Getting to know Margaret Atwood's 'The Handmaid's Tale'

Margaret Atwood is a prolific Canadian author known for her depictions of grim possible worlds that serve her as a backdrop to discuss an array of themes such as gender and identity politics, climate change, religion and myth. Her most renowned work, The Handmaid's Tale, a novel, was a published in 1985 but has recently gathered new interest from the public thanks to Bruce Miller's adaptation into a television series in 2017 amid Donald Trump's controversial accession to the presidency of the United States of America. This has led to worrisome legislation regarding women and minitories' rights, unleashing not only nationwide but also worldwide protests featuring messages and imagery inspired by both Atwood's novel and the series. Streaming on Hulu, the first season of the show was awarded eight Emmys in 2017, including Best Drama Series and Outstanding Lead Actress for Elisabeth Moss.

* This activity is aimed at students in 2º de Bachillerato or with an upper intermediate level of English. 

Watch the video (you can turn on English subtitles) about The Handmaid's Tale cultural relevance and answer the following questions:

• What is the difference between dystopia and utopia?
• What other dystopian stories do you know?
• What was happening in the world when The Handmaid's Tale was published? 
• How women are treated in the Republic of Gilead? What are they forced to do?
• How are women classified?
• What was Margaret Atwood's self-imposed rule while she was writing the novel?
• In which ways the Republic of Gilead resemble puritan society in seventeenth-century America?
• How was Offred's life before the coup? 
• Can you spot a synonym of decreasing in the video? A little hint: it comes up when Offred is describing herself as a maid and it has to do with an ongoing issue in the regime.
• Why would Offred liken language "to the formulation of identity"?
• Can you find any examples of resistance in your everyday life? 
• What would you do if you inhabited a dystopian society?

Hulu.com