ENGL 095 Blackboard: EXAMS & ESSAYS folder
ESSAY 3: LITERARY RESEARCH PAPER
Outline: Tuesday, Apr. 5 (submit into Blackboard)
Due Date: Friday, Apr. 8 (submit into Blackboard)
Text: A Handmaid’s Tale Margaret Atwood
INSTRUCTIONS:
Write an essay 1250-1500 words in length based on one of the topics below. The essay should have a clearly defined thesis statement, a logical argument set forth in the supporting paragraphs with substantial concrete references to the text, and a clear concluding statement.
Research papers must incorporate at least TWO scholarly sources.
TOPICS:
1. What does the novel say about feminism and the treatment of women in contemporary society? How is Gilead’s patriarchal structure complicated by figures like Serena Joy or the Aunts? Consider the roles of different characters in your answer.
2. The Commander tells Offred that “Better never means better for everyone… It always means worse, for some.” How is the world of Gilead a utopian or dystopian society?
3. Examine the biblical references that Atwood uses throughout the novel. How is the Bible used in the novel to justify the Gilead regime?
4. “The pen between my fingers is sensuous, alive almost, I can feel its power, the power of the words it contains.” Discuss how language is policed or controlled in Atwood’s novel and how characters find ways to resist.
5. Examine the relationship between the past and the present in The Handmaid’s Tale. How does Atwood develop the idea of history using elements like character, conflict, structure or setting? What is the significance of the Historical Notes? What is Atwood’s implied commentary?
Research and Documentation: (see the MLA Tutorial on Blackboard)
• Be sure to incorporate at least TWO scholarly sources (scholarly books or book chapters, scholarly articles, encyclopedia entries). One source should be a scholarly article.
• Incorporate research by summarizing, paraphrasing or quoting from the original source.
• PARENTHETICAL CITATIONS: be sure to document the source, inside your sentences, whenever you paraphrase or quote (Simmons 367). Be sure to document those sources in your sentences every time that you are working with ideas from a source, whether paraphrased or quoted.
• WORKS CITED: include ONE Works Cited entry for each source, regardless of how many times that you quote or paraphrase that source.
Be sure to document sources parenthetically and in your Works Cited