plumiThe Handmaid’s Tale: AQA A‑Level English Literature A questions
Every AQA A-Level English Literature A exam question on The Handmaid’s Tale, 2020–2025, with its mark scheme and examiner’s report.
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All 12 questions on The Handmaid’s Tale, as a list
- June 2025, Paper 2B, Q15 (25 marks): Examine the significance of the novel’s title, The Handmaid’s Tale.
- June 2025, Paper 2B, Q16 (25 marks): ‘In the days of anarchy, it was freedom to. Now you are being given freedom from. Don’t underrate it’, says Aunt Lydia to the trainee Handmaids at the Red Centr
- June 2024, Paper 2B, Q15 (25 marks): Examine the significance of the Aunts in the novel.
- June 2024, Paper 2B, Q16 (25 marks): Examine the significance of mothers and motherhood in The Handmaid’s Tale.
- June 2023, Paper 2B, Q15 (25 marks): Examine the significance of the Red Centre in The Handmaid’s Tale.
- June 2023, Paper 2B, Q16 (25 marks): Examine the significance of uniforms and costumes in The Handmaid’s Tale.
- June 2022, Paper 2B, Q15 (25 marks): Examine the significance of Gilead’s rituals and ceremonies in The Handmaid’s Tale.
- June 2022, Paper 2B, Q16 (25 marks): ‘And so I step up, into the darkness within; or else the light.’ Examine the significance of the final words of Offred’s narrative to the novel as a whole.
- November 2021, Paper 2B, Q15 (25 marks): Examine the significance of the role of Nick in the novel.
- November 2021, Paper 2B, Q16 (25 marks): ‘Moira is recaptured. Ofglen disappears. Offred is arrested. In Gilead, resistance is always futile.’ Examine the significance of resistance in The Handmaid’s T
- November 2020, Paper 2B, Q15 (25 marks): ‘It is impossible to feel any sympathy for Serena Joy.’ Examine Atwood’s presentation of Serena Joy in the light of this view.
- November 2020, Paper 2B, Q16 (25 marks): ‘I made that up. It didn’t happen that way. Here is what happened,’ declares Offred. Examine the significance of storytelling in The Handmaid’s Tale in the ligh
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