Context

Question 1

Margaret Atwood (1939-)

Answer 1

Female Canadian author and poet
Lived in West Berlin and Alabama during mid-1980s - time in which ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ was written
Feminist

Question 2

Politics

Answer 2

1979 - Margaret Thatcher appointed UK prime minister
1980 - first 24 hour cable news network created
- John Lennon assassinated
1981 - Ronald Reagan appointed US president
- marriage between Prince Charles and Diana
- MTV created
- first personal computer released
- failed assassination attempt on U.S. president
1980s fears - declining birth rates, dangers of nuclear power and environmental degradation
1983 - first American woman entered outer space
- first mobile phone
- internet introduced
1984 - assassination of India’s first female prime minister, Indira Gandhi - igniting anti-Sikh riots, killing thousands of Indians within 4 day span.
1985 - Mikhail Gorbachev begins leading Soviet Union
1987 - Berlin Wall falls
1989 - end of German separation
Book banned in many countries

Question 3

Religion

Answer 3

Written during revival of conservatives in the West - mainly fuelled by strong, well-organised religious conservative movements, criticising what they thought was the excesses of the “sexual revolution” of the 60s and 70s
Feminist fears heightened due to growing power of “religious right “ and the damage it may inflict on gain women made in previous decades

Question 4

Feminism

Answer 4

Great triumphs of 1970s - widespread access to contraception, legalisation of abortion, increasing political influence of female voters
Threatened in 80s by religious movements
Herstory vs history

Question 5

Post-modern

Answer 5

Pushes reader to question society, formation and acceptance of historical narratives and recognise cyclical nature of dystopian conditions
Fragmentation
Paradox
Unreliable narrator
Often unrealistic or impossible plots
Games
Parody
Paranoia
Dark humour
Authorial self reference

Question 6

Metafiction

Answer 6

Self reflexive
Reference to own artificiality and other texts

Question 7

Satire

Answer 7

Comic
Mocks for moral purpose
Draws attention to faults
Dramatic

Question 8

Dystopian

Answer 8

Sub genre of science fiction
Undesirable society
Usually repressive government system

Question 9

Science fiction

Answer 9

Aliens, time travel, intelligent robots
Impact of scientific advances on human beings