ap lit handmaids tale test

Diction

The author’s specific word choices and their connotations; e.g., “empty” makes vibrant tulips feel unfulfilled.

Syntax

Arrangement of words and sentences; fragments can suggest broken thoughts, while long lists may create sensory intensity.

Tone

Narrator’s or author’s attitude, such as sardonic, bitter, nostalgic, detached, sensuous, defiant, or menacing.

Mood

The atmosphere the reader feels, such as tension, claustrophobia, unease, or sadness. Not the same as tone.

Imagery

Language appealing to sight, sound, smell, taste, or touch; the garden’s heat and scent suggest bodily life.

Symbolism

An object, color, or action represents larger ideas; red clothing can suggest both fertility and blood.

Motif

A recurring image or pattern that develops a theme; repeated flower imagery links fertility, beauty, and control.

Theme

An underlying idea explored by the work, such as identity versus conformity or protection used to justify oppression.

Metaphor

Direct comparison without like/as; calling tulips “chalices” makes them sacred reproductive vessels.

Simile

Comparison using like/as; petals falling “like teeth” connects fading blooms with bodily loss.

Personification

Attributing human actions or feelings to nonhuman things; the garden seems to breathe or speak.

Irony

A gap between appearance, expectation, or words and reality; Gilead praises fertility but denies women autonomy.

Juxtaposition

Placing contrasting ideas together; delicate flowers are described with violent or military language.

Paradox

An apparent contradiction with meaning; flowers silently “clamor” to be heard.

Allusion

Reference to religion, myth, history, or literature; Rachel and Bilhah are used to justify reproduction.

Euphemism

A mild term that disguises something disturbing; “Salvaging” means a public execution.

Pun

Wordplay using multiple meanings or similar sounds; “habit” means clothing and routine.

Neologism

A newly coined word OR a word given a new meaning; Gilead creates labels like “Unwomen” and redefines “Eye.”

Portmanteau

A new word made by blending parts of existing words, e.g., “Particicution” = participation + execution.

Neologism vs. portmanteau vs. semantic shift

Neologism is the broad category; a portmanteau blends words; a semantic shift gives an existing word a new meaning.

Offred

Of + Fred: an assigned name showing male possession and loss of personal identity. Class sheet labels it a portmanteau.

Eye / Eyes

Gilead’s secret police; an ordinary vision word repurposed to imply surveillance and self-censorship.

Angel Maker

A label for doctors associated with abortion; religiously charged wording condemns reproductive choice. Not a military Angel.

Compudoc

Computer + doctor; medical records/identification reduced to a computerized system of monitoring.

Shredder

Dehumanizing label for a baby with severe abnormalities; implies damaged material or waste.

Soul Scrolls

Shop selling mechanically printed prayers; exposes paid, performative religious devotion.

Holy Rollers

Punning nickname for prayer-printing machines; turns supposed holiness into automated production.

Unbaby

Un- + baby; Gilead’s label for a severely abnormal/unviable child, withdrawing recognized personhood.

Unwomen

Un- + women; those rejected from Gilead’s approved female roles, showing the regime controls identity.

Aunt

Female Handmaid trainer/enforcer; a nurturing family title disguises indoctrination and punishment.

Martha

Biblically named domestic worker; makes women’s household labor appear their natural identity.

Guardian

Lower-ranking male guard; a protective title disguises surveillance and restriction.

Econowives

Economic/economy + wives; lower-status wives perform multiple tasks, exposing class inequality.

Red Center

Handmaid training institution (Rachel and Leah Center); red evokes fertility, blood, danger, and conditioning.

Prayvaganza

Prayer/pray + extravaganza; a mass religious event that turns devotion into public spectacle.

Commander

Elite male authority; military language extends hierarchy and obedience into domestic life.

Angel

Soldier of Gilead; sacred naming makes organized violence appear divinely authorized.

Salvaging

A public execution; euphemism that makes killing sound like rescuing or restoring.

Testifying

Forced public disclosure and group judgment; “truth-telling” becomes indoctrination and victim-blaming.

Particicution

Participation + execution; state-directed group killing gives the illusion of empowering participants.

