35 pages • 1 hour read
Margaret AtwoodA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
In August of 1960, the Canadian House of Commons unanimously passed the “Act for the Recognition and Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms”—a bill of rights guaranteeing freedoms regardless of race, national or regional origin, color, religion, or sex. In 1974, the year Margaret Atwood’s collection, You Are Happy, and the poem “Siren Song” were published, the Canadian Supreme Court drew controversy for a case ruling which many considered to be in opposition to this bill. The ruling held that a Native Canadian woman who married a white man would lose her Native Canadian status, but a Native Canadian man who married a white woman not only maintained his Native status, his wife would also be considered Native Canadian. Greater public and political attention on the lack of civil rights—particularly for people of color and women—eventually led to more comprehensive protections via the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982.
Throughout the 1970s, increased tensions between French-speaking Canadians (who made up about 25% of the population) and Anglophones caused considerable unrest. In 1971, French was declared the official language of Quebec, easing some of the intensity of cultural separatism. Difficulties between the federal government of Canada and Quebec arose again with the development of the James Bay Project by Hydro-Quebec.
By Margaret Atwood
Alias Grace
Alias Grace
Margaret Atwood
Backdrop Addresses Cowboy
Backdrop Addresses Cowboy
Margaret Atwood
Cat's Eye
Cat's Eye
Margaret Atwood
Death By Landscape
Death By Landscape
Margaret Atwood
Hag-Seed
Hag-Seed: William Shakespeare's The Tempest Retold
Margaret Atwood
Happy Endings
Happy Endings
Margaret Atwood
Helen of Troy Does Countertop Dancing
Helen of Troy Does Countertop Dancing
Margaret Atwood
Lady Oracle
Lady Oracle
Margaret Atwood
Life Before Man
Life Before Man
Margaret Atwood
MaddAddam
MaddAddam
Margaret Atwood
Oryx and Crake
Oryx and Crake
Margaret Atwood
Rape Fantasies
Rape Fantasies
Margaret Atwood
Stone Mattress
Stone Mattress
Margaret Atwood
Surfacing
Surfacing
Margaret Atwood
The Blind Assassin
The Blind Assassin
Margaret Atwood
The Circle Game
The Circle Game
Margaret Atwood
The Edible Woman
The Edible Woman
Margaret Atwood
The Handmaid's Tale
The Handmaid's Tale
Margaret Atwood
The Heart Goes Last
The Heart Goes Last
Margaret Atwood
The Landlady
The Landlady
Margaret Atwood