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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. Whose choice was it that the Handmaids could not use lotion?

2. Where did Moira and Offred meet at the center to talk privately?

3. What is the baby in Chapter 8 called?

4. What is special about the day in Chapter 4?

5. Who is Offred looking for in Chapter 8?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Why is it significant that the women discuss their names at the beginning of the novel?

3. Why did Offred and the other women take naps at the center?

4. In Chapter 4, What does the message in Offred’s room say?

5. What does Offred’s mother say about her father?

6. What is the purpose of the exercises that Offred does?

7. What is wrong with how Offred kisses the Commander, in his view?

8. How does the narrator feel about the Commander’s House in Chapter 2? Describe her surroundings as well as her reactions to them.

9. Why does the narrator start thinking about Moira at night in Chapter 3?

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

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

In his speech at the end of the book, the professor gives several real-world links to Gilead. What contemporary society or issues do you see mirrored in Gilead? Take one real-life example and compare and contrast it with the society in the book.

Essay Topic 3

Offred seems to be trapped throughout the book, though other characters have different paths. What choices were available to women in Gilead? How do these compare to the choices that men had in determining their fates?

(see the answer keys)

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