Essay question Compare the ways in which the writers of your two chosen texts make use of different voices.
Texts: Frankenstein (1818, revised 1831) The Handmaid’s Tale (1985)
Relevant ideas / Chinese box structure in Frankenstein, creature’s narrative sandwiched between Victor and Walton, made to be discredited.
events to explore in Metafiction and postmodernism in Handmaid’s Tale. Offred’s disjointed narrative and addressing the reader.
the set texts Both stories are spoken and then scribed, unreliable to an extent?
The Creature and Offred are both disenfranchised, yet given a voice.
The Commander, Victor and Walton are both in positions of power, yet they are alone and unhappy.
The Creature and Offred both internalise society’s view on their body, demonstrating the power of voices on an individual’s psyche.
The reader sees the pain in Offred and the Creature’s stories and does not really sympathise with the Commander and Victor’s voices.
Overarching thesis Overall, both Shelley and Atwood give agency to the disenfranchised, as well as juxtaposing this against the different voices of the privileged.
First comparative Comparative topic sentence:
paragraph The Handmaid’s Tale starts with Offred’s voice being disenfranchised and alone, whereas in Frankenstein starts with Walton and Frankenstein who
are both privileged, yet physically or emotionally alone.
Frankenstein evidence / AO3 links The Handmaid’s Tale evidence / AO3 links
AO2 AO2
“I bitterly feel the want of a friend” - Shelley uses Walton’s voice to draw “I try not to think too much. Like other things now, thought must be
attention to the loneliness he faces through the harsh adjective ‘bitterly’. rationed.” - Offred’s suffering is quite regimented, using militaristic
“I shall satiate my ardent curiosity… and may tread a land never before language she compartmentalises her suffering, rationing it to stay
imprinted by the foot of man”. - Recurring theme of male impulsiveness and sane.
ambition driving them to loneliness; Idea that glory comes with a cost. “Larynx, I spell. Valance, Quince, Zygote.” - Metaphoric for Offred and
“Every night I was oppressed by a slow fever”. - Foreshadowing the pain her suffering, she lacks a voice (larynx) and bravery (valance). Her
and misery to come out of Victor’s ambition, he chooses this loneliness. desires are forbidden, like the forbidden (quince) fruit in the bible and
“My loud, unrestrained, heartless laughter frightened and astonished him”. she is forced to get pregnant (zygote).
- A warning to the reader, Victor’s loneliness has caused him to go mad. He “In a gradually heating bathtub, you’d be boiled to death before you
cannot behave normally in social situations anymore, devoid of his knew it.” - Metaphoric symbol of complacency. Atwood almost directly
humanity. warns her readers that complacency is the root cause of governments
“Darkness had no effect upon my fancy” - Pathetic fallacy, Victor is evil. taking away human rights.
AO3
Texts: Frankenstein (1818, revised 1831) The Handmaid’s Tale (1985)
Relevant ideas / Chinese box structure in Frankenstein, creature’s narrative sandwiched between Victor and Walton, made to be discredited.
events to explore in Metafiction and postmodernism in Handmaid’s Tale. Offred’s disjointed narrative and addressing the reader.
the set texts Both stories are spoken and then scribed, unreliable to an extent?
The Creature and Offred are both disenfranchised, yet given a voice.
The Commander, Victor and Walton are both in positions of power, yet they are alone and unhappy.
The Creature and Offred both internalise society’s view on their body, demonstrating the power of voices on an individual’s psyche.
The reader sees the pain in Offred and the Creature’s stories and does not really sympathise with the Commander and Victor’s voices.
Overarching thesis Overall, both Shelley and Atwood give agency to the disenfranchised, as well as juxtaposing this against the different voices of the privileged.
First comparative Comparative topic sentence:
paragraph The Handmaid’s Tale starts with Offred’s voice being disenfranchised and alone, whereas in Frankenstein starts with Walton and Frankenstein who
are both privileged, yet physically or emotionally alone.
Frankenstein evidence / AO3 links The Handmaid’s Tale evidence / AO3 links
AO2 AO2
“I bitterly feel the want of a friend” - Shelley uses Walton’s voice to draw “I try not to think too much. Like other things now, thought must be
attention to the loneliness he faces through the harsh adjective ‘bitterly’. rationed.” - Offred’s suffering is quite regimented, using militaristic
“I shall satiate my ardent curiosity… and may tread a land never before language she compartmentalises her suffering, rationing it to stay
imprinted by the foot of man”. - Recurring theme of male impulsiveness and sane.
ambition driving them to loneliness; Idea that glory comes with a cost. “Larynx, I spell. Valance, Quince, Zygote.” - Metaphoric for Offred and
“Every night I was oppressed by a slow fever”. - Foreshadowing the pain her suffering, she lacks a voice (larynx) and bravery (valance). Her
and misery to come out of Victor’s ambition, he chooses this loneliness. desires are forbidden, like the forbidden (quince) fruit in the bible and
“My loud, unrestrained, heartless laughter frightened and astonished him”. she is forced to get pregnant (zygote).
- A warning to the reader, Victor’s loneliness has caused him to go mad. He “In a gradually heating bathtub, you’d be boiled to death before you
cannot behave normally in social situations anymore, devoid of his knew it.” - Metaphoric symbol of complacency. Atwood almost directly
humanity. warns her readers that complacency is the root cause of governments
“Darkness had no effect upon my fancy” - Pathetic fallacy, Victor is evil. taking away human rights.
AO3
