements, which can include:
American Romanticism British Romanticism Children's Literature English Renaissance Literature Gothic Literature Magical Realism Medieval English Literature Modernist Literature Naturalism Postcolonial Literature Postmodern Literature Realist Literature Restoration Literature Science Fiction Surrealist Literature Southern Gothic Literature Transcendentalist Literature Victorian Literature |
What has this got to do with me?
You now have access to Jstor, and can research and read different critical theories on the literature we are studying. This will help you to gain a deeper understanding of the themes and ideas within the literature and unit we are studying. Not only to mention, reading will develop your vocabulary, and structure of essays. Likewise, doing this will support your development of some necessary skills for reading at university.
If you find something that is helpful and relevant, you can add it to the team drive so that we can all share.
You now have access to Jstor, and can research and read different critical theories on the literature we are studying. This will help you to gain a deeper understanding of the themes and ideas within the literature and unit we are studying. Not only to mention, reading will develop your vocabulary, and structure of essays. Likewise, doing this will support your development of some necessary skills for reading at university.
If you find something that is helpful and relevant, you can add it to the team drive so that we can all share.
Additional Resources
the-handmaids-tale.pdf |
Lesson Nineteen
Learning Intention: Understand how stories resonate with their audiences across time. Students consider how stories resonate across time and why ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ retains relevance today.
‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ has been well-regarded as a literary piece since its publication in 1985.
Discussion Questions
o What is it about the novel that maintains its popularity and significance across time?
o How are the concerns of the novel still relevant in 2019? What aspects of our context can we see reflected in the text?
o How can ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ be seen as a narrative that has shaped our world?
Discussion Questions
o What is it about the novel that maintains its popularity and significance across time?
o How are the concerns of the novel still relevant in 2019? What aspects of our context can we see reflected in the text?
o How can ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ be seen as a narrative that has shaped our world?
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Lesson Twenty/Twenty One/ Twenty Two
Text Name: V For Vendetta
Year Release: 2006
Director: James McTeigue
Genre: Spectulative Fiction
Literary Period: Postmodern
Setting: United Kingdom 2028
In this section of the unit, the film V for Vendetta is the focus text. Here, McTeigue crafts a future world that highlights the problems inherent in a government with too much control and the individuals who seek to question the world and their place in it.
The imagined world of the United Kingdom of 2028 presents a dystopic vision of a society ruled by fear. This vision of the future is both frightening and, at times, familiar.
In this section of the unit you will consider how James McTeigue's interpretation of the 1988 graphic novel uses the conventions of speculative fiction and the powerful medium of film to spark thought in his audience and, hopefully, encourage us, through the power of his representation, to question the world in which we live.
V for Vendetta directed by James Mcteigue demonstrates the rebellion against injustice of an oppressing government of England in the late 2020s. James McTeigue uses symbolism in the film V for Vendetta to juxtapose the idea of individuality and the rebellion against forced conformity. Throughout the movie, the main character 'V' gathers the support of the citizens that is growing more and more dissatisfied with the amount of control the government has over them, and he takes advantage of a growing animosity towards power that he eventually funnels into a mass rebellion. He does so under the use of masks to cover the identity of him and his followers and allow people to protect their personal identities. this method of anonymous rebellion allows people to voice their true feelings and stand up to rebel against their justice.
Answer and Discuss:
What moment in the narrative struck you as the most powerful?
What did you think of V? Revolutionist or Terrorist?
Write a paragraph:
What moment in the narrative struck you as the most powerful?
What moment in the narrative struck you as the most powerful?
Lesson Twenty-Four
Learning Intentions: Students, through consider and investigate the ways in which V for Vendetta, as a speculative narrative explores important ideas, ones that reflect the context in which it was originally created, the context it was adapted into and the ways in which it continues to resonate with new audiences and contexts.
Context refers to factors acting upon composers and responders that impinge on meaning. Context and text are in a symbiotic relationship in the production of meaning. To understand context we need to look beyond the text and consider the world in which it was produced and the worlds of its reception. This goes beyond historical and cultural background to a consideration of how the personal, situational, social, literary, cultural, and historical environments of the responder and composer as well as the mode of production pervade a text. Different contexts of the acts of composition and response can have an effect on the meanings and values of similar content.
