The Handmaid's Tale

Dystopia like you've never seen it.

  • Course Length: 3 weeks
  • Course Type: Short Course
  • Category:
    • English
    • Literature
    • High School

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From The Hunger Games to Bioshock to Star Trek, pop culture has tons of fantasy-filled visions of distant worlds that bear little resemblance to our own. But what if one of those fantasies suddenly came true in your lifetime?

With Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, you'll be thrust into a not-too-distant future that is ruled by a strict, totalitarian regime obsessed with the growing infertility of the human race. As the members of Atwood's society struggle to retain elements of the life that they once took for granted, we'll take a closer look at our own world and what we might be overlooking as well. 

Get ready to get dystopian with Common Core-friendly activities and test tubes full of readings where you'll:

  • define dystopian fiction and speculative fiction and situate The Handmaid's Tale within these genres.
  • ask yourself: was Atwood trying to warn us, as a modern society, about something? Or is there another message?
  • compare and contrast our modern society and events throughout history with that of the totalitarian reality in the novel.

Unit Breakdown

1 The Handmaid's Tale - The Handmaid's Tale

A Biblically-focused, male-controlled theocracy? This can't end well. In this 15-lesson unit, we'll dive into the elaborate world of The Handmaid's Tale to see what's so special about Margaret Atwood's dystopia.


Sample Lesson - Introduction

Lesson 1.01: Welcome to Gilead

Storytelling. It allows us to do literally anything we want.

  • Want to go on a whaling adventure? No problem.
  • Interested in revisiting the South during the Civil Rights era? Hop on in.
  • More into weird hellish dream-visions? You got it.
The cars aren't as cool in Atwood's world, either.
(Source)

But maybe the coolest thing storytelling can do is take us to alternate futures. That's right: literature can show us what we're up against.

Consider The Handmaid's Tale an experiment in this type of time-travel. No Dolorean required.

As we emerge into the future, we'll need to get our bearings. So in this lesson, we'll think about how Atwood reveals the setting and the rules of this new society. You'll get used to the customs—and even the fashions—of Gilead right alongside our narrator.

Buckle up, time-travelers, and welcome to The Handmaid's Tale.


Sample Lesson - Reading

Reading 1.1.01a: Chapters 1-5

Let's get started. Read Chapters 1-5 of The Handmaid's Tale.

It's a scary new world, so if you're feeling lost, head on over to our chapter summaries to get your bearings.


Sample Lesson - Reading

Reading 1.1.01b: Setting the Stage

In case you didn't catch it, we really want you thinking about the setting of The Handmaid's Tale­—right from the beginning.

So before you jump into the activity, take a look at our discussion of the setting.


Sample Lesson - Activity

Activity 1.01a: Travel Guide: Gilead

Think you'd choose Gilead for your next Spring Break destination?

Not so much, right? Well, despite the lack of beaches and the whole totalitarian regime thing, they somehow managed to get tourists.

In this activity, you'll be the guide who referred the tourists to Gilead in Chapter 5 by creating a travel brochure that prepares our guests for what they might find upon arrival. It'll probably be just as weird to them as it is to you, so you'll want to make sure your vacationers are prepared.

Before you get started, think about the following questions:

  • How would the people of Gilead appear to visitors? Consider their clothing, mannerisms, and behavior. 
  • How would Gilead itself appear to visitors? Consider the descriptions of setting.
  • What customs should visitors observe? What are the rules of Gilead? What should visitors avoid doing, wearing, and so on if they want to fit in?

Once you're feeling good about those, get to brochuring.

You can make your brochure by hand or use ye olde computer—whatever floats your boat. We do have a few guidelines for you, though:

  • Be sure to address each of the questions we posed above. 
  • Include at least three images to illustrate the brochure. 
  • Make sure it's visually appealing. The content needs to be accurate, but if it looks shabby, no one will believe it.

Bottom line: sell it. Even if you don't think Gilead's the place to be, you need to convince tourists it is.

When you're done, upload your shmancy brochure below.


Sample Lesson - Activity

Activity 1.01b: The Chaucer's Tale

Take a read through our discussion of the title of the book.

If you've ever heard of the Canterbury Tales, chances are the title rings a bell. While there's no Handmaid's Tale in Chaucer's famous collection, it fits the model for titling stories.

Here's what we want you do to:

Step 1: Read our introduction to The Canterbury Tales.

Step 2: Read The Wife of Bath's Tale (and feel free to poke around our Learning Guide for the story if you're feeling lost).

Step 3: Tell us: if The Handmaid's Tale imitates Chaucer's tales in more than its title, what do you expect from it?

Your answer should be about 200 words long and should be an educated guess based on what you know about Chaucer and Atwood so far.


Sample Lesson - Activity

  1. What color are the Handmaidens' dresses?

  2. Who are the lower-income women who perform all the functions of a household?

  3. Who are the women who train and guard the potential handmaidens?

  4. Watercolor paintings of what decorate our narrator's rooms?

  5. What was the Commander's Wife's former TV name?

  6. Instead of money, citizens of Gilead use what?

  7. The narrator recognizes the Commander's Wife as the former host of what?

  8. In addition to gardening, the Commander's Wife spends a lot of time doing what?

  9. The Commander's Wives are allowed to do what to Handmaidens because there is a scriptural precedent?

  10. What do they call undercover spies?