By the using plural form and present tense, this quote shows that society is built to destroy sanity. Offred is in, and out of dreaming and confused where she is at. She goes through mental checks in her head and then thinks, “These are the tests, and I am sane” (Atwood 109). These is plural, which means there are a number of tests. The author stresses the point of there being a lot of tests by choosing not to name them again. The author shows it’s not a flashback and, that Offred is thinking about this in the present. She uses “the tests” instead of “my” or “their tests” to show that she is not the only one that must check to make sure she’s sane. They’re the questions that all Handmaids ask themselves. The comma represents a pause
