Ciliophora. A subphylum of the Protozoa. The ciliates are a fairly homogeneous group of highly differentiated, unicellular organisms. Over 5000 species have been described, and many more surely exist but remain to be discovered. Typically, ciliates are larger than most other protozoans, ranging from 10 to 3000 micrometers (about 1/2500 to 1/8 in.).
First published in 1985, The Handmaid's Tale is a novel of such power that the reader is unable to forget its images and its forecast. With more than two million copies in print, it is Margaret Atwood's most popular and compelling novel.
Mild spoilers for The Handmaid's Tale book and TV show below! One of the more interesting aspects of Margaret Atwood's 1985 book, The Handmaid's Tale, is that she leaves a number of key plot points up for interpretation. By the end of the dystopian feminist novel, everything from the fates of big characters to the real name of the protagonist, Offred, remains unclear. Luckily, Hulu's adaptation of The Handmaid's Tale has finally confirmed the latter. In Atwood's story, the moniker of Offred literally means of Fred, ie she's the child-bearing property of her Commander, whose name happens to be Fred (we also encounter other Handmaids with names like Ofglen, Ofwarren, and so on).