Handmaid's Tale Paper

Introductory PowerPoint in Google Slides (viewable online)

All video links include times to skip to/watch (i.e. watch only start-1:00 or watch minutes 7:55-10:00)

Assignment

The research requirement for Grade 12 English is a researched persuasive paper in connection to a work of literature. You may choose a topic from the list below, modify a topic suggestion from the list, or generate your own topic for research. The only topic requirement is that you use The Handmaid’s Tale as your main text for analysis. This is both a research paper and a persuasive essay so your thesis must state a provable point and the paper must include proper MLA documentation for all borrowed words, phrases and ideas.

Steps in the Process

Step 1: Choose a topic – and do some initial research – make sure there are enough reliable informative sources out there and at least one scholarly criticism. Develop an essential question to guide your research and brainstorm your initial response to your own question. Figure out what you will need to learn in order to support your ideas. (30 points - follows instructions and format; demonstrates depth of thinking and thorough understanding of the novel's big ideas and your topic/question; you have a clear plan and direction. Due Tuesday, January 5, 2016)

Step 2: Access reliable sources and take good notes – keep track of all sources in MLA format and print/photo copy all materials. Decide on a thesis statement for your paper and organize your information/ideas in an outline.

Step 3: Compose a first draft, edit, and revise.

Step 4: Turn in a final MLA formatted 8-10 page research paper with all research notes. **The reference pages are not part of the 8-10 page requirement.

Sample Topics

• Government/society - gender and equality
• Religion, politics, and the 1980s / liberalism of the 70s vs. conservatism of the 80s
• Crime and Punishment / Keeping order in a society
• Planned Communities / Planned Societies – Utopia
• Reproduction laws/rights
• Come up with something on your own.

Sample research questions (notice that all have a thematic angle):

Pick one and go with it, revise it, or come up with your own question

1. Compare and Contrast

• How is the role of women in Atwood’s novel comparable to the role women played in Iran during the 1980s, and what is the author’s purpose for this obvious connection?
• In what ways is the persecution of women in Atwood’s novel similar to the persecution Jewish people faced during the Holocaust, and what larger understanding can be derived through this comparison? – Or pick any other group that has been persecuted.
• How is Gileadian society in Atwood’s novel comparable to Puritan society and what themes are revealed through a comparison of these very different cultures? - For this one, Puritan society could be replaced with any other planned (cult or ‘utopian’) community.

2. Evaluate Atwood’s forecast for the future (Are her predictions valid?)

• What was going on in the 1980s to lead Atwood to envision a society where human reproduction would become government regulated, and what larger point is made through this vision? - Replace ‘human reproduction’ with any other topic
• In what ways does Atwood incorporate satire into The Handmaid’s Tale in order to convey a larger prediction about the conservative movement of the 1980s? – Replace ‘conservative movement’ with any other topic
• How realistic is Atwood’s dystopian vision of a society where government is run by religion and what is her warning to readers?
• How realistic is Atwood’s depiction of the establishment of Gilead and the assimilation of its citizens, and what are the author’s warnings? – This topic can also be a comparison – pick a real society where citizens are forced to assimilate (North Korea, Taliban Society in the 1990s, modern society under the Islamic State, etc…)

Schedule and Grading Criteria

Step 1 - 30 Points - Follows format of sample: essential question; a brainstorm that illustrates depth of thought

Step 2 - 100 Points - Outline, notes, and annotated working bibliography.

Step 3 - 50 Points - First Draft + Peer editing.

Step 4 - 220 Points - A folder that contains: Your MLA formatted 8-10 page

research paper with all previous steps – Sample and rubric will be distributed.

