The document discusses Margaret Atwood's novel The Handmaid's Tale and provides context around the use and purpose of epigraphs in literature. An epigraph is a short quotation at the beginning of a text that suggests its theme and can invite comparisons between the quote and the full text. Epigraphs can set the mood or tie a work to the broader literature. Additional video links are also included about the Reagan revolution, the rise of the religious right in the US, and the history of the AIDS epidemic.