By considering the effects of context (their own, that of the composer and other contexts of response) on making meaning you can recognise that
These understandings open students to a range of readings and can make them receptive to different ways of thinking by making clear that not all ways of thinking are like their own.
By considering the effects of context (their own, that of the composer and other contexts of response) on making meaning you can recognise that
- there can be no single reading of a text,
- all meaning is contingent upon a range of factors not simply in the text but also outside it, the text/context relationship, and
- values and attitudes may change over time and cultures.
These understandings open students to a range of readings and can make them receptive to different ways of thinking by making clear that not all ways of thinking are like their own.
Optional Reading
You can also read a variety of relevant and recent articles about the ways in which the narrative and character of V have continued to be pertinent:
Protest mask https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/nov/27/alan-moore-v-vendetta-mask-protest
Perfect story for our current political climate http://nerdist.com/v-for-vendetta-is-the-perfect-story-for-our-current-political-climate/
Relevance to current US policy http://www.quchronicle.com/2006/04/v-for-vendetta-has-relevance-to-current-united-states-policy/
Protest mask https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/nov/27/alan-moore-v-vendetta-mask-protest
Perfect story for our current political climate http://nerdist.com/v-for-vendetta-is-the-perfect-story-for-our-current-political-climate/
Relevance to current US policy http://www.quchronicle.com/2006/04/v-for-vendetta-has-relevance-to-current-united-states-policy/
Lesson Twenty-Five |
Learning intention: Students, through close analysis and consolidation of previous learning, explore the way in which V for Vendetta, as a speculative narrative explores important ideas.
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Speculative narratives allow new worlds to be represented, ones that explore deep and important ideas that are supposed to resonate with the audience.
Copy the following into your notes:
Ideas Explore in "V for Vendetta"
McTeigue crafts a future world that highlights the problems inherent in a government with too much control and the individuals who seek to question the world and their place in it.
The imagined world of the United Kingdom of 2028 presents a dystopic vision of a society ruled by fear. This vision of the future is both frightening and, at times, familiar.
In this section of the unit we will consider how James McTeigue's interpretation of the 1988 graphic novel uses the conventions of speculative fiction and the powerful medium of film to spark thought in his audience and, hopefully, encourage us, through the power of his representation, to question the world in which we live.
We cannot begin to understand the complex character and the key ideas of the film without first understanding the allusion in the opening scene.
Ideas Explore in "V for Vendetta"
- The problem of unchallenged power
- How language, rhetoric and censorship are used to control and oppress
- The power of the individual to challenge and make change
- Justice and freedom
- Manipulation and corruption
- The power of ideas and symbols
- Authoritarianism vs anarchy
- Governmental rule vs individual freedoms
- The ambiguous nature of doing what is ‘right’
- Rebellion as a catalyst for change
McTeigue crafts a future world that highlights the problems inherent in a government with too much control and the individuals who seek to question the world and their place in it.
The imagined world of the United Kingdom of 2028 presents a dystopic vision of a society ruled by fear. This vision of the future is both frightening and, at times, familiar.
In this section of the unit we will consider how James McTeigue's interpretation of the 1988 graphic novel uses the conventions of speculative fiction and the powerful medium of film to spark thought in his audience and, hopefully, encourage us, through the power of his representation, to question the world in which we live.
We cannot begin to understand the complex character and the key ideas of the film without first understanding the allusion in the opening scene.
Remember, Remember:
We cannot begin to understand the complex character and the key ideas of the film without first understanding the allusion in the opening scene.
Remember, remember the fifth of November, the gunpowder, treason and plot. I know of no reason why gunpowder treason should ever be forgot. TENSIONS WERE HIGH in England in late October 1605, when an English nobleman, Lord Monteagle, received a mysterious letter. Along with the rest of England’s peers and the king, Monteagle intended to attend the opening of Parliament a few days later, on November 5. The Gunpowder Plot was a failed attempt to blow up England’s King James I (1566-1625) and the Parliament on November 5, 1605. The plot was organized by Robert Catesby (c.1572-1605) in an effort to end the persecution of Roman Catholics by the English government. Catesby and others hoped to replace the country’s Protestant government with Catholic leadership. |
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Guy Fawkes, British soldier and best-known participant in the Gunpowder Plot. Fawkes was a member of a prominent Yorkshire family and a convert to Roman Catholicism. His adventurous spirit, as well as his religious zeal, led him to leave Protestant England (1593) and enlist in the Spanish army in the Netherlands. There he won a reputation for great courage and cool determination.
Around midnight on November 4, 1605, one of the conspirators, Guy Fawkes (1570-1606), was discovered in the cellar of the Parliament building with barrels of gunpowder. Fawkes and other men involved in the plot were tried and executed for treason. Every November 5, the British celebrate Guy Fawkes Day by burning Fawkes in effigy.
Traditionally, children carried these effigies, called “Guys,” through the streets in the days leading up to Guy Fawkes Day and asked passersby for “a penny for the guy,” often reciting rhymes associated with the occasion, the best known of which dates from the 18th century:
Remember, remember, the fifth of November
Gunpowder treason and plot
We see no reason
Why Gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot….
Around midnight on November 4, 1605, one of the conspirators, Guy Fawkes (1570-1606), was discovered in the cellar of the Parliament building with barrels of gunpowder. Fawkes and other men involved in the plot were tried and executed for treason. Every November 5, the British celebrate Guy Fawkes Day by burning Fawkes in effigy.
Traditionally, children carried these effigies, called “Guys,” through the streets in the days leading up to Guy Fawkes Day and asked passersby for “a penny for the guy,” often reciting rhymes associated with the occasion, the best known of which dates from the 18th century:
Remember, remember, the fifth of November
Gunpowder treason and plot
We see no reason
Why Gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot….
Answer:
What reasons do you think this historical character and event has been so closely linked to the character of V?
What reasons do you think this historical character and event has been so closely linked to the character of V?
Film Techniques
Techniques for your revision
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Scene Analysis One
V and Evey - Complex, multifaceted characters
Learning intention: Students come to understand the ways in which character development can be used to connect the reader for intellectual impact.
Review the opening scene of V and Evey getting dressed while watching Prothero on their TV. In this scene we are introduced to our two central characters, V and Evey.
Learning intention: Students come to understand the ways in which character development can be used to connect the reader for intellectual impact.
Review the opening scene of V and Evey getting dressed while watching Prothero on their TV. In this scene we are introduced to our two central characters, V and Evey.
- How are the parallel scenes used in the clip? In what ways can we see links being created?
- What does the mise en scene of each room tell us about these two characters?
- How is foreshadowing used here?
Man in a Mask: 00:02:24
· How are the Fingermen represented?
· How is the close up of the speakers meant to frame Norsefire to the audience?
· How is film noir used in this scene?
Defintion: Film Noir- a style or genre of cinematographic film marked by a mood of pessimism, fatalism, and menace.
· What do you make of V's Shakespearean allusions?
[Quoting from Macbeth Act I Scene 2 skipping 4 lines]
V: The multiplying villainies of nature do swarm upon him. Disdaining fortune
with his brandish'd steel, which smoked with bloody execution...?
[Quoting Polonius from Shakespeare's Hamlet Act 3, Scene 1]
V: We are oft to blame in this, -
'Tis too much proved - that with devotion's visage
And pious action we do sugar o'er
The devil himself.
Come to think of it, this happens all the time—people act devoted to God to mask their bad deeds.
· What is the purpose and impact of V's alliterative speech?
