AP LIT Dystopian terms

doublespeak

language to deceive others (through concealment or misinterpreted truth)

deliberate misuse of language to distort meaning

oligarchy

small group of people having control

theocracy

government controlled by religious leaders

hierarchy

ranking of people one above the other according to status/ authority

1. commanders

2. angels

3. guardians

effigy

sculpture of a person/ figure

• or crude image of a despised person

archaic

extremely old/ foreign seeming

parley

conversation between two opposing sides sides

civil discussion between enemies

• ex: offred meeting w commander in hallway

• talking w serena joy

fraternize

associating with someone (forming a friendship)

• especially when one is not allowed to (offred and ofglen)

demure

quiet and modest

heretical

• sacrilegious (contrary to an accepted belief/ standard)

• practicing religious heresy

palimpsest

writing where the original material has been effaced to make room for later writing (traces of old still remain)- ex: manipulating the bible, only reading certain parts

computalk

representative of Gilead's multiple internal forms of electronic communications

• ex: mandatory phrases “under his eye”

• regulated speech (no free speech)

• internal forms of communication

• extension of compuchek: computerized scanning devices that read credit cards and bar-coded pricing and inventory symbols

allegory

story/poem/picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning