Cupcakes and Kalashnicovs-speech-

Dear girls,
Today I will be talking to you about many tragic cases of young girls like yourselves-forced into doing something they didn't want to do.
The percentage of gang rapes has increased rapidly over recent years. Girls like you had to suffer because they had no choice, forced to tell nobody and had a fear of being killed if they didn't litsen to them.
One of many cases was of two girls who were caught late at night, taken to the park (after coming out of a club), forced to do things that can not be spoken of because 'they don't see it as rape-just see it as pleasure for them'...

Commentary:
The beginning of the speech starts with 'dear girls', this is used to address the audience (who it is for). The use of pronoun 'you' is used to direct the girls about how serious this topic is and they need to be careful. One of the cases from the article has been used, which makes it very important for the girls to listen to.

Cupcakes and Kalashnikovs-speech-

Dear parents,

We are here today to keep our children away from 'stranger danger'. As you know, we live in a society where children can travel with the permission of their parents, but careful thinking needs to be put in by you, when giving permission to your children. Parents who do not take full responsibilities could face a tragedy, just like Holly and Jessica. Children need to be taught to be careful, after the murder of Holly and Jessica and many more murder cases that have gripped the nation in recent years.

You need to teach your children to be careful of who they talk to, because nobody knows what can happen if they speak to someone they don't know. Tell them not to answer because I know you don't want to lose them.

You also have to question yourself, do I want my child to go missing and later find it in bushes or in a back garden? What is there I can do to prevent this from happening? Is there a solution?
These questions will be a start for every parent and will wake those who are less responsible.
Lets together, make it safer for our children, lets make sure they are taught to be careful. To stop another horror story that has stalked us for years...


Commentry:
The beginning of the speech begins with 'dear parents', this is useed to address the audience (who it is for). The use of rehtorical questions have been used several times, the three questions build on from eachother, this is used to make the audience (parents) think about it. The use of pronoun 'you' is used to direct the audience what to do and how to teach their children to be careful. In addition to that, the use of collective pronoun 'Lets together' is used to make the parents feel that we will be there for them and we will all work together to teach children to be careful. The text has also been used in this speech, 'to stop another horror story...' This is used to make the speech more powerful.

Cupcakes and Kalashnikovs- On the murder of James Bulger

Monsters or children? This is what two young boys have been called. Venables and Thomson are those boys who killed an innocent little boy named James Bulger.
These two boys are best friends, same age, same school. These two planned the heartbraking murder of James. They took the live of a young boy (2 years old). They will regret everything because NOW their lives will never be the same again. They will be known by every individual as monsters not children.
Monsters not children for the shocking death of a boy who had no idea his life will end so soon. Monsters for not thinking about the consequences of killing James.
Once they were caught, they were questionned one by one. During the investigation, Thomas was being more deviant to outwit the police, but they found he was behind this murder. Through the help of Venables parents, he confessed it was them who had planned to murder James. He (told by Venables) was enouaged by Thomson to kill little James.
Venables described the process, "taking off the trainers and socks..."
With the help of Venables, the investigators found the truth (Thomson plan), as they suspected before, when Robert Thomson was asked if he had stolen battries (before the murder), but he denied it. However, when the body was found...

Commentary:
At the beginning of the voiceover, I questioned the audience by the given title of the recast task, this is to engage the audience to continue watching the TV documentary and it is eyecatching. I used the repetition of the word 'monsters' to emphasise the meaning of the word and to show how serious it is. Throughout the voiceover, I explained it in detail, this is to inform the mass audience.

Cupcakes and Kalashnikovs- Diary entry

Dear diary,

I can still remember "Boss, Boss I didn't do nothing... don't burn me Boss..." from the frightening and horrific night. I can still imagine the way they dragged him, I wish I could do something to stop it!
They said he touched a women, how old was she I asked eagerly. They said 40-50 and she would scare you if you look at her. Hyacinth is only 16, why would he do that?
But these men didn't care about that, all they cared about was themselves.
She says she got raped when they asked her, but that is unbelievable and I do not believe her.

I saw when he was surrounded by men, he had his hands tied and there was a rope around his waist. They were dragging him... but, his legs curled under him, as if it was stopping him from going.
I could see in his eyes he was an innocent and trustworthy boy, unfortunatly these people who were doing this to him were heartless and had no empathy.
He begged them to stop, but that was no good. They did not listen to him.

