6. Birth

• Engels
• Upper Secondary (Key Stage 4)
• GCSE

Lesson objectives 

You will consider the point of view in the novel and the effect of them

You will consider external and internal worlds 

You will analyse the mood during the birthing ceremony 

In summary:​

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You need to analyse a novel like it’s an artificial, constructed thing: a product designed by a creator to achieve various purposes (a main one being to convey their viewpoints about society). Focus on the methods they have used to do so, and what you think may have been their intentions for using these methods. ​

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Do NOT get lost in description of plot or writing about characters and plot events as if they were real.​

Postmodernists are interested in…​

• The idea that ‘truth’, ‘reality’ and ‘meaning’ are all relative and nebulous concepts. We cannot ever be sure of these things.​
• Referring to the act of storytelling and ‘Meta’ narratives: fiction that explores its own fictionality.​
• The effect of modern social systems on culture – capitalism, consumerism, technology.​
  
• ​An ironic and sceptical attitude towards life, and also big social institutions and ideologies.​

Fight Club is a 1996 novel by Chuck Palahniuk

Lesson objectives 

You will consider the point of view in the novel and the effect

You will consider external and internal worlds 

You will analyse the mood during the birthing ceremony 

You will consider the narrative techniques used to describe Moira's escape 

Root of the week 

spect- Latin root meaning to "look at" or "see" 

We can remember this word through spectacles - a way of "seeing" or "looking at" 

Rate the word 1 to 4

1. I do not know the word, and I have never seen it before. 

2. I've heard or seen the word before, but I'm not sure what it means. 

3. I know the word and can recognise and understand it while reading, but I probably wouldn't feel comfortable using it in writing or speech. 

4. I know the word well and can use it correctly in writing or speech. 

Introspective 

Word of the day

Introspective (adj) - examining and considering your own ideas, thoughts, and feelings, instead of talking to other people about them. 

OUOSRTSUEICD

Connor Zwetsch is famous for his introspective songs about failed relationships.

00:00

What aspects of postmodernism

do you see in this extract from Fight Club? 

The significance of the novel being in the first-person cannot be overstated. We are always stuck inside Offred’s subjectivity.​ Until the historical notes 

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In stream of consciousness style, Offred’s narration drifts between the present and the past  and between internal events and external events . Atwood's use of flash forward (prolepsis), flashback (analepsis) and foreshadowing needs to be considered in your analysis. It is an integral part of the non-linear narrative structure. 

External chapter 19

What details does Offred distract herself with? (p. 110)​ "I sit in the chair and think" 

​How does the siren distract her? What does the siren mean? (p. 111)​

"While I am eating the second egg" 

Internal chapter 19 

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What do we learn about pollution and infertility in Gilead? (p. 113-114)​

"There was no one cause" 

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Why might Offred insult Janine/Ofwarren? ( p. 115) ​

"A strong girl, good muscles" 

Watch the clip of Janine's birth. What atmosphere is created here?​ 

Is the same mood created in in chapter 21 during the birthing ceremony? 

Find quotes from Ch. 21 (pg 123 - 126) that support your answers to these questions. 

​1. Consider how Offred compares this birth to her own pregnancy and role as a mother. ​

2. What is her attitude towards her own role as a mother?​

3. In what ways does this chapter reinforce stereotypical gender roles, as well as stripping the Handmaids of power?​

Aunt Elizabeth is gently washing the baby off, it isn’t crying much, it stops. As quietly as possible, so as not to startle it, we rise, crowd around Janine, squeezing her, patting her. She’s crying too. The two Wives in blue help the third Wife, the Wife of the household, down from the Birthing Stool and over to the bed, where they lay her down and tuck her in. The baby, washed now and quiet, is placed ceremoniously in her arms. The Wives from downstairs are crowding in now, pushing among us, pushing us aside. They talk too loud, some of them are still carrying their plates, their coffee cups, their wine glasses, some of them are still chewing, they cluster around the bed, the mother and child, cooing and congratulating. Envy radiates from them, I can smell it, faint wisps of acid, mingled with their perfume. The Commander’s Wife looks down at the baby as if it’s a bouquet of flowers: something she’s won, a tribute. chapter 21 pg 126

Connotations of this adverb? ​

What is the significance of this metaphor? 

What is the significance of this simile? 

Chapter 22 Moira's escape

1. In what tense is most of the first page written? What is the effect of this?​

2. Scan pages 130 - 131 What does Aunt Lydia say about Moira’s escape attempt? ​"Then Aunt Lydia told her the story" 

3. To what extent could this be Aunt Lydia’s perspective? How might Offred tell the story?​

4. What is the effect of the other Handmaids idolising Moira? (p. 133) What do we learn about Gilead if they are “losing their taste for freedom”?​ "Moira had power now" 

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This is a reconstruction. All of it is a reconstruction. It’s a reconstruction now, in my head, as I lie flat on my single bed rehearsing what I should or shouldn’t have said, what I should or shouldn’t have done, how I should have played it. If I ever get out of here –​ pg 134

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​I want you to kiss me, said the Commander.​

Well, of course something came before that. Such requests never come flying out of the blue. (chapter 23) pg 134 -135

1. Why is Offred’s story a “reconstruction”? Why is this idea of ‘reconstruction’ a significant theme in the novel? How does it link to the postmodernist movement?​

​2. How does Offred admit her own unreliability? 

3. What is the significance of the imagery that she uses in this section?​

4. What does Offred mean by her thoughts on ‘control’ and ‘forgiveness’?​

​5. What is the effect of Offred’s last comment?​

This is a reconstruction. All of it is a reconstruction. It’s a reconstruction now, in my head, as I lie flat on my single bed rehearsing what I should or shouldn’t have said, what I should or shouldn’t have done, how I should have played it. If I ever get out of here –​

It’s impossible to say a thing exactly the way it was, because what you say can never be exact, you always have to leave something out, there are too many parts, sides, crosscurrents, nuances; too many gestures, which could mean this or that, too many shapes which can never be fully described, too many flavours, in the air or on the tongue, half-colours, too many.

But remember that forgiveness too is a power. To beg for it is a power, and to withhold or bestow it is a power, perhaps the greatest.​

"what you say can never be exact, you always have to leave something out, there are too many parts, sides, crosscurrents, nuances; too many gestures, which could mean this or that, too many shapes which can never be fully described, too many flavors, in the air or on the tongue, half-colours, too many." 

What are the similarities and differences between the Commander and Luke? 

Luke

The Commander

Try to find quotes to go in the circles. 

What is Atwood considering regarding the role of men in society? 

The real mother is unnecessary – it is a stereotypical role prescribed to women by a patriarchal society 

Atwood suggests that children need a strong relationship with their mother

We don’t need a strong relationship with our mother – but it is our own right to decide that

Motherhood is presented negatively, as the women desperately seem to want it

Discuss these ideas. To what extent do you see them in the novel? 

Through the novel, what do you think Atwood has to say about motherhood? Is it an intrinsically positive thing, or is it another unfair burden on women?

Write a two PEEL paragraphs discussing this idea and referring to events in the novel.