Voilà! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of Fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished. However, this valorous visitation of a by-gone vexation, stands vivified and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin van-guarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition. The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta, held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose, so let me simply add that it's my very good honour to meet you and you may call me V. Translastion I am an experienced dramatic actor, who has played both the villian and victim in the play of life (metaphor) due in large part to the change of circumstances that have been placed upon me (victim of Norsefire experimentation and villain to current Norsefire system). I do not wear the mask because I am vain or to hide what’s underneath, or because I want to stand out, but because it represents the voice of the people which I feel doesn’t exist anymore. The mask is a symbol of a past uprising against a cruel oppressive government (Guy Fawkes) and will be a symbol of another uprising once more, for another oppressive government full of control, greed and control. The only way to rise up against this government’s rule is through violence and revenge, that will hopefully free the innocent and those who fought against oppression. Certainly this speech has been excessively lengthy and uses more words than needed, so let me just add that it’s an honour to meet you and you may call me ‘V’. |
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· How has lighting and mise en scene been used in this sequence?
Definition: The arrangement of the scenery, props, etc. on the stage of a theatrical production or on the set of a film. The setting or surroundings of an event.
· "Strength through unity, unity through faith."
The motto of Norsefire employs the rhetorical device of anadiplosis. How does this enforce the values and ideologies of Norsefire?
Definition: Anadiplosis is a form of repetition in which the last word of one clause or sentence is repeated as the first word of the following clause or sentence
· How is symbolism employed in the final stages of the scene?
Definition: The arrangement of the scenery, props, etc. on the stage of a theatrical production or on the set of a film. The setting or surroundings of an event.
· "Strength through unity, unity through faith."
The motto of Norsefire employs the rhetorical device of anadiplosis. How does this enforce the values and ideologies of Norsefire?
Definition: Anadiplosis is a form of repetition in which the last word of one clause or sentence is repeated as the first word of the following clause or sentence
· How is symbolism employed in the final stages of the scene?
Lesson Twenty-Six
Rooftop Concert: 00:09:07
· What is important about the setting and positioning of V and Evey in this scene? · How does the wide angle, long shot of the London skyline create verisimilitude? Definition: Verisimilitude- the appearance of being true or real. · V’s dialogue, “It is to Madame Justice that I dedicate this concerto, in honour of the holiday she seems to have taken from these parts”, combined with the close up on the sign stating ‘Defend the children of the poor and punish the wrongdoer’ serve to highlight a the motivations of V in his acts of rebellion. How do they do that? · Why is Madame Justice and blowing up the Old Bailey such strong symbols? |
· The music used in this scene is the 1812 Overture by Tchaikovsky. Why has this music been used in this scene? You may need to do a little research before you can respond to this question.
· What is the importance of the fireworks in the final frames of the scene?
· What is the importance of the date?
· What is the importance of the fireworks in the final frames of the scene?
· What is the importance of the date?
Lesson Twenty-Seven
For each group, watch your scene (you will see the approx starting of the time at the top of the questions).
You are to fill in the template, analysis and answering each of the questions allocated to the group.
You are to fill in the template, analysis and answering each of the questions allocated to the group.
Group One
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Lead on the Girl: 00:11:00
· What is the impact of the framing and camera angles used to depict Sutler? · Consider the symbols either side of Sutler's screen. What might they represent? · "Add it to the black list." What does Sulter's dialogue, the references to surveillance (the eyes, ears, fingers, nose and mouth of the government) and their use of propaganda ("We have spin coverage...") reveal about the Norsefire rule? · How does Sutler use rhetoric in his speech? · What allusions can you draw between Sutler and real life political leaders? · How are shadows used in this scene (especially as Creedy emerges from them)? What conclusions might we be able to draw from this? |
Vtv: 00:16:26
· How is montage of V speaking to London over the BTN emergency channel used to build the story? · What do you notice about the setting of V’s Vtv? · This scene establishes images of various people in various places around the city watching BTN (and now Vtv). Make note of this and compare it to later uses of these people and places. · How does the little girl with the glasses in this scene becoming a symbol throughout the film? · Identify key phrases from V’s monologue in this scene. How do these key phrases encapsulate the ideas of the film? · Where do we see alliteration used in his speech again? · How is framing and positioning used to communicate that V is in a place of power over the government in this scene? |