I prayed and prayed they would not kill him, however he snapped from the back of the car. Hung suspensed, on the rope. They killed him...
They didn't stop at that point as I saw a man going towards Hyacinth's dead body with a torch and then I knew he was soacked in kerosene (the drinks the two men offered us in the car). So the flames licked at his feet and shooted up as soon as the man put it near him.

I am still thinking about the way he was killed, the way his neck loosened when he was hung up and the smell of the burning human.

I wish I could've helped...


Commentary:

At the beginning of this diary entry, I used the text (when the boy was begging), this is to say that Joe still remembers what Hyacinth said and what his last words were.
I used a simile to describe how he was trying to stop them from hagging him, "as if he was..." This is to say that his legs were controlling him, his feet were dragged, but it tired to reject it.
I used first person pronoun 'I', this is to make it personal (from Joe's point of view), these included his regrets and thoughts he was feeling at the time.
I used the text (as asked), to get relevant things from it, then I applied them to the diray entry, this is to show that Joe remembered every detail about the hangging and burning of Hyacinth.

Cupcakes and Kalashnikovs -Interview-

Interview with Christina Lamb

Interviewer: So Christina, does your child matter or your job as a journalist?

Christina: That is a tricky question because I absloutly love my job and want to be with my son. Reporting news has been my passion ever since I was little. All those fighting, gunshooting and travelling by flying, driving, running walking etc. But on the other hand, I don't want my son to grow up without me. I can't bear thinking sometimes when I have something urgent to do, I miss my only chance to talk to him. However, it is hard to answer.

Interviewer: What arguments can you make to justify your choices?

Christina: To be honest, I didn't wan to have a child because I knew I was not going to be there every day. However, fortunatly, my husband helped me a lot, wich made my life easier and being a mother has made me a better reporter because having a child has changed my life a lot.

Interviewer: What would your child to if you die?

Christina: I believe Lourenco will know how much I love my job and my death will affect him, but I know my husband will always be there for him, no matter what happens to me. I thank him here, for all the hard work he has put in to look after him, as much as I would have, if I was there.

Interviewer: What do you want to do in the future?

Christina: I want to stay at home with my husband and dear son in the near future because I want to be closer to them and try to fill in all the years I have been separated from them.

Cupcakes and Kalshnicovs- The Feminine Mystique-

Produce the first few paragraphs of an essay discussing female sexuality in films. Female sexulaity in films are shown in many aspects today that makes a female become the centre of attention. This is used in many horror films, where female is shown as guilty and males as the victims shuch as the film Gennifer's Body'. I will be discussing female sexulaity in films and why they are used in this way. In 'Fatal Attraction', a women is shown as a witch. This is to portray how women are guilty in the actions they do. Fatal Attractions shows how female sexuality is used to explain the selfishness and guilty she puts across when threatening the man because of her own desires and fantacies. (as Pauline Kael says when criticising the film). In Gennifer's Body, she attracts men but, gets revenge by killing them during their date. She is shown as a witch who is cold blodded, heartless and selfish person. Therefore women's sexuality is used in this film to show a way of women revenging. Fatal Attractions shows men's deeper fear of feminism: their fear of women, their fear of women's emotions, of women's hanging onto them, she is a monster in a monster flick. This is all described by the film critic Pauline Kael. The adjectives she uses to describe the women followed by the preposition 'of', portrays who the fear. Metaphor 'she is a monster' is used to make readers think she is a monster. Female sexulaity in films, as seen by Kael is used in a very negative way. By exploring these two films, I think that female sexulaity in films are shown as negative, whereas female sexulaity in many other films is hsown in opposite way (positive).

Cupcakes and Kalashnikovs- Why I want a Wife

What is satire?
Satire is the use of ridicule and sarcasm to expose vise and folly. There are several examples in the article "Why I want a Wife". One of which is when she is using a women's job, "... I was ironing", losing time for her needs/interests etc.

