I.

II.

III.

IV.

V.

Introduction
A. Thesis Statement: We crave simplicity, but we need complexity. We do not
want happy endings, we want satisfying endings. (but who ends endings?)
The Careful Establishment of Plot Pieces; (The first detail; Even if Ending A is the
uninteresting ending, Atwood stresses the importance of this ending, which can be
used as somewhat of a reference for future endings.)
A. Ending A is insipid.
1. Ending A: The characters are lifeless and do not compel the
reader to continue reading.
2. John and Marys lives fill the outline for Happy Ending, but is
this a good ending (is it satisfying?)
B. John and Mary die.
1. We are introduced to the major concept of Atwoods story: All
stories end the same; in death (eventually).
2. If the endings stay the same, what makes a story good?
Level-Up to 3-Dimensional: (The third detail: the seemingly normal progression of
characters stories, wherein an external variable is inserted to make the story deviate
from its original destination.)
A. Ending B, C, D and E are composite, presenting more elements, thus
more interesting.
1. Ending B: John and Marys story intensifies with the
introduction of conflict. The characters are made intricate and
to some degree, interesting.
2. Ending C: John (now an older man) and Madge have a tragic
ending because of Mary (who is now a twenty-two year old).
This story ends with John killing Mary, James (her lover), and
himself. Madge moves on and marries a man named Fred.
3. Ending D: Fred and Madge live happily, despite a tidal wave
causing mass destruction. The ending is as in A, but with Fred
and Madge.
4. Ending E: Fred has a bad heart, dies, and Madge dedicates
herself to Charity work. The story ends as in Ending A.
Choose your own adventurebut with only one ending. (The third detail; there is no
other ending.)
A. Atwood reveals the secret (that was never a secret); there is only one
ending.
1. Atwood misleads us, but at the same time never does. When
Ending A ends, she tells us Eventually they die. This is the end
of the story. We already know how this story ends. Why do we
keep reading?
B. Everyone dies.
1. It is all the same ending, but what separates the bad endings
from the good endings and the good endings from the great and
absolutely incredible?
2. How and Why.
The meaning of everything is to be determined by you.
A. Atwood carefully positions details; the random actually artificial.

B. The story does not focus so much on specific details of each

character, but on the ride that the characters go through.
C. What does the way Margaret Atwood write try to tell us as readers?

VI.

III. The Conclusion

A. When we receive linear, happy endings, we think we are satisfied, but we are
not.
1. So really, what is a good ending?
B. Margaret Atwood tells us that the story is not one thing after another, a what
and a what and a what., but a how and why.
A. Fiction, Non-fiction, in literature or our own lives, some things are
out of our control, but it is up to us to determine how the story
unfolds.