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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Where did Moira leave Aunt Elizabeth in Chapter 8?

2. What does the narrator compare “date rape” to?

3. What are the Japanese doing in the city in Chapter 2?

4. What language does ‘Mayday’ come from?

5. Who did Aunt Lydia question about Moira in Chapter 8?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happened to Serena Joy that was traumatic in her earlier life?

2. In Chapter 6, how does the Commander pray?

3. How does the Commander act before and during the ceremony in Chapter 6?

4. Who is the girl in the photograph in Chapter 3, and how does the narrator respond to seeing it?

5. How is Offred’s role different from that of the Commander’s Wife?

6. In Chapter 7, where does Offred think that Luke really is?

7. Why do the women steal something for Moira at the center?

8. Why does Offred go back to the sitting room later that evening in Chapter 6?

9. Who from the first chapter appears again later in the novel?

10. Why is the doctor’s offer to Offred in Chapter 4 tempting?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Offred writes about having taken certain things for granted in her earlier life. Write an essay in which you discuss which things in particular she took for granted, and why. What are some things which she always valued, by contrast?

Essay Topic 2

Though the novel focuses on Handmaids, other characters, in other roles, also permeate the book. Describe one role in-depth. What are some of the advantages of this role? Disadvantages?

Essay Topic 3

Offred’s daughter is one of the most important people in her life, though they are no longer together. Describe what Offred’s daughter’s life might be like at the moment. How are children important in Gilead, and what is Offred’s daughter’s most likely fate?

(see the answer keys)

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