A Low Art

[Excerpt from the

Penelopiad]
by: Margaret Atwood]
✗ Margaret Atwood is a Canadian writer
born on November 18, 1939 in Ottawa,
Canada.
✗ The internationally-known author has
written award-winning poetry, short-
stories and novels, including The Circle
Game (1966), The Handmaid’s
Tale (1985), The Blind
Assassin (2000), Oryx and Crake (2003)
and The Tent (2006).
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 Historiographic Metafiction
✗Was elaborated on by Linda Hutcheon
(1998) in the article “Historiographic
Metafiction”: The Pastime of Past
Time”
✗She traces how both history and
literature were once considered
branches of the same tree of learning,
a tree which sought to “interpret
experience, for the purpose of guiding
and elevating man”

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 A Low Art
[Excerpt from the
Penelopiad]
by: Margaret Atwood]
Instructions: In a ¼ sheet of paper
create your own reaction if you are
Penelope what will you do if you see
your husband after 10 years.

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 Instructions: In a ½ crosswise, answer
the following questions, concisely.

1. Why does Penelope consider storytelling “a low art”?

2. How does Penelope’s portrayal differ from the
traditional portrayal of Odysseus? What do you think of
Odysseus?
3. Based on Penelope’s perspective, how is she different
from how the epic portrays her?
4. Why does she call herself “a stick used to beat other
women with”? Do you agree with her?
5. Why does Penelope say that she “sounds like an owl”
when she tries to warn other women?

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Thanks!
Any questions?