Source Evaluation

Beauchamp, Gorman. "The Politics of The Handmaid's Tale. " The Midwest Quarterly 51.1 (2009): 11-26. Research Library Core, ProQuest. Web. 25 Jul. 2010.

This article by Gorman Beauchamp talk about the reaction of England, Canada, and the United States to Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale according to an interview Atwood had with the New York Times. While it talks about how all the countries view it differently, it also adds an insight to what Atwood was thinking while writing the novel. She said that England had the most relaxed response saying that her book was simply fiction while Canada was worried that the United States could one day turn into something similar to that of Gilead. Interestingly, most people’s response here was how long do we have?

The article also talks about Gilead and the religious connections it has which directly relates to my topic. Beauchamp talks about how Gilead is a theocracy where religion is a common denomenator in the way the society is run. He also says that Atwood used Iran as an inspiration for creating Gilead. At one time Iran was very similar to Gilead and prosecuted its citizens for religious crimes frequently. This is an example I can use in my own paper because I was finding it hard to find examples of places like Gilead. Atwood said that nothing she put in her book had not happened somewhere or is already happening in our world today. This is very interesting because it makes one think, could this really happen? This article will be very helpful to me when writing my essay.

Turner, Dr. Nick. "Margaret Atwood". British Council. 7.23.2010 .

This article by Dr. Nick Turner is a credible source because of the author and the website it came from. Dr. Nick Turner got his degree from the University of Manchester in post-war British women literature and has done extensive research on female authors. He has a background in women’s literature allowing him to talk about Atwood because that is what he is educated in. The website is a collection of biographies and analysis of different contemporary writers and is a scholarly site.

The article gives a biography on Atwood and also talks about some of her political beliefs and her feminism. The article talks about how feminism is a main focus in many of her works. The article gives an overview of many of her works and the different awards they have won.