How is satire used in the text "Why I want a Wife?"
In the article "Why I want a Wife", the use of satire has been used several times throughout the text. One of which is at the beginning of the article, where the use of women's jobs is used to begin the idea of why she wants a wife. This can be seen when she says, "... I was ironing one evening..." The reason behind this is to give emphasis on the ideal wife that she wants, as she mentions towards the end of the article "... more suitable as a wife than the wife I already have..." In these two quotes the use of personal pronoun has been used, which shows her own feelings, needs of having a wife. A satire is used in this quotation as a use of ridicule, meaning what she is doing at the time of writing about wanting a wife, the job is associated with a women's job in the home.

Why is it used and to what effect?
The reason why Judy Syfers has used a satire is to begin her article. She has started by showing what she does in her spare/all the time. In this case, ironing, however, as she describes her ideal wife, one of the roles she said they must do for her is the ironing. Maybe because she is bored/tired of having to do the ironing all all the time, so she adds it to one of her commands when describing a wife. The effect of doing this, is to give reasons as to why she wants to have a wife, as she used a wide range of personal pronoun in each sentence. She talks about her friend needing a wife, so this could show the importance and the impact of having a wife, as she desires for herself and being one sided, as she says, "I want a wife who will not demand..." Again the use of personal pronoun and modal verb "will", which is a way of commanding and ruling what she wants the wife to do and not do.

Cupcakes and Kalashnikovs

Imagined interview between a modern journalist and a suffragette exploring what they experienced and drawing on the two texts you have to read.

Modern journalist: What happened over 150 years ago in Britain, had a major impact on our lives today. Women such as Sylvia Pankhurst, whom is best known for her committed and successful struggle to win the vote for women. We will be interviewing a suffragette and what she experienced. What did you experience from this?
Suffragette: What I experienced from this suffragette was danger and suffering for months, that changed the world. Many people can remember and still remember today, that the biggest change that suffragette's did was changing women's lives. Women like me, brought change to the history of women. It made women have the right to vote.
Modern journalist: How did you decide to follow what Sylvia Pankurst did? What made you put your own life in danger?
Suffragette: Well, I was very upset by the lack of choice and freedom women had and the male dominance over women. Seeing Sylvia putting her own life in danger for us women, made me become a suffragette, and do the same thing as she did.
Modern journalist: Did you suffer from dangerous things during this time?
Suffragette: Many of the things I did to change women's role, was dangerous, one of which was not eating and drinking for 30 days. My weight was decreasing, but I did not stop, but continued.
Modern jounalist: Thank you for your co-operation.

Commentary:
The interview between the journalist and suffragette is set out in a script, this shows turn taking and adjacency pairs. The reason for this is to have the interviewer asking the suffragette about her experience in the time. The topic is about the suffragette's from 150 years and exploring her experience. The audience that it is applied to, are women today, to let them know about the lives of women , 150 years ago. I chose to give views about the reason for becoming a suffragette in such way, to link it back to the artical, which was written at the time of suffragette.

Cupcakes and Kalashnikovs- Should Married Women Work-

Write a magazine article for Good HouseKeeping (a magazine for women), in which you argue whether married women should work.

Yes. The traditional view of a married women's role is to stay in the home and look after the children and provide food for the husband. However, this view is outdated, as numerous changes in the society and law have moved on. Some of these changes include the changes in the position of women, as women are allowed to be educated and get a job.
Some married women probably have a degree, which took time to earn, but some still believe that once a women is married, her role is to stay in the house, look after the children and have no occupation. This is because they are seen as a housewife and those who do the housekeeping, whilst men are the breedwinners.
Some sociologists believe that a married women must stay and look after things within the house. On the other hand, married women should work, this is because it helps the husband financially, in other words, not having to lend them money. As the article "Women Talking to Men," by Mary Stott, indicates three scenarios. First scenario is "Husband A", some men may respond as this. However, some may say (Husband B), "I can't afford it". Whilst others may be in between, as husband C says, "How much do you think you will need?" The first scenario leads to 'no', whereas, the other two scenarios leads to 'yes', because they portray negative scenes, when a women does not work.
Some men believe that if a women earns money, they spend it on things that are unnecessary, which means the opposite to women. As Mary Stott questions her audience when saying, "How can a man endure... only of semi-adult status?"
Attitudes twoards marriage has changed, as women can get educated. Therefore, they put marriage to a side, never marry or work as well as marring. Equality between women and men are becoming more equal in areas such as, education, voting, domestic households and many more.