Group Two
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Group Three
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Creedy’s Threat: 00:48:02
· This is no ordinary situation and requires more than your ordinary attention.” How is the hierarchical nature of Norsefire revealed here? · “The security of information is paramount.” How is this an ironic piece of dialogue from Creedy? · Corruption and self-protection are at the heart of Norsefire. How is this revealed in this short scene? |
Mystery Woman: 00:49:40
· In this scene we see the personal impact Norsefire’s tyrannical rule has on the individual. How does Gordon’s characterisation reflect this? · The panning shot through Gordon’s secret room reveals many different works of art and important artifacts. Identify a number of them and explain why McTeigue includes theme as part of the mise en scene (also see symbolism sheet). · Evey asks Gordon, “Is it worth it?”. What do think about his answer? Would your response change if you were living in circumstances similar to those depicted on the film? How do we see parallels from this scene to ones earlier in the Shadow Gallery? |
Group Four
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Group Five
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The Man from Room V: 00:56:39
· In this scene we see the narrative being developed through flash backs. How does this narrative device progress and enhance our understanding of V and Norsefire? · “The subject said he could no longer remember who he was or where he was from. Whoever he was, he is now the key to our dream, and the hope that all of this would not have been in vain.” The voice over serves as an ironic foreshadowing in the narrative. How? · What other ways do we see the importance of 5 or V being built upon? · In what ways do we see the development of the totalitarian regime and its values in this flashback? How is allusion used in this scene? |
What if?: 01:00:31
· How does Detective Finsh’s speculations reveal the extent to which a government would go in order to gain power and control? · How is Finch’s role in the film developed further in the scene? How are we positioned to respond to him? |
Group Six
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Group Seven
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Gotcha: 01:04:47
· This scene highlights the ability of an individual to be a catalyst for change. In this case it is Gordon’s act of rebellion in his satirical presentation of Sutler. · How is satire achieved? · How is allusion used in this scene? · Why is this act such a rebellious and powerful one? · “It’ll be fine, trust me.” Says Gordon. What do we see next that proves this to be a significant understatement. In what ways do we see similarities between this scene and others throughout the film? · What conclusions can we draw about Norsefire? |
Process Her, Valerie’s Autobiography, Ready to Die, God is in the Rain, Valerie’s Legacy: 01:09:41 – 01:29:20
· How are close ups of Evey and the shadowed interrogator used in the scene? · In what ways do we see similarities between the mise en scene of this sequence and those of Larkhill Detention Centre? · Costuming in this sequence plays an important role for Evey. In what ways is this true? · Lighting and angles are used to create a mood and tone? Find examples and explain the intended effect. · How does McTeigue create links between Evey and Valerie? Consider the use of flashbacks and parallel scenes used. · Valarie uses the metaphor “it is the very last inch of us”. Explain what she means. · How does archival type footage add to the verisimilitude of the speculative narrative and its development? · “I remember how different became dangerous”. How does this statement encapsulate the totalitarian rule of Norsefire? · At the end of this sequence we see the birdseye shot of Evey and the drops of water falling. How does serve as a parallel to V? What is symbolically represented here? How does the interconnected frames between V and Evey and Evey and Valarie develop the complexity of their characterisation? How does this complexity contribute to the rich narrative being constructed? · V says what was done to him was monsterous. Do you think his actions are justified? Is doing wrong for the right reasons possible? · How does this scene reveal the multifaceted nature of V’s character? |
Group Eight
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Group Nine
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Perfect Pattern: 01:39:28
· What do the dominoes symbolise? · How does the editing and montage create momentum in the narrative? · Find examples of Sutler’s oppressive and dictatorial dialogue. · Find two more examples of symbols found in this sequence. · What is the importance of the chalk X on the door? · Finch says, “It was like a perfect pattern laid out in front of me and I realised we were all a part of it and all trapped by it.” How does his oxymoronic imagery perfectly describe the dystopic state of London in this speculative narrative? |
All of Us: 01:59:35
· We can see in this final scene how what was foreshadowed in the Perfect Pattern scene has come to pass. Why is this a significant element of the narrative? · Who is the final piece in the puzzle symbolised by the red domino piece? Justify your answer. · How does V and Evey’s actions provide hope for their society? · How is panning and extreme high angle shots are used to communicate important ideas? · How do we see elements of a circular narrative in this final scene? What impact does it have as a narrative device? |
Group Ten
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