Emphasis on process and reconstruction where the truth is only a matter of the teller’s perspective. Her narrative is a DISCONTINUOUS one, with frequent time shifts, short scenes and unfinished endings.
Abrupt shifts from one scene to another and from present to past so that her present situation and past history are only gradually revealed.
Fragments and flashbacks - the latter is more noticeable in “Night” sections. This works as a period of reflection for Offred.
Offred also tells the story of other women, like her own mother, Moira, Janine and even her predecessor at the commander’s house.
Offred tells the story of other Handmaids, all of them rebels or victims or both, which form a sad subtext to Offred’s narrative.
The ‘Historical notes’ are not part of Offred’s narrative but they are used as a supplement to her story, helping us to put one woman’s autobiographical record into historical perspective.
Male narrator (Professor Pieixoto).
University of Denay, Nunavit. Here men and women have some status (Chair is a woman, Maryann Crescent Moon)
Professor Pieixoto is more interested in:
FIRSTLY: establishing the authenticity of her story (tries to discredit her narrative by accusing her of not paying attention to the important things).
SECONDLY: establishing the identity of the commander.
Ironically, he does exactly what Offred predicted would happen to the story of the Handmaids: “From the point of view of future history, we’ll be invisible”
Italicised words & phrases often used to reveal past or forbidden language.
Using commas in between sentences to convey both urgency and paranoia.
Use of questioning from perspective of the protagonist.
More detailed descriptions of women than men.
Repetition of phrases.
“One detaches and describes” - most information is revealed through inner dialogue.
Religious & historical allusions throughout.
Monotoned
Sentence starts
The rhythm of sentences
Punctuation use in sentences
The length of sentences
The types of verbs used in a sentence
The types of adjectives used in a sentence
How character speech is included (and the verbs used to report character speech)
How much characters speak
The length of paragraphs
The type of detail described
The type of detail not included
Pace (how quickly or slowly are events/details revealed)
Motifs
Symbols
Thematic concerns
Pick any page in the text
Read for the next 3 pages
Note down recurring language/stylistic features
For which elements can you find a stylistic pattern (i.e punctuation is repeatedly used in a particular way, particular types of verbs are repeatedly used)? Identify at least four examples of the author’s style in terms of these elements.