Commentary:

In the article above, I inculded the different views of women, from the traditional view of marrige and the mordern view. This was to help me answer the question, as the roles and attitudes about women have changed and to give both sides of the argument, whether married women should work or not. I linked the question back to the two articles, one of which was the article by Mary Stott, she used scenarios, to portray the different reason why a women should work when married. I did this to make my answer stronger, as I said yes for married women to work as well as attitudes towards marriage and equality between women and men.
The question asked by Mary Stott has the the adjective pre-modifier 'semi', which is used to describe women, which means a women is not fully grown up, therefore, illustrates patriarchy.

Survey

• Why did you choose English Language and Literature?

I chose English Language and Literature because I got a good result in my GCSE and I enjoyed it at GCSE.

• What do you like/dislike about the subject?

I like the subject because of the interesting theme in both texts.

• Which texts have you enjoyed studying most?

I enjoyed studying The Importance of Being Ernest and The Handmaid's Tale because the content was nice.

• What do you think of the mix of discussion and writing on the course?

I think the mix of discussion and writing on the course is good because it helps me.

• Are you using the blog to help you work outside the classroom?

Yes, I do.

• How do you use the blog to help you write?

When I get stuck on a task, I view other's work to help me get started.

• What is your approach to writing essays?

• Next term, I am going to use the blog and research on the internet to help me with the text more and to enrich my studies.

The Handmaid's Tale and The Wife of Bath

Essay question: Compare and contrst the ways Atwood in "The Handmaid's Tale" and Chaucer in "The Wife of Bath" explore status in society.

Staus in society is explored in the novel "The Handmaid's Tale" by Atwood and epic poem "The Wife of Bath" by Chaucer. In the Handmaid's Tale, Atwood explores staus in socety through language, colour coding (clothing), role, name of characters, the past life of Offred and subjugation of women in the socety of Gilead. In the Wife of Bath, Chaucer explores status in socety through the Wife's prologue which describes her role, clothing and mastery in the bedroom. In the Tale, the status in socety is explored through the Queen's position and power over men. I will be exploring the ways Atwood and Chaucer explore status in socety.

In the Handmaid's Tale, the status of women and men are explored through their roles in socety. Firstly, the character of Offred (a Handmaid), as Atwood describes her role in the society of Gilead as, "I am a walking womb". In the quotation, the use of short sentence has been used, the reason why Atwood used short sentence is to declare her role. A declarative sentence is a grammatical mood that expresses a statement, Atwood used this to show reader's the Handmaid's role. Personal deixis "I" identifies Offred's feelings from her point of view about her status in society, the reason Atwood used the pronoun "I" in the statement is to express the role of Handmaid's from a Handmaid themself. Secondly, the character of Serena Joy (Commander's Wife), as Atwood describes her role in the society of Gilead as, "The garden is the domain of the Commander's Wife". In the quotation, the noun "domain" has been used to show her control and power over the garden, but this is the opposite to the traditional role of women in the house because men are supposed to control the garden. Atwood uses Offred's dialogue to show the Commander's Wife role in the society of Gilead, as Offred describes her role, she uses her name and not a pronoun, this shows her respect for the Commander's Wife, as she has higher status to the Handmaid's. Although Atwood clearly describes the Wife's role, the role enforced is not kept as its supposed to be, as the Wife does more than her role. The Commander's Wife shows Offred a picture of her daughter, in the ceremony (that takes place once every month), again the Commander's Wife has some control over it as Offred illustrates the Wife's attitude when she says, "her rings of her left hand cut through me like a knife." Lastly, through the manipulation of Offred and Nick in order to get rid of Offred. Finally, the character of the Commander, as Atwood decribes his role in the society of Gilead as, "The Commander, too, is doing his duty." In the quotation, the use of the noun "Commander" used by Offred when describing his role is to show her respect for those abover her, this reveals the Commander has a high status from Offred who is a Handmaid in the society of Gilead. The noun "duty" connotes his role, a job in society. The reason Atwood used this word is to reveal the purpose of his high status in the society of Gilead.

The Handmaid

Religion in the Handmaid's Tale

In the Handmaid's Tale, the belief in God in Gilead in real presence when Offred says, "May the Lord open."

