The Handmaid's Tale

Materials needed

A copy of the novel

A power point presentation

Computer

Projector

Snacks

Preparation

Prepare the space so that it is nice and cozy and friendly

Recommendations

Have snacks or pizza and water available

Further learning

Watch the TV series (some people may only watch the series as opposed to reading the novel)

WORKSHOP OUTLINE

Welcome and introductions

Bring the power point up

thmt_bookclub.pptx

Be flexible to change to what the group would like to discuss in the moment as well.

reflection

We had a small group of two show up from the public, one who had never been to The Edge before. The session was scheduled to happen 6-7.30pm and everyone left just before 8pm. Such an engaged conversation. We spoke about status, feminism, what the book brought up for us personally and if it relates to our current world. How Margaret Atwood only writes about things that have already happened - so we looked at real life influences in the book (Germany and how quickly the Berlin wall went up and the bodies being thrown over). we had one participant who had read the novel and watched the series. I had watched the series and then one participant who had only read the book. This made for a great conversation as well.

The quote from the novel 'I am awake now'- opened discussion around how we see only our world with our story laid over it. What are we missing in reality?

Other infertility dystopian novels - children of men.

The idea of Foucault's panopticon was discussed and how 'self surveying' occurs

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panopticon

A thoroughly engaging book club!

Photos

EXAMPLE QUESTIONS & ACTIVITIES

1. Can you pick out a passage that strikes you as particularly profound or interesting?

2. Have you read any other books by the author? Can you discern a similarity - in theme, writing style - between them? Or are they completely different?

3. If you were to talk to the author, what would you want to know?

4. Fill a large shopping bag or box with objects from novels. Ask everyone to pull out an object and guess which novel (and author), which character, and at which point in the story (if relevant) the prop is used.

5. Chose someone to read quotes by or about various characters — from the current book or past book selections. Members try to guess who said what and when. If you want, divide into teams and keep score.

Evaluation Pre

Pre:

8 people signed up online.

42% first time to The Edge

28% not at all connected

Community Development

of sign ups feel very connected to The Edge community

have no feeling of connection at all

it will be the first time they come to the edge

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