Total Points: 400

Video Tutorials for outline creation (sorry - these are on YouTube)

Creating an Outline in GoogleDocs (2 minutes)

Creating a Hanging Indent in GoogleDocs (1 minute)

Creating an Outline in Microsoft Word (2 minutes)

Creating a Hanging Indent in Microsoft Word (2 minutes)

Literary Criticism Sources

• Handmaid's Tale from Literature and its Times (feminism, family, and religious fundamentalism)
• Handmaid's Tale from Novels for Students (summary, characters, criticism)

Sample Articles from Reference Sources

• Feminism Flounders from American Decades
• Baby M and the New Reproductive Technologies from American Decades
• Born Again: The Evangelical Movement from American Decades
• The New Right from American Decades (political conservatism)
• Taliban from International Encyclopedia of Social Sciences

Scholarly and Academic Resources

Articles:

• Handmaid's Tale from Literature and its Times (feminism, family, and religious fundamentalism)
• Handmaid's Tale from Novels for Students (summary, characters, criticism)

Nazi Germany

• Psychology of Perpetrators from Encyclopedia of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity
• Nuremberg Laws from Europe Since 1914
• Nuremberg Laws from Encyclopedia of the Holocaust
• Nuremberg Laws from Encyclopedia Judaica
• Nuremberg Laws from Encyclopedia of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity
• Nuremberg Laws from Learning About the Holocaust
• Anti-Jewish Laws from Learning About the Holocaust
• Anti-Semitism from Europe Since 1914
• Anti-Jewish Legislation in Pre-War Germany from the US Holocaust Memorial Museum
• Anti-Semitic Legislation, 1933-1939 from the US Holocaust Memorial Museum
• Anatomy of the Holocaust from Scholastic Update (short, easy to read timeline of major events)
• Euthanasia Program from US Holocaust Memorial Museum (similar to "unbabies" from Gilead)
• Women in the Third Reich from US Holocaust Memorial Museum (government focus on women bearing children, anti-abortion)
• Persecution of Homosexuals in the Third Reich from US Holocaust Memorial Museum
• Jewish Badge from Learning About the Holocaust
• Jewish Dress from Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion (skip down to "Restrictive Decrees and Edicts")
• Path to Nazi Genocide (video) from US Holocaust Memorial Museum

Reproductive Rights, Technologies and Birth Defects

• Guttmacher Institute - Reproductive rights statistics from around the world.
• Women's Global Network for Reproductive Rights
• Sexual and Reproductive Rights news for women living under Muslim law
• Reproductive Rights of Women in Islamic Countries from Mt. Holyoke College
• Reproductive Technologies from the Encyclopedia of Bioethics
• Thalidomide from When Technology Fails
• Birth Defects from the Environmental Encyclopedia
• Love Canal from the Historic US Events
• Abortion from West's Encyclopedia of American Law
• In El Salvador, Jailed for a Miscarriage from The Guardian

Middle East / Iran and Women's Rights

• The Islamic Revolution in Iran from the Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World
• Islamic Republic of Iran from the Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World
• Iran from Countries and Their Cultures (skip down to "Gender Roles")
• Rights in Iran Worsen from The New York Times
• Iran: Women Hit in Acid Attacks from The New York Times
• Iranian Women Strangled by Web of Restrictions from the Australian
• Mullah's Make Women Prisoners in Their Own Homes from the Washington Post
• Iran's Fashion Police Target Women Who Test the Rules from the Washington Post
• Islamic Law from Encyclopedia of Women and Religion
• Perpetual Minors (Saudi Arabian woman) from Human Rights Watch
• Saudi Arabia from Countries and Their Cultures (skip down to "Gender Roles")
• Women Living Under Muslim Law

Maoist China / IS / North Korea / Puritans /

• Maoism from the International Encyclopedia of Social Sciences
• Maoism from the New Dictionary of the History of Ideas
• Mao Zedung from the International Encyclopedia of Social Sciences
• Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedung Thought from the Encyclopedia of Modern Asia
• The Great Leap Forward from the Encyclopedia of Modern Asia
• The Cultural Revolution from the Encyclopedia of Modern Asia
• Conviction for Memoirs a Reminder of Mao Era from The New York Times (February 26, 2015)

Man-Made Disasters

• Chernobly Encapsulation Efforts by BBC