Serena Joy (name)

Ironic public name: serenity and happiness contrast with her bitterness, frustration, and confinement.

Pun: habit

Religious garment + repeated behavior; dress and imposed routine normalize obedience. Ironic/uneasy tone.

Pun: Mayday / May Day

Emergency distress call + spring/May 1 + resistance password; suggests danger and hope.

Pun: speechless

Stunned/unable to speak + deprived of a public voice; Serena supported values that later silence her. Bitter irony.

Pun: waiting

Waiting for events + waiting on/serving others; Offred’s room feels like a holding place, not an independent home.

Pun: household

Family home + something held or possessed + a ship’s hold; a supposedly safe home becomes confinement.

Pun: belly / bellying

Pregnant abdomen + swelling sail; Offred’s imagined escape circles back to her reproductive role.

Pun: master

Owner/person in power + principal/master bedroom + skilled person; ordinary domestic language preserves male authority.

Pun: loose

Unrestrained/free + sexually “loose”; the same word can celebrate liberation or stigmatize female independence.

Pun: falling

Falling in love + losing control + “fallen” woman; mixes affection, vulnerability, and moral judgment.

Overall effect of Offred’s puns

They show intelligence and mental resistance, introduce dark humor/irony, and challenge Gilead’s control of language.

RED — positive vs. negative

Positive: passion, vitality, courage, life. Negative: blood/violence, rage, lust, aggression, sin.

ORANGE — positive vs. negative

Positive: energy, warmth, enthusiasm, creativity. Negative: hazard, insincerity, impulsiveness, instability.

YELLOW — positive vs. negative

Positive: truth, knowledge, light, youth, optimism. Negative: cowardice, dishonesty, artificiality, decay.

GREEN — positive vs. negative

Positive: growth, fertility, nature, health, renewal. Negative: jealousy, greed, sickness, immaturity.

BLUE — positive vs. negative

Positive: loyalty, serenity, clarity, freedom. Negative: sadness, isolation, longing, emotional detachment.

PURPLE — positive vs. negative

Positive: royalty, authority, mystery, imagination. Negative: tyranny, illusion, excess, corruption.

PINK — positive vs. negative

Positive: love, innocence, tenderness, romance. Negative: naivety, vulnerability, timidity, weakness.

BROWN — positive vs. negative

Positive: reliability, endurance, comfort, tradition. Negative: dullness, stagnation, poverty, decay.

GRAY — positive vs. negative

Positive: wisdom, maturity, responsibility, restraint. Negative: disguise, conformity, loneliness, lifelessness.

BLACK — positive vs. negative

Positive: power, strength, elegance, authority. Negative: death, fear, secrecy, oppression, corruption.

WHITE — positive vs. negative

Positive: innocence, purity, goodness, peace. Negative: emptiness, sterility, surrender, isolation, erasure.

GOLD — positive vs. negative

Positive: wealth, divinity, success, prestige. Negative: elitism, greed, dominance, decadence.

SILVER — positive vs. negative

Positive: wisdom, reflection, clarity, precision. Negative: betrayal, artificiality, coldness, dehumanization.

BRONZE — positive vs. negative

Positive: strength, unity, support, stability. Negative: obedience, groupthink, boastfulness, deterioration.

Handmaids — RED uniform

Official: honored fertility/motherhood. Reality: blood, violence, loss of identity, reproductive exploitation.

Handmaids — WHITE wings

Official: purity and modesty. Reality: restrict vision and separate women; “wings” ironically suggest flight/freedom.

Wives — BLUE uniform

Official: Virgin Mary, loyalty, purity, household status. Reality: sadness, emotional coldness, constrained autonomy.

Marthas — dull GREEN uniform

Official: domestic service, nourishment, usefulness. Reality: women reduced to labor and denied independence.

Aunts — BROWN uniform

Official: tradition, stability, dependable teaching. Reality: stagnation and women enforcing Gilead’s rules.

Daughters — WHITE uniform

Official: virginity, innocence, moral purity. Reality: ignorance, obedience, erased choices.

