A fully sequenced, exam-targeted 25-lesson A-Level scheme of work on Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, built specifically for AQA English Literature A (7712), Paper 2B: Texts in Shared Contexts, Modern Times, Section A. The scheme drives towards the open-book, single-text “examine the significance… in the light of this view” question, with the AO weighting this paper actually uses: AO1 28%, AO2 24%, AO3 24%, AO5 16% (AO4 does not apply to Section A).

• Lessons 1 to 5: Foundations, structure and the world of Gilead. The task and the AOs, speculative fiction versus science fiction, structure and narrative method, the social hierarchy and naming, Offred’s introduction at the Red Centre, the Ceremony
• Lessons 6 to 10: Context, language and relationships of power. 1980s political and feminist context, language as control and resistance, the Commander, Serena Joy and Gilead’s women, a consolidating seminar on complicity
• Lessons 11 to 15: Methods, ritual and exam writing. Imagery and symbolism, the Birth/Salvaging/Particicution, Moira and active resistance, writing the Section A essay, mid-unit assessment
• Lessons 16 to 20: Character, the ending and criticism. Offred, Aunt Lydia and female enforcers, the deliberately ambiguous ending and Historical Notes, critical perspectives, synthesising interpretations
• Lessons 21 to 25: Genre, synthesis, exam mastery and assessment. The dystopian tradition and Modern Times, building a conceptualised argument, exam technique masterclass, final assessment preparation, final assessment and reflection

Five companion Word documents:

• Medium Term Plan (landscape): full 25-lesson table with objectives, sequenced Rosenshine activities, outcomes and the dominant AOs per lesson, plus accurate notes on this paper’s distinctive AO weighting and AO4’s inapplicability to Section A
• Knowledge Organiser (portrait): novel summary, ten characters, six themes, eight methods, seven key quotations, substantial AO3 context, a critical interpretations table, terminology, and the Section A answer method
• Retrieval Practice Grids (portrait): three interleaved grids with a full answer key, spanning plot, method, context, interpretation and terminology
• Critical Perspectives and Wider Reading pack (portrait): the major critical debates in depth, a worked escalation in deploying interpretation, conceptualised essay questions, and independent study tasks for AO5
• Assessment and Mark Guidance (portrait): best-fit band descriptors reflecting this paper’s actual AO weighting, the description-versus-argument lever, the open-book context, an annotated A-Level model answer, a two-response comparison, and AO-mapped success criteria