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Chapters 1 & 2

English Lit: Edexcel A Level The Handmaid's Tale, topic 9.1.1

Chapter 1 - Key Quotations

Here are six key quotations from Chapter 1:

"...unheard sound"

"...unheard sound"

  • "A palimpsest of unheard sound"
"...old sex..."

"...old sex..."

  • "There was old sex in the room and loneliness"
"We yearned for the future"

"We yearned for the future"

"We still had our bodies"

"We still had our bodies"

"We learned to whisper..."

"We learned to whisper..."

  • "We learned to whisper almost without sound"
"Alma.Janine...."

"Alma.Janine...."

  • "Alma.Janine.Dolores.Moira.June"

Chapter 2 - Key Quotations

Here are five key quotations from Chapter 2:

"They've removed anything..."

"They've removed anything..."

  • "They've removed anything you could tie a rope to"
"I try not to think too much"

"I try not to think too much"

"...Reduced circumstances..."

"...Reduced circumstances..."

  • "For ladies in reduced circumstances. For that is what we are now. The circumstances have been reduced; for those of us who still have circumstances"
"...I long for it"

"...I long for it"

  • "How I used to despise such talk. Now I long for it
"I hunger..."

"I hunger..."

  • "I hunger to commit the act of touch"

Test yourself on Chapters 1 & 2

  • What does the narrator say they "yearned for" in Chapter 1?

  • What does the narrator say they "still had" in Chapter 1?

  • What word is repeated in this quotation?

    "For ladies in .... circumstances. For that is what we are now. The circumstances have been ....; for those of us who still have circumstances"

  • What does Offred say she used to "despise" but "now I long for it"?

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