I think that Serena shows more respect for religion better than the Commander because as he begins to read the Bible, his action is decribed by Offred when she says, "... as if reluctantly, begins to read. He isn't very good at it. Maybe he's merely bored." This quotation reveals the lack of respect the Commander has for religion. The adverb "reluctantly" connotes unwilling and disinclined which again shows how much respect he has. The adverb merely is decribing the adjective "bored" to illustrate his reaction in depth.

Religion benefits the Commander in Gilead, this is because his status is at the top, he controls all women and get away when going to Jezebles. This is when he says to Offred, "The Commander does the talking for me." By using his name, shows she has repect for him, which leads to the benefit the Commander has in Gilead, in terms of status and gender.

The Handmaid's Tale

Essay question: Compare and contrast the ways Atwood in "The Handmaid's Tale" and Chaucer in "The Wife of Bath" explore status in society.

Introduction:
Status in society is explored in the books, The Handmaid's Tale and The Wife of Bath. In the Handmaid's Tale, Atwood explores status in society through language which shows subjugation of women, colour coding (clothing), role, name of characters, the past and present life of Offred. In the Wife of Bath, status is explored in the Prologue through the wife's control over marriage. The Tale which presents the status of women through the queen's orders and the Witches commands. I will be exploring the different ways Atwood and Chaucer explore status in society.

Main Body:

1. In the Handmaid's Tale, the status of women and men are explored through their roles in society. This can be seen in character of Offred (who is a Handmaid) used for the bearing of children when Offred says, "I am a walking womb." The use of women in society in the section about Salvaging when the Handmaid's are told to pull the rope to kill the Handmaid accused of "cheating". "I've leaned forward to touch the rope in front of me, in time with the others... placed my hand on my heart to show my unity with the salvagers and my consent..."
2. Although women such as the Handmaid's are used for the bearing of children, there are other women who have different roles and status in society. Women such as the Commander's Wife called Serena Joy has a higher status comapred to the Handmaid's. The different status between these two categories can be seen in the actions and attidues of the Wife to the Offred. When Offred first meets the Commander's wife and she describes her attitude, "She dosen't speak to me, unless she can't avoid it. I am a reproach to her; and a necessity."
3. Despite the status of the Wife in the Handmaid's Tale, the status of women in the fouteenth century and the views on women are shown by Chaucer through the Wife either contridictory or corresponding to the Wifes Prologue and Tale. A corresponding quote for the views on women in the fourteenth century about women being troublesome is when the Wife describes herself as, "Stiborn I was as is a leonasse."
4. Depending on the views on women in Chaucer's era, the wealth of the woman would be passed onto the man once they are married. A quotation from the Wife portrays that women's wealth is passed onto the husband, when the Wife says, "Hath wedded me with greet so lempritee, And to him yaf i al the lond and fee."
5. In the Handmaid's Tale society, women are dominated by men,the Commander is a man, who commands everyone below his status (the Handmaid's, the Aunts and their Wife). The society of the book is based on patriarchal society and this can be seen through the power men have as a Commander. This can be seen when Offred describes the Commander when she says, "The Commander has a room key. He shows it to me, slyly. I am to understand."
6. Whereas, in the Wife of Bath's Tale, women are shown to be in control of and have power over men. This can be seen in the Tale when the Wife says, "And yat him to the queene, al at hir wille, To chase wheither she wolde him save or spille." The queen's commandes to the Knight which shows her status when she says, " I grante thee lyf if thou thanst tellen me what thing is it that women most desiren."
7. In the Handmaid's Tale, the Handmaid's are used to ear children and are colour coded like the others, the colour they have to wear is red. Therefore Offred decribes herself as, "the colour of blood, which defines us."

Conclusion:

In conclusion, I believe that in both "The Handmaid's Tale" and "The Wife of Bath", the topic status has been explored in many ways. In the Handmaid's Tale through hierachy and colour coding. In the Wife of Bath, through Prologue and Tale describing the status of women through the queen status and the Wife's life.

The Handmaid's Tale - Chapter 28 -

Subjugation of women:

"I have to let you go, it's the law, I have to. You can't work here any more."

