Quotes From The Handmaids Tale

Quotes From The Handmaids Tale The Handmaids Tale is a best-selling novel by Margaret Atwood set in a feminist dystopian future in which war and pollution have made pregnancy and childbirth increasingly difficult and women are enslaved as prostitutes  or virginal concubines - handmaiden - in an effort to repopulate and control the population. Atwoods beautiful, haunting prose in The Handmaids Tale is told from the first person perspective of a woman called Offred (or Of Fred, her master). The story follows Offred through her third service as a handmaiden and also offers flashbacks to her life before the Revolution that led to this new American society founded on religious fanaticism. Blessed be the fruit, Atwood writes in Chapter Four, an indoctrination for the handmaidens who have to go through intense training for their servitude before being assigned to a master whose child she will bear. Read on to discover more quotes from this famous novel and learn more about the not-too-distant-or-improbable future of Margaret Atwoods The Handmaids Tale, which is also an acclaimed television series. Quotes About Hope In Dystopia The character of Offred carries with her a certain quiet optimism that her daughter, who was taken from her when she tried to flee to Canada with her husband at the start of the revolution, is still alive, though this hope is diminished by the harsh conditions she lives under as a handmaiden, as described in Chapter 5: There is more than one kind of freedom ... Freedom to and freedom from. In the days of anarchy, it was freedom to. Now you are being given freedom from. Dont underrate it. Of her daughter, Offred says, also in Chapter 5, She is a flag on a hilltop, showing what can still be done: we too can be saved. Here, the character reveals her hope hinges upon the fact that her daughter has still not turned up on the wall where the ruling class hangs sinners near where Offred is held. Still, this optimism and hope is nothing in the face of the reality Offred finds herself in, and she admits in Chapter 7 that shes pretending the reader can hear her, But its no good because I know you cant. The Other Handmaidens Offred seems to have contempt for her fellow handmaidens, perhaps for their complacency or their simplistic view of the world: They are very interested in how other households are run; such bits of petty gossip give them an opportunity for pride or discontent. Still, Offred shared similarities with all other handmaidens in that they were the people who were not in the papers, the ones who lived in the blank white spaces at the edge of print, which Offred said gave them more freedom. All of them also undergo an indoctrination, a brainwashing ritual at the Academy where they train to be handmaidens. In Chapter 13, Offred describes a scene where the handmaidens are all seated in a circle around a woman confessing to being raped - Her fault, her fault, her fault, we chant in unison, Atwood writes. The woman training them, Aunt Lydia, also encourages all the handmaidens that though the new concepts introduced in their schooling may seem strange at first, they will eventually become mundane, but if not, the handmaidens would be punished for stepping out of line like one woman Offred describes in Chapter 8: She doesnt make speeches anymore. She has become speechless. She stays in her home, but it doesnt seem to agree with her. How furious she must be now that she has been taken at her word.   Offred feels a pressure to fulfill these new standards despite herself, and in Chapter 13 says of her shortcomings, I have failed once again to fulfill the expectations of others, which have become my own. In Chapter 30 Offred says of her oppressors, That was one of the things they do. They force you to kill, within yourself, and ultimately in Chapter 32, she realizes an important lesson when her master Fred tells her,  Better never means better for everyone... It always means worse for some.   Various Other Quotes I dont want to look at something that determines me so completely. (Chapter 12)Give me children, or else I die. Am I in Gods stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb? Behold my maid Bilhah. She shall bear fruit upon my knees, that I may also have children by her.(Chapter 15)Moira had power now, shed been set loose, shed set herself loose. She was now a loose woman. (Chapter 22)Maybe none of this is about control. Maybe it isnt really about who can own whom, who can do what to whom and get away with it, even as far as death. Maybe it isnt about who can sit and who has to kneel or stand or lie down, legs spread open. Maybe its about who can do what to whom and be forgiven for it. Never tell me it amounts to the same thing. (Chapter 23)There is something subversive about this garden of Serenas, a sense of buried things bursting upwards, wordlessly, into the light, as if to say: Whatever is silenced will clamor to be heard, though silently. (Chapter 25)Agreed to it right away, really she didnt care, anything with two legs and a good you-know-what was fine with her. They arent squeamish, they dont have the same feelings we do. (Chapter 33) And Adam was not deceived, but the women being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding she shall be saved by childbearing. (Chapter 34)There is something reassuring about the toilets. Bodily functions at least remain democratic. Everybody shits, as Moira would say. (Chapter 39)The trouble is I cant be, with him, any different than I usually am with him. Usually, I am inert. Surely there must be something for us, other than this futility and bathos. (Chapter 39)It makes me feel more in control as if there is a choice, a decision that could be made one way or the other. (Chapter 41)The crimes of others are a secret language among us. Through them, we show ourselves what we might be capable of, after all. This is not a popular announcement. (Chapter 42)Dear God, I think, I will do anything you like. Now that youve let me off, Ill obliterate myself, if that is what you really want; Ill empty myself, truly, become a chalice. Ill give up Nick, Ill forget about the others, Ill st op complaining. Ill accept my lot. Ill sacrifice. Ill repent. Ill abdicate. Ill renounce. (Chapter 45) Dont let the bastards grind you down. I repeat this to myself but it conveys nothing. You might as well say, Dont let there be air; or Dont be. I suppose you could say that. (Chapter 46)

