AP LIT Book talk

AP Literature Book Talk Rubric Component Points Possible My Points and notes Body Language- good posture, use of gesture and eye contact to connect with audience. Points deducted for fidgeting, slouching, staring at cards, 15 Voice-speaks at an even rate of speed, at a volume which is loud enough for everyone to hear, uses inflection to make language sound natural. Speaks fluidly as if speech is memorized 15 Visual Aid- either a poster or a powerpoint which supports the content of your speech and engages the audience 15 Content- Follows the model. Contains information about the author, the historical context of the text, its impact, the plot of the book, an analysis of its style and summaries of literary critics opinions of the work 40 Preparedness- Speech runs 3-5 minutes, is written on notebook cards, sounds and looks as if it has been rehearsed. Good Morning. My Name is Erika Eckart and I’m here to discuss the book The Handmaid’s Tale by Margeret Atwood. To begin, let’s discuss the author, Margaret Atwood. Born in 1939 in Ottawa, Canada. She attended Harvard and Radcliffe after first self publishing a book of poems in 1961. The beginning of her career coincided with the protest era of the 60’s which greatly influenced the content of her work. Many of her texts are identified as feminist works. For example in her book Life before Man a woman returns to an animal state to escape the expectations of patriarchy. One of my favorite poems plays on the traditional themes of love poems in saying: “You fit me, like a hook into an eye/a fish hook/an open eye.” This demonstrates her combative attacks on the traditional expectations of passive female writers. The handmaid’s tale is no exception. Published in 1985, it received several science fiction awards, which offended Margaret Atwood who instead considers the novel speculative fiction. She distinguishes the two by saying that speculative fiction describes works that contain things already possible, whereas science fiction has as its subject things which are not yet possible. The format of the book is a diary found 100 years after a dystopian society has collapsed. The story is told from the point of view of Offred, a handmaid or concubine. After the collapse of society and the takeover by a Christian dictatorship women are stripped of all rights. The revolution that created the new republic of Gilead was in part a response to environmental degradation that caused a drop in birthrates. Offred is captured taken from her family and forced to live as a sexual servant for the commander in hopes that she can reproduce. The story describes her struggle to live in the role and what life is like in this dystopian universe. It ends ambiguously; we do not know if she has escaped or been captured. Critics have compared the text to other dystopian texts from earlier in the 20th century, 1984 and Brave New World. While many talk about its position in the feminist canon, Atwood resists this classification, saying that she is not deliberately producing feminist work. It also viewed as a criticism of racism and Christian fundamentalist movements. Thank you so much for your time today. I hope that I have tempted you to read The Handmaid’s Tale.