The Handmaid’s Tale – Language, Routine, and the Normalization of Control This formative assessment introduces The Handmaid’s Tale as a novel about how oppression becomes ordinary, not through constant violence, but through language, ritual, and routine. Focusing on the opening chapters, students analyze how Gilead trains obedience by narrowing speech, redefining normal behavior, and replacing outrage with habit. Rather than treating Gilead as a sudden dystopian collapse, this assessment cha