1984 the play on campus this weekend!

A few things to contemplate as we watch scenes from The Handmaid's Tale

As we watch scenes from the 1990 film version of The Handmaid's Tale, I'd like you to take a few notes in your notebook. Note anything that really strikes you, but a few things in particular to consider:

• In what ways is this movie of its time period, based on what you know of the late 1980's?
• Does the film have any striking resonance with our time period that it might not have had when it came out in 1990?
• What elements of the book do the filmmakers seem to particularly highlight? Thoughts on these choices?
• What elements do the filmmakers leave out that you notice? Any ideas about why?
• What do you notice about the costuming and other ways that the world of Gilead is portrayed?

Poll regarding plans for 4th quarter

Please take this poll. Thank you!

Third quarter projects, multimedia examples

Check out Magneto-Ball, Minji and Brandon's newly invented World State game, which would fit right in with Centrifugal Bumble Puppy or Obstacle Golf in the pages of Brave New World. You can also read more about the rules of this game and the ways it fits in with the hyper-consumerism and other ideological and cultural values of the World State. 

And here's a link in case you want to watch Dante, Matthew, Kevin G, Sam Li, Tim, and Alex's Brave New Rap again (as I'm sure you do).

Journal work to prepare for big Handmaid discussion

Look through the entire novel quickly but with enough attention to the page to find passages that have struck you as you’ve read. 

Try to find the following and note them briefly by chapter and page number in your journal:

• Two moments where an important value or idea from a world view you’re familiar with (e.g. democracy, Christianity, feminism, minimalism) was distorted or used to dystopian ends
• Two of the most horrifying mundane details from life in Gilead
• Two moments where you found yourself disagreeing with Offred or questioning her decisions/opinions
• Two or more neologisms that the Republic of Gilead has created
• Two things you found frighteningly familiar
• Two things that seemed unrealistic or hard to believe
• Two moments or scenes where you particularly sympathized with Offred

Writing/project tips for the week

Some tips for revising your project or for future projects:

• Be sure your essay or project has a sense of purpose
• Number your pages!
• Don't begin with a dictionary definition (unless you're really using it in a meaningful way, in which case do not "X dictionary defines Y word in Z way")
• Qualify generalizations (for more on this, see here)
• Unpack
• Beware of floating "this," "that," and "it"
• Use double quotation marks in every situation (unless you're quoting within a quote, the only situation where a quotation gets single quotation marks)
• Quote your sources! Important for both research sources and literary sources
• Don't forget the power of a brief quote incorporated into your own sentence
• Use the serial comma (unless you're writing in a journalistic context)
• Offer a thesis or a launching point in the first paragraph (or first couple paragraphs) of your essay

Reflective journal writing

When Offred and the Commander are talking about why the powers that control Gilead created this ultra-patriarchal theocratic society, he says “We thought we could do better,” then admits that “Better never means better for everyone….It always means worse, for some.” 

Clearly, in Gilead, life is worse for most people. But what do you think about this general principle? Is it possible, in your view, to have a society where there is meaningful widespread equality without force or a significant limitation of citizens’ freedom? Does “better” for one person inevitably mean “worse” for someone else? 

Contemplate this question and any related questions or issues it leads you to reflect on. What kind of society do you want to live in, and how important is equality among all citizens to you? How important is complete freedom for everyone to do what they want, within their capacity and resources? Are those two social elements––equality and freedom––at odds, and if so, how do you imagine a nation or society balancing them?

Reflective journal prompt for Handmaid's Tale chapter 20–24

Write for ten minutes or a bit more on the following prompt. Feel free to answer some but not all of the sub-questions listed here, and to stray into related topics that your thoughts guide you toward. 

When Offred goes to the commander’s room, as he has requested her to do, the main thing that happens is that they play Scrabble. What impression did this scene make on you? What do you think the commander’s motivations might be in playing Scrabble with Offred? How is this different from what she expected to happen, and what’s her response to the game? Does this scene make you contemplate the significance of language in this book in any new ways? How have the people in power in Gilead used (and/or abused) language to help construct their society and keep its citizens in check? How might a game of Scrabble become more significant in this context? In general, you can discuss questions of language and/or reading and writing and things that have struck you in relation to these ideas as you’ve read the novel so far. 

Some writing advice

For those of you who are working on essays, I wanted to share some advice that I would present in class if we were all working on essays. Some of this advice is relevant, at least to some extent, for all of you as writers of blog posts. 

First, remember the value of concision, of economy in your choice of words, the flow of your prose, and the decisions you make when revising. I am always reminded of the wisdom of this anonymous poem, reproduced here in the handwriting of the brilliant writer Madeleine L'Engle:

 

The written word / Should be clean as bone, / Clear as light, / Firm as stone.

Two words are not / As good as one.

One way to help ensure that your writing is concise and dynamic rather than wordy and sluggish is to use concrete and active words. The majority of your prose should consist of words that mean something, words that are specific and call to mind an image or precise idea, particularly concrete nouns and dynamic verbs. Verbs, as I always say, are the engine of prose. If you're writing a literary essay, you may find coming up with good verbs particularly challenging, and this handout may offer you some help with word that are useful for writing about literature, and which you likely know but may not think of off the top of your head. 

If you're working on a literary essay, here are a couple of useful handouts I use when students are preparing a literary argument: how to built a point and distinguish a claim from a mere observation and how to develop a thesis for a literary argument.

If you've taken my Nonfiction Writing class, you might go back and look over The (nonfictionwriting) Mothership, our class blog,  to remind yourself of some of our key lessons and priorities with regard to writing. That site still has posts up with many links to handouts or overheads I shared in that class. Those of you who haven't taken Nonfiction Writing with me may also find some useful things there, though it might take you longer to locate them since you won't have a sense of what you're looking for. Here are a couple of posts that I think have particularly useful general advice, on the secret weapon for amazing grammar and some tips on revising your writing. Please feel free to come to me with questions about writing at any point this semester.