Commanders — BLACK suit

Official: authority, leadership, seriousness. Reality: intimidation, secrecy, oppression, male dominance.

Econowives — striped clothing

Stripes combine several female-role colors; poorer women must perform domestic, marital, and reproductive duties.

Flower: opening RED TULIPS — who?

Offred and the Handmaids; conventional love/rebirth and red fertility contrast with loveless reproductive exploitation.

Opening red tulips — “chalices” and “empty”

Sacred vessel imagery + emptiness: Gilead honors women as reproductive containers but denies fulfillment/identity.

Opening red tulips — “shards,” border, upward growth

Shards suggest injury/fragmentation; border suggests controlled growth; upward thrust suggests vitality without freedom.

Flower: WITHERED DAFFODIL — who?

Primarily Serena’s faded vitality/status; also Offred’s desire for a small independent choice.

Withered daffodil — traditional meaning vs. condition

Daffodils mean spring/renewal/hope, but “withered” turns the symbol into decay, lost potential, and irony.

Withered daffodil — diction and setting

“Stale,” “stench,” discarded flower, and midnight create domestic decay and small, secret resistance.

Flower: BLUE/PURPLE IRISES — who?

The Commanders’ Wives, especially Serena; blue/purple suggest loyalty, high status, sadness, and limited power.

Irises — glass and frozen-water similes

“Blown glass” suggests delicate luxury; “water frozen” suggests beauty with suspended movement and restricted freedom.

Irises — posture and color

Tall upright stalks convey prestige; blue evokes loyalty/sadness, purple royalty/authority, dark shades shadow.

Flower: BLEEDING HEARTS — who?

Serena and the Wives in the group slides; more broadly suppressed women and hidden female suffering.

Bleeding hearts — “rooted out” / “subversive”

Political diction makes the garden represent resistance to the regime’s attempt to suppress femininity and desire.

Bleeding hearts — silent clamor / posture

Paradox and personification show silenced women still expressing themselves; drooping hearts suggest pain but continued growth.

Flower: CUT TULIP SEEDPODS — who?

Serena’s frustrated desire to control fertility; seedpods parallel Handmaids whose reproduction is managed by others.

Cut seedpods — shears and “Saint Serena”

Shears imply power/potential violence; saintly language beside military diction exposes care mixed with coercion.

Cut seedpods — stage and effect

Petals shed “like teeth” suggest bodily loss; cutting pods redirects energy to the bulb and does not necessarily kill it.

Flower: CARNATIONS — who?

Serena Joy in Group 6; traditionally motherly love and gratitude, but here frustrated maternity and intimacy.

Carnations — warmth, scent, and breathing

Sensory imagery and personification make the garden bodily, intimate, alluring, and disorienting.

Carnations — sacred vs. bodily language

Carnation/flesh associations and Dianthus (“flower of god”) join physical desire with religious ideals.

Earlier tulip passage — cut and healing imagery

The red opening tulips look cut and beginning to heal; beauty is linked to injury, reproduction, and possible recovery.

Peonies and pinks in the warm garden

Peonies suggest romance and abundance; pinks are Dianthus relatives of carnations, adding femininity and sensuality.

Rose color meanings from bouquet handout

Red: love; white: purity; pink: gratitude; yellow: friendship or jealousy; purple: mystery; black: mourning.

Flower bloom stages — what do they suggest?

Bud: youth/potential; partial bloom: awakening; full bloom: maturity/fertility; withering: decline; dead/dried: loss/remembrance.

How do you analyze a flower on the test?

Consider traditional meaning, name, color, bud number, stem/posture, stage/health, setting, and exact wording; then link to a person/group.

Central contradiction in Gilead

The regime calls its system holy, orderly, and protective while using it to exploit bodies and suppress individuality.

Gilead’s language: main purpose

Names, titles, puns, and euphemisms reveal how language classifies people and makes oppression appear normal.

Light vs. darkness in Gilead

Light can mean truth/hope but also exposure to surveillance; darkness can mean danger but also privacy/resistance.

Eyes, Wall, and uniforms — shared theme

Visible classification, surveillance, and public punishment enforce fear and self-policing.