'The Handmaid's Tale' by Margaret Atwood

15 Points Per Correct Answer - No time limit  

1. 'The Handmaid's Tale' was written in which year? 1985 1980 1991 1975

2. The book's title format makes an implicit reference to which famous English author? Chaucer Shakespeare Keats Orwell

3. The book has several epigraphs, one of which establishes the biblical precedent for Handmaids. Which book of the Bible does it come from? Leviticus Corinthians Genesis Ruth

4. The Handmaids in the book all have patronymics, meaning that they take their names from the men to whom they are assigned. The chief character is called Offred; what is therefore the name of the Commander in whose household she lives? Answer: (One word; 'of' whom?))

5. Each of the different types of women in Gilead have to wear clothes of a particular colour. Handmaids have to wear red, and the Wives have to wear blue. What is the name of the women who wear green? Helens Marys Marthas Patricias

6. And the name for those assigned to poorer men who wear striped clothes of many colours? Cheapskates Supersavers Bargainbrides Econowives

7. In a play on words typical of Offred, she turns a well-known saying on its head and asks 'I am not wasted, why do I ____?' Answer: ('waste not...')

8. True or false: Offred had a husband and child in her pre-Gilead life. True False

9. 'Gender treachery', for which individuals can be put to death and hung on the Wall, is the Gilead name for which crime? Homosexuality Women becoming priests Incest Marriage

10. Offred discovers a heroic message scratched into the wardrobe by her tragic predecessor at the Commander's house. It is written in Latin as 'nolite te bastardes carborundorum', but what is its translation? Don't let the bastards grind you down No-one ever died from boredom Never give up in the face of oppression The heart is the bastion of the soul

11. One of several twisted quotations found in the book is that illustrating the injunction for Handmaids not to read and write - 'Pen Is Envy'. Of course, this has been adapted from the phrase 'penis envy' popularised by which philosopher? Jung Wittgenstein Schopenhauer Freud

12. "There is more than one kind of freedom... Freedom to and freedom from. In the days of anarchy, it was freedom to. Now you are being given freedom from. Don't underrate it." Which character tells the Handmaids this? Cora Serena Joy Aunt Lydia The Commander

13. Offred's friend Moira was a rebel in the pre-Gilead days and also in the Red Centre where Handmaids were trained. What was the patronymic of another rebel Handmaid whom Offred meets whilst at the Commander's house? Answer: ((from Glen's household))

14. By the end of Offred's story, has she succeeded in having the baby she so desperately needs to escape classification as an 'Unwoman' and banishment to the Colonies? Yes No

15. And finally, in the 'Historical Notes' we are told the symposium on Offred's diaries is being conducted in 'Denay, Nunavut'. This is usually interpreted as Atwood's pun on which four word phrase? Answer: ((say the location out loud!))