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The Handmaid’s Tale – Lesson 5: Who Holds the Power?

In this lesson, students will explore the Essential Question: *How does Atwood present power and control in Gilead? *

This lesson consolidates students’ understanding of power structures in The Handmaid’s Tale by analysing how Atwood presents fear, surveillance, and ritual humiliation as tools of control. Students will develop their analytical writing skills by breaking down an exam-style question, generating their own sub-questions, and completing a timed essay response.

Lesson Objectives:

• To be able to identify how Atwood presents power and control in The Handmaid’s Tale.
• To be able to analyse how narrative methods and historical context shape the reader’s perception of Gilead’s regime.
• To be able to construct a well-structured, analytical response to an exam-style question, applying AO1, AO2, AO3, and AO5.

Lesson Activities:

• Starter Task: Students brainstorm how regimes maintain power, drawing on historical and fictional examples, then discuss their ideas in pairs.
• Essay Question Breakdown:
  • “In Gilead, power is maintained through fear, surveillance, and ritual humiliation.”
  • Students annotate the question, highlight key terms, and translate it into their own words.
• Generating Sub-Questions: Students will be shown how to generate sub-questions from an essay question in order to break it down and form their answers.
• Quote Collection Task: Using a worksheet, students find evidence from Chapters 1-10 to support each theme.
• WAGOLL (What A Good One Looks Like): Students analyse a high-quality example essay to understand effective structure and analysis.
• Timed Essay (30 mins): Students write an analytical response to the exam-style question.
• Exit Task: Quick reflection—students decide which power mechanism (fear, surveillance, or ritual humiliation) is most effective in Gilead and justify their choice in a short written response.

This lesson provides students with a structured approach to essay writing while deepening their understanding of power and control in The Handmaid’s Tale.

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