This quote is taken from the past before Gilead Regime, the time when women were allowed to work and working was seen as normal for women. The manager tells them to leave or else they will kill me. Offred loses her job at that stage and that is when subjugation begins. The term subjugation is defined as oppression of women, making women the subject. In the quote, the word law which is a noun, this phrase justifies the reason they have to leave their jobs and shows that the subjugation was brought by the new law. Everyone needs to follow the law, therefore when the manager mentions the decision made by them affects the reason they leave the workplace immediately.

The modal verb can't shows they no longer have the choice to stay there, they have to leave to survive. The choice is been taken away from the manager himself, its the choice that is taken away from all of them by the law which needs to be followed at all times. The fact that the person telling them is a man suggests the difference between the gender at that moment, the man controls and commands the women, as this will happen in the future, the commander's role in the Gilead society.

In this chapter, the whole society begins to change. It starts with Offred's bank card not working, then she loses her job by the law. These suggest how the new society is building and women's freedom from doing such things.

The Handmaid's Tale-Jezebel section

Explore attitudes towards women and sex

Throughout the book of the book of the Handmaid's Tale, attitudes towards women and sex are explored in many different ways and Atwood has used a female voice as the narrator of the book to show us these attitudes. The use of woemsn who are fertile and can bear children, the symbol of the colour red worn by the Handmaid's meaning they are fertile. Along these attitudes towards women and sex, the section Jezebel explores many things about the actions towards women and sex. I will be exploring these attitudes towards women and sex in the section of the book.

In the section of the Jezeble's, attitudes towards women and sex is explored through many denotations, connotations and symbolisim of animal skin worn by women in the club. In the beginning of chapter thirty seven, the Commander mentions something to do with the nature of men. He says to Offred, "Nature demands variety for men... it's natures plan." This quote contains the word nature which cannotes God's creation meaning that men would stillhave the same actions towards women eventhough the society has changed. The Commander raises this issue because he is maybe against the Gilead's Regime. The club is built against the Gilead Regime that is built in the society and is against the nature of life. He says this to show is inner feelings for his duty and the situation he is in. The nature of men is shown in a similar way to the Commander when Nick winks at Offred which also cannotes the love and passion men have towards women and not ven the Gilead Regime can stop God's creation and how he created it. This explanation can be linked to the question about attitudes towards women and sex.

Another attitude towards women and sex is shown through the symbol of animal's skin worn by the women in the club. This is described by Offred and her thoughts and qestions herself about the past when she says, "Girls dressed for Easter, in rabbit suits...why are rabbits supposed to be sexually attractive to men?" In this quotation, the animal "rabbit" is worn by the women, so the rabbit costume cannotes cute and prey, these connotations shows how a women is seen by others and prey for men (as the predators). Offred is in the club, the question she raised in her mind is something to do with the place she is at, in this case it is the club and she sees women dressed in these costumes which is against the Gilead Regime. Interior monolgue is used by Offred eventhough she is in a place where there is some freedom and everyone would be equally punished if they were found out. The reason she uses this is because she may be afraid of the place, the people, salvaging and The Wall, she might be unsure of the Commander and his wife accusing her of something whci hmay cause her death penalty or taken to the colonies. The rabbit suits is a use symbol of attitudes towards women and sex by men which relates to the question.

In addition to that, the attitudes that may be given to women in the club shows how women are treated everywhere in the society. This can be seen when Offred wants to meet Moira and asks the Commander what she should say is anyone stops her and the Commander says "Just show them your tag...they'll know you are taken." This shows that women are used as possessions of men and their property in the Gilead Regime and shows us that the society is a Patriarchal society which means women have no freedom, therefore they are only commanded by their husband's or Commander's. The word "tag" cannotes marriage ring as a object to show a married couple, in this case, the Coomander and Offred.

In chapter thirty nine, the Commander command's Offred to have sex with him alone without his wife, this can be seen when Offred narrates "He pulls down one of my straps... I lie there like a dead bird." This quotation portrays patriarchal society, where men are in control of women and the power they have over women. Offred describes herself as "a dead bird", which is an animal, the same as the animal costumes worn by women in the club. A dead bird cannotes death which shows Offred's inner feelings towards the force of having sex with the Commander.

In conclusion, Atwood has used Offred as the narrator of the story and describing the section of Jezebel's. The section is against the Gilead Regime, and the attitudes that are given to women in that section. The reason a female narrator is describing the scene and situation is to show how women are treated and what they symbolize for men and sex.

Offred's monologue

Today was the most strangest day of my life! Well, Nick came up to me and said the Commander wanted to see me. I was really scared at first because of the Wall and the Aunts, but I had to go, because he is the Commander.
Well, after the lights were out and the Aunts were not around, I sneakly went into the hallway, towards the Commander's office. I have never been to his office before, ever. I felt scared, my heart was beating very fast. At last I came to a door which said in capital letters "THE COMMANDER'S OFFICE". My hand was shaking and I couldn't knock on the door, after I had calmed down, I lightly knocked on the door and heard his voice saying "come in". I wanted to go back, wanted to escape into thin air because of the fear I have of The Wall, but then I felt very excited to be the only one the Commander wants.
After closing the door, I looked at the room. The room looked very old and dirty, but there was books everywhere, I thought they had burn them all. The Commander asked my to come forward and sit on the chair. He was sitting on a big chair behind his desk. He began talking to me, by asking how I am and other things, I didn't dare look at his face because it is forbidden at all times.
The reason he wanted to see me was to play SCRABBLE, I couldn't believe it at first, but after a while I got used to it, eventhough I hadn't ever played it before and could hardly remember any spellings.
At the end he came upto the door of his office with me to say good night, and he asked my to kiss him. "Kiss me like you mean it". This is what the Commander commanded me to do and I think he really meant what he said, so I did as he aksed, eventhough I was scared of the Eye watching eveything we do.

Commentary:

I chose Offred's character to do a monolgue, to show the risks she takes which leads to the ending of the book itself. I also got the Commander to show the two different status of the characters, the Commander's high status and the handmaid's lower status. The situation Offred is at is when she is meeting the Commander for the first time in his office and the way she feels about meeting him on her own, unlike before, when she had the ceremony with Serena Joy holding her hands.
The setting of the monologue is set in the Commander's office with Offred seeing herslef in the office for the first time and her reactions to the place. The Commander is sitting at his desk when Offred goes into the office, then they start playing scrabble, as the Commander had decided to do when she comes.
The message this monologue of Offred is to show the Commander's status and the duty of Offred as a handmaid, being commanded at by higher status. I have also included Offred's fear of The Wall, which is echoing in her mind at every step of the way to his Office and meeting him. I used a language technique called capital, I used this to show the important titles as Offred reads the sign on the door. I also used a wide variety of punctuation to show the pauses and feeling of Offred in her situation.

The Handmaid's Tale

An entry from Offred's secret diary:

Dear diary,

Today, I went shopping with Ofglen, we brought all the food we needed inclusing ORANGES, it has been a long time since I had an orange so I was tempted to buy it straight away! After buying the list one of the Marthas gave me, we went past the church through the Wall. To be honest, the reason I wanted to pass the Church is to see the Wall. Today bodies six bodies were hanged by the necks, their hands tied in front of them, their heads in white bags. I felt scared and I was shivering because seeing my future in front of me is something hard to accept. It was men's Salvaging today and I wanted to see if Luke was one of the dead bodies, I always look at the Wall as I pass it, in the hope of seeing him, not hanged and dead, but because I miss him so much I want to see his face again.

The Handmaid's Tale

A letter from a Commander's wife to Serena Joy: An invitation to a 'Birth Day'

RE: An invitation to a 'Birth Day'

Dear Serena Joy

I would like to invite you to a Birth Day we will be having, as one of the Handmaid's is due to have a baby after nine long months. A blue Birthmobile will come and bring you to the Centre where the birth of the baby will take place. I am so greateful that one of our Handmaid's pregnant because it is a miracle to bring life to a child for the future. I will be looking forward to seeing you there.

Yours Sincerely
Commander's wife

The Handmaid's Tale:
Character: Aunt Lydia
Aunt Lydia, as all the other Aunts, are assigned to indocrinate the Handmaid's with the belief of the new society and make the Handmaid's accept their fates. Aunt Lydia works in the "Red Centre" where women like Offred go for instruction before becoming Handmaid's. Aunt Lydia's flashbacks are only seen by Offred, the instruction haunt Offred in her life. Aunt Lydia's slogans drum the ideology into the women's heads, they hear Gilead's words echoing in their heads as Offred remembers what Aunt Lydia said about Gilead. Aunt Lydia has once said to Offred that "Gilead is within you".