Context, Genre, Author

Question 1

What does atonement mean?

Answer 1

An remorseful action purposed to make amends for a wrong/injury.
Reparation or expiation for sin.
The reconciliation of God and mankind through Jesus Christ.
Coming to terms with one’s own altered state and accepting the past.

Question 2

When was the book published?

Answer 2

2001

Question 3

When is the book set?

Answer 3

Before, after and during WW2

Question 4

What is the genre?

Answer 4

Historical saga
Romance
Family drama
Melodrama
Reflexive novel

Question 5

Authorial context

Answer 5

McEwans father was an army officer stationed across the world giving McEwan insight into army life.

Question 6

Narrative

Answer 6

Anonymous 3rd person narrator
Postmodern novel using a stream of consciousness techniques.

Question 7

Context: WW2

Answer 7

The book covers before, during and after the war. Part 1 explores the various differing perspectives about the impeding war. Jack Tallis is involved in the planning of the “mass evacuation of large towns” and the probability of “5 million casualties” . Paul Marshall anticipates the war to further his army amo. The war dominates the plot in part 2.

Question 8

WW2

Answer 8

Broke out in 1939 when German forces directed under Hitler invaded Poland. Britain and France agreed to defend Poland and other European powers followed. The German army was more advanced than the allied forces leading to a protracted war devastating Europe.

Question 9

Dunkirk Evacuation

Answer 9

The successful mass evacuation of British and French troops from the French port Dunkirk. Huge boost to morale.

Question 10

The impact of the War on Women’s rights.

Answer 10

The Suffrage Movement brought about the Representation of The People Act that allowed women over 30 (that met certain property rights) to vote .
Between 1914-18 around 2 million women replaced men in employment.
By 1935, around 1/4 of civil servant positions were occupied by women and 1/3 of women worked outside the home.

Question 11

The limitations of Women’s Rights

Answer 11

Divorce was not an option for women until the 1938 Matrimonial Rights Act. Women were economically dependent on men. Women in the civil service were required to quit if they were married. Oxford only started to award degrees to women in 1923 and Cambridge in 1948.

Question 12

British Society and class

Answer 12

British society was highly stratified along class lines however developments at the end of the 20th century began to challenge ideas of class.

Question 13

The upper classes

Answer 13

Consisted of the Aristocracy and Royalty. The wealthy elite.

Question 14

The upper middle classes

Answer 14

Merchants, financiers and business owners.

Question 15

Lower middle class

Answer 15

Office clerks

Question 16

Working classes

Answer 16

Unskilled Labour. Labour was exploited by the upper classes. The Labour Party was established in 1918 thus working class people would have a political mouth piece.

Question 17

The Tallies and class

Answer 17

Belong to the upper middle class. They enjoy the lifestyles of the upper classes but not the social prestige. Their money is generated from “patents and locks making” and Jack Tallies high level government job. Cecelia and Robbie are Cambridge educated. However, Jacks sponsorship of Robbie makes Emily uncomfortable “unfair on Leon and the girls”

Question 18

Robbie and Class

Answer 18

Robbie’s class is made ambiguous by the fact he has been raised as a Tallis and his Cambridge education . His social mobility or “elevation” makes Emily Tallis uncomfortable. His working class origins (and Danny Hardmans draws suspicion) His upper class man veneer gains the respect of Nettle and Mace.

Question 19

The Tallis family home as a symbol

Answer 19

The home is symbolic of the families success but also exclusive nature of their lifestyle. The houses is later forced to take in evacuees and then is converted to a leisure facility which signifies the shifting social structure.

Question 20

Cultural dislocation

Answer 20

The removal of a person from a set of cultural practices into another. Can shock and alter the ego.

Question 21

Examples of cultural dislocation in the text.

Answer 21

Robbie- Occupies a liminal status between the upper and lower classes.
Cecelia- Cambridge educated and would have been in the vanguard of women attending higher education. However makes a living as a nurse dislocating her from upper class roots.

Question 22

Metafiction

Answer 22

Employs narrative techniques such as a stream of consciousness, flashbacks and unreliable narration.

Question 23

Epilogue

Answer 23

Final section of a literate text that often reflects on the text in some way.

Question 24

Reflexive novel

Answer 24

A novel which references its own methods processes and composition.