Approaches to Teaching Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale and Other Works
Editor(s): Sharon R. Wilson, Thomas B. Friedman, Shannon Hengen
Pages: ix & 215 pp.
Published: 1996
ISBN: 9780873527361 (paperback)
ISBN: 9780873527354 (hardcover)
"The essays on pedagogical approaches to teaching various Atwood works are uniformly well written, succinct, and practical.... Recommended for all collections."
Choice
"The volume entirely lives up to my expectations: it contextualizes Atwood within Canadian culture rather than treating her 'just like' an American or British writer and provides usable background materials and classroom examples for college teachers of the astonishing variety of courses in which Atwood is taught."
Annis Pratt, author of Dancing with Goddesses: Archetypes, Poetry, and Empowerment
Margaret Atwood's works, especially The Handmaid's Tale, are widely taught not only in literature courses but also in economics, political science, sociology, film, and business courses. Her writings span a variety of genres and address such themes as identity, Canadian nationalism, struggle for survival, sexual politics, and shamanism; this rich and diverse range has proved fertile ground for teachers and critics alike. Approaches to Teaching Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale and Other Works is the first book to focus on the teaching of this writer's oeuvre exclusively.
Table of Contents
Approaches to Teaching Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale and Other Works
PART 1: MATERIALS
Thomas B. Friedman and Shannon Hengen
- Background
- Historical Forces and Political Issues
- Feminist Background and Issues
Survey Issues
Primary Works
Atwood Criticism
Teaching Aids
PART 2: APPROACHES
Introduction
Sharon R. Wilson
Backgrounds
"Who Is This Woman?"
Jerome Rosenberg
A Feminist by Another Name: Atwood and the Canadian Canon
Donna Bennett and Nathalie Cooke
Satire: The No-Woman's Land of Literary Modes
Lorraine M. York
Beyond Violent Dualities: Atwood in Postcolonial Contexts
Diana Brydon
Atwood's Intertextual and Sexual Politics
Sharon R. Wilson
Classrooms
Using Atwood's Survival in an Interdisciplinary Canadian Studies Course
Thomas B. Friedman
Themes of Identity in Atwood's Poems and "Rape Fantasies": Using The Norton Anthology of Literature by Women
Sally A. Jacobsen
The Trickster Text: Teaching Atwood's Works in Creative Writing Classes
Kathryn VanSpanckeren
Reading as Rehearsal in a Communication Class: Comic Voicings in Atwood's Poetry
Carol L. Benton
A Practical Exercise: Popular Culture and Gender Construction in Surfacing and Bodily Harm
Garry Leonard
"Hypocrite Lecteuse! Ma Semblable! Ma Soeur!": On Teaching Murder in the Dark
Patricia Merivale
A Case Study: The Handmaid's Tale
Overview
Shannon Hengen
Understanding Contemporary American Culture through The Handmaid's Tale: A Sociology Class
Pamela Hewitt
Dystopia's Point of No Return: A Team-Taught Utopia Class
Ruud Teeuwen
A Feminist and Psychoanalytic Approach in a Women's College
J. Brooks Bouson
The End of the World and Other Things: Life before Man and The Handmaid's Tale
Carol L. Beran
Atwood's Reconstruction of Folktales: The Handmaid's Tale and "Bluebeard's Egg"
Kathleen E. B. Manley
Teaching Literature through Film: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Surfacing and The Handmaid's Tale
Mary K. Kirtz
Pedagogical Challenges and Opportunities
The Journals of Susanna Moodie as Life Writing
Marlene Kadar
Atwood's You Are Happy: Power Politics, Gender Roles, and the Transformation of Myth
Helane Levine-Keating
Atwood's Female Quest-Romance: A Psychoanalytical Approach to Surfacing
Shuli Barzilai
A Writer for All Theories: Using Atwood's Works to Teach Critical Theory and Praxis
Theodore F. Sheckels, Jr.
Cat's Eye as a Reenvisioned Portrait of the Artist: A Visual, Canadian Studies, and Feminist Approach
Judith McCombs
Negotiating Wilderness Tips
Arnold E. Davidson
Works Cited
Index
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