The Handmaid's Tall

Part Three: The Handmaidsgo shoppingCORRECTIONQUESTIONS1)Trouvez les équivalents anglais dans le textepour les mots suivantsen donnant le numéro de la ligne:Un jeton:a token (l.1)Un froissement:a rustling (l. 2)Ouvertement, de façon flagrante:blatantly (l. 10)Avoir envie, démanger:to itch (l. 11)Convoiter:to covet (l. 11)Frimeur, frimeuse:a show-off (l. 16)2)Why is shopping important for the Handmaids?(ll. 1-5)Shopping is important for the Handmaids in Gilead because it’s an opportunity to see perhapssomeone they knew in the time before the authoritarian regime of Gilead, someone they knew in their previous life. “here, shoppingis where you might see someone you know, someone you’ve known in the time before”(l. 4).3)Who is Moira for the narrator? Justify with a quote.Moira is the narrator’s friend: “If I could see Moira, just see her, know she still exists. It’s hard to imagine now, having a friend.”(ll. 4-5)4)Read lines 6-7. Explain the different hypotheses that the narrator makesabout Ofglen’s attitude.The narrator supposes that Ofglen’sfemale relatives/members of her familyand friends might have all disappeared or been killed (“vanished”), or that perhaps Ofglen has a secret and doesn’t want to look too conspicuous/suspicious(“Or maybe she doesn’t want to be seen”).5)Describe the Handmaids’ uniform by looking at the still from the TV series, and also by reading the text.What impression does it give about Handmaids? Compare the colour of their garment with the other categories of women in Gilead (Part Two). In your opinion, why are they made to wear red?The Handmaids wear a red hoodedcloakover a red dress, and their head is coveredwith a white bonnet with wingswhich hides their face. It gives them a pious/religiousandpuritanappearance. Theother women wear khaki green (the Marthas), grey (the Econowives) and blue (the Commanders’wives). Red is the most visible and noticeable colour, it’s also the colour of blood. Perhaps the Republicof Gilead wants them to be noticeable, or perhaps it’s because they are being sacrificed. It can also be linked to menstruation bloodand pregnancy. The handmaids are fertile([ai])women, so they are made to wear red.6)Why is there a change of atmosphere in this extract? Pick out the sentence that marks this shift. (ll. 8-12)A pregnantHandmaid comes into the shop and the atmosphere shifts. All the other Handmaidshold their breath and look at her.“There is a shifting in the room, a murmur, an escape of breath”(ll. 9-10)7)“She’s a magic presence to us, an object of envy and desire, we covet her. She’s a flag on a hilltop, showing us what can still be done: we too can be saved.” (ll. 11-12): Who is described here? Identify the figure of speech in this extract and explain its meaning. Can you guess what the role of a Handmaid might be?This passage describes the pregnant Handmaid. The metaphor“She’s a flag on a hilltop”compares her to agoal that everyone is trying to achieve, like climbers on a mountain trying to reach the top. This probably means that a Handmaid’s role is to become pregnant and to beget(donner naissance)children.8)Look at the names of the Handmaids. What’s peculiar about them? How are they constructed? Are these their original names? What does it mean about their freedom?Ofglen, Ofwayne, Ofwarren: their names all start with the preposition “of”(which usually shows a relationof possession, like “the house of my parents”),

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