The Handmaid's Tale Outstanding Discussion/Essay Questions

This file includes two documents of high-level, conversation provoking questions on Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. I have used these with high school students and the questions have ignited some incredible discussions on this controversial piece of literature. Male and female students alike are highly engaged and motivated to speak because all questions not only tie into the text, but also relate to the world today and their own opinions. Consequently, these questions can also be used as complex essay topics. If used for discussion, the documents are divided into the first half and then the second half of the novel and would easily fill a full hour for each discussion.

I created these questions because any others I found online were so basic or not nearly as engaging to make sure the discussion was truly powerful. Using these questions now make this one of my favorite novels to discuss with adults and young adults alike!

Keywords: novel discussion, literature, books circles, essay topics, Margaret Atwood, The Handmaids Tale, AP literature, controversial topics, higher order thinking


The Handmaid's Tale Best Discussion/Essay Questions by Gail Weinhold is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.