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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the small thing that Serena Joy offers Offred in Chapter 12?

2. To which period did Offred belong?

3. What does Ofglen start to think about Offred in Chapter 14?

4. Who does Offred see out of her window in Chapter 11?

5. What is the signal to begin the second part of the Salvaging?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Serena Joy think that Offred ‘might as well’ sleep with Nick?

2. Why does Offred pray in Chapter 11?

3. What form do Offred's prayers take in Chapter 11?

4. How do women come to work at Jezebel’s?

5. Why is Ofglen’s question about Soul Scrolls subversive?

6. What happened to Luke, according to the professor?

7. What has happened to former nuns?

8. How does Offred characterize the spring, particularly May?

9. Where does Offred take the new Ofglen in Chapter 14? Why?

10. In Chapter 9, what is new about the way Offred reads the message on her wall?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Offred seems to be trapped throughout the book, though other characters have different paths. What choices were available to women in Gilead? How do these compare to the choices that men had in determining their fates?

Essay Topic 2

In the book, the Commander states that better doesn’t mean better for everyone; it always means worse, for some. What is the significance of this in the context of Gilead? Give concrete and specific examples to illustrate this statement and explore its significance.

Essay Topic 3

Offred leaves the novel on a deliberately ambiguous note. If the novel were to continue, what would her next chapter look like? Use the ‘professor’s’ speech from the end notes as the basis for your fictionalized version.

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