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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. What kind of flower does Offred smell in Chapter 6?

2. What color is Offred’s bathroom?

3. According to Chapter 3, what does the narrator see when she is drugged, later?

4. What has Janine now avoided in Chapter 8?

5. Who is pregnant in Chapter 2?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

6. Why is the narrator in the setting at the opening of the novel?

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

8. What is the narrator’s attitude towards her audience, at the end of Chapter 3?

9. Describe the narrator’s mother as depicted in Chapter 3.

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Gilead is a strict hierarchical society. Describe the hierarchy of Gilead, and give descriptions of various characters we encounter in “The Handmaid’s Tale” and how they fit into the hierarchy. Why is this hierarchy necessary?

Essay Topic 2

Offred finds comfort, and eventually salvation, through her relationship with Nick. How is Nick characterized? Why is he important? Compare/contrast him with the character of Luke.

Essay Topic 3

Every other chapter in the book is entitled “Night”. Why might this be the case? How is Night significant for Offred, and what is it placed in contrast to?

(see the answer keys)

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