“The Handmaid’s Tale” – Worksheet

Episode 1 – Hulu Series

1st reading of the novel

Each response is worth 2 points, 1 for your answer, 1 for a SUPPORTING QUOTE. Please use
this form for your responses and quotes. Upload to Turnitin by Mon. 3/22, 10:00 pm.

Helpful site for hierarchy of rankings within the novel:

http://academic.depauw.edu/aevans_web/HONR101-02/WebPages/Fall%202007/Sarah/
Handmaid%27s%20Tale/basics.html

The Novel:

Ch. 1-2:
1. Identify THREE EXAMPLES of how the Handmaiden Offred, reveals the restrictions on
her freedom.
a.
b.
c.

2. In Ch. 2, Offred, the narrator, describes the Commander’s Wife in detail. What is your
impression of her through this description, particularly what Offred recognizes about
the Commander’s Wife?

3. On p. 25, Aunt Lydia is quoted as saying: There is more than one kind of
freedom...Freedom to and freedom from. In the days of anarchy, it was freedom to. How
you are being given freedom from. Don’t underrate it.” What does she mean by this?

Episode 1:

4. Why do you think that, unlike the novel, this 1st episode begins with Offred, as she’s
called later, and her husband, Luke, and their daughter on the run from military police?
5. Once Offred has been admitted to the Commander’s house, she prepares herself for
“the Ceremony”, where he has sex with her. What do you notice about this scene and
why do you think it’s carried out in this manner?

6. On their way back from shopping, Offred and Offglen walk by The Wall, near a river.
What is the purpose of this Wall and who hangs from it?

Vocabulary: Use the word in context in a sentence. 1 point per sentence. 6-10 are terms
from the novel:

1. Fraternize
2. Pedantic
3. Conspiratorial
4. Inquisitiveness
5. Tremulous
6. Serena Joy
7. Martha
8. An Eye
9. Angel
10. Unwoman