Thesis vs. Dissertation. How to Tell One From The Other

Thesis vs. Dissertation. How to Tell One From The Other If youve considered grad school- or simply know someone who has an advanced degree- youve likely heard about theses and dissertations. Both are long research papers that a student submits at the conclusion of his or her studies. Such papers are required in order to earn an advanced degree. But whats the difference between the two? Are the terms interchangeable? Heres the low-down. Are Theses and Dissertations the Same? According to thesaurus.com, thesis and dissertation are synonyms. Either word can be used to refer to a written discourse. Discourse is just a fancy word for a formal discussion (written or oral). Technically, the paper you write during your senior seminar as an undergrad is also a discourse. However, for clarity, people have come to use specific words to refer to papers at each level of education. An undergraduate usually writes a research paper for the senior project. A masters candidate writes a thesis. A doctoral candidate writes a dissertation. An easy way to keep the two graduate papers straight is to remember that both doctorate and dissertation start with a d. The goal of such papers, regardless of your academic level, is to assess what youve learned over the course of your school career. The paper begins with an idea that you have about something in your field. You would then do research on this subject so that you can find supporting literature or otherwise prove your idea. Along the way, your adviser will help you plan your research and guide you through any hurdles you encounter as you work on the paper. Ultimately, youll be judged on your ability to conduct research, your general knowledge of the subject matter, and your writing skills. The Differences Between Theses and Dissertations So are both papers exactly the same? Not really. Or, more accurately, not necessarily. The guidelines for a research paper vary from one educational institution to the next. Because a masters degree is one step below a doctorate, most schools have less stringent guidelines for the thesis, as you might expect. But a thesis at one university might be quite different from the thesis at another. All schools have their own standards and length requirements. Moreover, the requirements for a paper in one discipline of study can be quite different from those for another discipline. For example, an M.S. student may be required to perform some type of experiment or conduct a study that requires human participation, whereas this would be unusual for an M.A. in English or history. What Is a Thesis? In a thesis writing, your basic task is to analyze the previous works of established thinkers in your field. For example, if youre studying psychology, you may posit that an absent or inattentive father has a serious impact on his female children in terms of their ability to form healthy romantic relationships. You would then find existing literature that proves your hypothesis. Once you have finished drafting the paper, you will submit it to your adviser for a preliminary review. After youve made the suggested revisions, you will submit the new draft to a department head or director, who will approve or reject the paper. Keep in mind that most masters candidates who have followed the guidelines and worked diligently are not rejected. Approval is necessary for the awarding of the final degree. Dissertations Defined A dissertation asks a bit more of the student. Instead of focusing on the works of others to back up your idea, you will be presenting your own original ideas. Dissertation writing is more like an expert (you) writing a book. A committee will review your work, and then you will be appointed a time to defend your idea before them. The members of the committee will ask you in-depth questions about what youve written and how you developed your ideas. The panel may request revisions to the dissertation, after which you would go through another defense. Once the paper is approved, you will be qualified to earn your doctorate degree. Heres a simplified way of illustrating the difference between a masters thesis and a doctoral dissertation: A masters candidate could theoretically make his or her case by using the dissertation of another. Now that you know more about theses and dissertations, you can feel more confident about your applications to grad school, knowing what will be expected of you.