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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. During the Thirteenth Symposium, the Gilead scholar explains the document cache ignited what event?

2. Who is the chairperson of the Thirteenth Symposium?

3. According to Aunt Lydia in Chapter 52, who suddenly appears deathly ill?

4. How does Nicole describe her physical state in Chapter 70?

5. Whom does Aunt Lydia quote at the end of her manuscript in Chapter 71?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens during the Particicution in Chapter 46?

2. What happens when Daisy arrives in Gilead in Chapter 45?

3. What happens aboard the Nellie J. Banks?

4. What happens to Aunt Vidala in Chapter 65?

5. What do Agnes and Becka think about Jade at the beginning of Section XX?

6. What troubling concerns does Aunt Vidala voice in Chapter 52?

7. Who tries to stop the girls from leaving in Chapter 61? What happens?

8. What information does Agnes receive in Chapter 56? How does she come by this information?

9. How does Nicole adapt to life in Gilead at the beginning of Section XX? What does she find difficult?

10. What startling information regarding Paula is given to Agnes in Chapter 51? How does she come by this information?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss Aunt Lydia’s contradictory characteristics. In what ways is she a kind person? In what ways is she a ruthless one?

Essay Topic 2

Margaret Atwood, the author of the novel, once wrote, “Reality simply consists of different points of view.” Explain how the novel illustrates this idea.

Essay Topic 3

At what point in the story does it become clear that Aunt Lydia is the source? Are her methods admirable? Answer, providing examples from the text.

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