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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 is the ritual called when the women confess sexual ‘sins’ to one another?

2. Who asks if Offred is looking for anyone in Chapter 8?

3. What do the women in the center whisper to each other at night?

4. If he is alive, what will Luke send to Offred?

5. Why was the narrator stressed around Moira in Chapter 3?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. What is carved on Offred’s desk at the center? Why is this significant?

4. What is the role of the Marthas?

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

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

7. Why don’t the Aunts have guns?

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

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

10. If Luke is dead in Chapter 7, what happened to him?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

Three subversive women – Ofglen, Moira, and Offred’s mother – appear in the novel. Compare and contrast them and their ultimate fates. How are they similar and different, and how does this end up affecting their outcomes?

Essay Topic 3

In the book, the Commander states that better doesn’t mean better for everyone; it always means worse, for some. What is the significance of this in the context of Gilead? Give concrete and specific examples to illustrate this statement and explore its significance.

(see the answer keys)

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