Margaret Atwood's Critical Literacy and Biography Essay Example

Margaret Attwood is a renowned poet and fiction Canadian writer. She was born in 1939 in Ottawa, Ontario. Atwood schooled at Victoria College for her bachelor's degree in the University of Toronto and later joined Harvard University for her masters' education. Her writing career started with poetry in the early 1970s. During the same period, Margaret Atwood began voicing her feminist perspective in fiction writing in novel writing. Her literal works have contributed considerably to feminist literature globally in airing different literary devices and structural setting that advocate against female oppression in her era and orthodoxy injustices of the feminine position of women in the society attributed by gender biases. This paper will discuss Margaret Atwood biography as well as analyze her contribution to fiction literature in her texts; "The Edible Woman, Surfacing, "Bodily Harm" and "The Handmaid's Tale". The paper will also make a literary criticism of Atwood's work.

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In the biographical check of Margaret Atwood, was the second born of the three children of an entomologist, Carl Edmund and a dietitian/ nutritionist, Margaret Dorothy. Atwood spent her early life in and out of schooling due to her family constant move due to her father's research works. The Atwood family traveled mainly to Quebec, Ottawa, Sault St Marie, and or to Toronto. When Margaret Atwood turned eight years old she joined full time schooling Leaside in Toronto and proceeded to Victoria College, the University of Toronto for her undergraduate degree on a bachelor of Arts in English. During her study time at Victoria College, Atwood was exposed to literary writing and used this avenue to publish the poems and play articles she had written since age six. Immediately after her first degree Atwood joined Radcliffe College of Harvard University for a master's degree and pursued a doctoral education one year later.

In Atwood's family life got married to Jim Polk in 1968, which later got divorced in 1973. She later moved in with a novelist Graeme Gibson with whom they sired a daughter Eleanor Jess Atwood Gibson in 1976. Her career life as a poet and as a novelist began in the early 1960s that lead to her winning multiple awards and popularity to her audience. In Atwood's fiction writing, she has developed a wide range of feminist concerns in the Realism period of literature.in the fiction writing Atwood employ different literary devices to mimic the ordeal suffered by women in real life during and before her days. The works present the feminist fears of the physical survival especially in "The Edible Woman, Surfacing" in 1972, "Life Before Man" (1979), and "The Handmaid's Tale" (1987).

In her fiction writing, Atwood uses a high representation of poetic stylistic devices to rely on the distinct personality of women in the prose. The use of stylistic writing integrates symbolism, irony, imagery, allegory, and self-consciousness as an effective exploration of the relationship bonding between the natural environment and human characteristics. The entire fiction and poetry writing from Atwood demonstrate renowned recognition of recurring theme location and literal elements to show the role of women in the society, satire, the genre of uncertainty, satire, and Canadian identity. The effectiveness of the fiction narration demonstrated the gender biases in the struggle for power and political representation. In her collective writing on fiction prose, Atwood uses recurring themes and techniques to deliver her objective to her audience which includes feminism, speculative and scientific fiction, identity, political criticism, adaptation, and ecocriticism.

In her theme of identity in the fiction text, Atwood uses symbolism to illustrate survival of the victims to portray the fear derived from unquestionable adherence to the community the characters were living. The feminism theme labels Atwood's dedication and critics on sexism and gendered priorities in the society. In the three fiction texts, Atwood illustrates the negative perceptions of women in the patriarchal society that subjected women as property owned by men rather than an equal partner in relationships and other competitive positions in politics and power sharing. The use of speculative and scientific fiction shows an abstract representation of oppressive imagery to illustrate the trauma suffered by the women in the narrations in "The Handmaid's Tale" "The Edible Woman, Surfacing" and "Life before Man". She uses the science and speculative fiction interchangeably to help explore the literary devices like self-consciousness and imagery.

In her application of ecocriticism, Atwood compares the relationship between animals and her characters. She makes a metaphoric representation of human beings with animals to demonstrate the insensitivity and cruelty of the characters and injustices perpetrated against the female characters. In the demonstration of political involvement theme, Atwood demonstrates the fiction struggle for female characters in liberating themselves in political and social control. Her writing brings to light the marginalization of the female fraternity from the authoritative positions in the society making awareness of the discrimination of women and their rights. On the other hand, Atwood uses the theme of adaptation precariously in her fiction writing to demonstrate the resilience gained by the female characters after enduring subjective suffering. In all these themes and cultural techniques, Atwood makes effective application of the literary devices to ensure that the fiction works bring to light the perspectives of reality in the contemporary world. The use of imagery, symbolism, hyperboles and figurative speech Atwood has made a considerable contribution to literature in the development and integration of fiction, science, and reality.

However, Atwood's work in voicing her perspectives of the feminism fiction, various criticisms have made formal ridicule of the emotional detachment displayed in her texts comparing her to George Orwell. Her capitalization on the representation of the Canadian identity and the role and position of women in the society has evoked critics on the lack of global advocacy on international women concerns. Again, criticism challenge Atwood's intention on advocating on issues to do with women and rather portray her uphold on the injustices and oppression suffered by her female characters. Critics perceive that her stories were one-sided leaning much on her will rather than reality to demonstrate the concerns or women and the violation of their rights. The continued focus on specific genre poses Atwood's fiction writings into the categorization of negative consideration of literature.

In the critical lens on Atwood's demonstration of the theme of political representation in the fiction writing demonstrate the resistance and hegemonic structures. Feminist critics argue the ignorance used to the characterization of Atwood's piecework on the allegations that female oppression is purely instigated by men in the society. On anti-feminist perspective, the fiction demonstrated in the passive illustration of women that Atwood seemed to advocate. Although Atwood's works are geared to advocate for the liberation of women her assertive, destructive, and aggressive way pulling women from the social concerns inflicted by men, critics argue that her way of liberating women at the expense of men in the society. The inter-subjectivity techniques demonstrated in Atwood's fiction writing evoke ambiguity and contradiction of the feminist theory on the empowerment of women without compromising the power and position of men in the society.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the biography of Atwood shows her educational and personal background and the life in Toronto. In the side of making a comprehensive check on the literature contribution of Margaret Atwood fiction writing makes a demonstrative use of different literary devices and recurring themes and cultural techniques to ensure that the works are effective to the audience. Atwood has managed to grip in her use of imagery, symbolism, irony, allegory, satire, self-consciousness, and the role of women in the society. The application of the literary devices helped Atwood unearth uncertainty, gender biases, power struggle, political representation, and feminism. Although she stands out as a feminist, Atwood failed to admit her literal contribution to feminism to show that her writing was fiction directed rather than scientific. The entire fiction and poetry writing from Atwood demonstrate renowned recognition of recurring theme location and literal elements to show the role of women in the society, satire, the genre of uncertainty, satire, and Canadian identity. The effectiveness of the fiction narration demonstrated the gender biases in the struggle for power and political representation. The work received outrageous criticism on her homological representation of the voice of women concerns and violation of women rights. Atwood works present an illusion representation of the realism in the times of the fiction writing. Critics perceive that her stories were one-sided leaning much on her will rather than reality to demonstrate the concerns or women and the violation of their rights.

Works cited

Atwood, M. I dream of Zenia with the bright red teeth. In M. Atwood Stone Mattress: Nine Tales. London: Bloomsbury, 2014, pp. 143-158

Atwood, M., The Handmaid's Tale. London: Vintage, 1985.

Fiona., Tolan, Margaret Atwood: feminism and fiction. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2007. ISBN 9781435600799. OCLC 173507440

Pivato, Joseph. "Atwood's Survival: A Critique 2015. online canadian-writers.athabascau.ca/english/writers/matwood/survival.php

Wretched, Joakim I am a place': Aletheia as aesthetic and political resistance in Margaret Atwood's Surfacing. Journal of Aesthetics & Culture. 2015, 7 (1): 28020. doi:10.3402/jac.v7.28020 Freely accessible.