English A Level Crime Atonement

Crime Conventions and Elements

Transgressions against the established order. Breaking of national/social/religious/moral laws. Narrative driven by the execution and consequences of the crime. Settings as backdrops for criminal action. (places AND times: [physical and temporal settings). Nature of the crimes and criminals. Criminals' motives and actions. Violence, murder, theft, betrayal. Moral purpose? Restoration of order? Detection of the criminal. Investigation->capture->punishment. Guilt, remorse, confession, forgiveness. Suspense, repugnance, excitement, relief. Creation of the criminal and their nemesis. Sense of resolution and punishment. Victims, suffering. Motifs: love, money, danger, death. Punishment, retribution, justice, injustice, accusation, legal system, criminal trials, courtroom dramas, imprisonment, death. Structural patterning: crises->order. Plotting. Use of language: criminal/legal/police register. Comment on society and its representation at particular historical periods.  

Assessment Objectives and Band 5

AO1: Perceptive, assured, sophisticated argument in relation tot he task.          Assured use of literary critical concepts and terminology; mature and impressive expression. AO2: Perceptive understanding of authorial methods in relation to the task.          Assured engagement with how meanings are shaped by the methods used. AO3: Perceptive understanding of the significance of relevant contexts in relation to the task.          Assuredness in the connection between those contexts and the genre studied. AO4: Perceptive exploration of connections across literary texts arising out of generic study. AO5: Perceptive and confident engagement with the debate set up in the task. Paper One: Closed book. Paper Two: Open book.

Types of Crime

International crime. Thought crime: thinking about something criminal. War crime. Drug trade. Arson. Sex crime. Money laundering. Murder. White collar crime: corporate corruption, embezzling. Organised crime. Theft. Hate crime. Extortion. Crime of passion. Cyber crime. Purgery. Vandalism. Mutiny. Crime against humanity. Fraud. Blackmail. Assault.

Purposes of Crime Writing

Writing: Awareness of social problems. Awareness of consequences. Deterrence: moral message. Different perspective: empathy, understanding. Entertainment. Insight: prison, poverty. Encourage political views. Reading: A way for readers to explore what they do not wish to experience or enact in their own lives.

Character Types

Suspects-individual motives. Perpetrator. Victim(s)-innocent; women (vulnerable). Detective-maverick; smell of coffee; quirks and eccentricities. Detective's partner. Police officer-clashes with detective. Obstacle to detective. Witnesses-family; ex-employers; ex-colleagues.

Red Herrings and MacGuffins

Red Herring: misleading. MacGuffin: turns out to be important, triggers an event that does actually help, results in something relevant. False trails.

Connotations of "Atonement"

Judgement Regret Shame Sin Justice Religion Clearing the perpetrator's conscience Punishment Apology God Repentance Forgiveness Guilt Penance Crime

Briony Tallis: First Impressions

"This was precisely why she loved plays, or hers at least; everyone would adore her." "Briony's [room] was a shrine to her controlling demon." "Yes, my younger sister, Briony Tallis the writer, you must surely have heard of her." "Emily Tallis obliged with looks of alarm, snickers of glee and, at the end, grateful smiles and wise, affirming nods." "she made her heart thud with luminous, yearning fantasies." The play is intended to "provoke his [Leon's] admiration." "Mayhem and destruction were too chaotic for her tastes." "an unruly world could be made just so." "The long afternoons she spent browsing through dictionary and thesaurus." "she did not have it in her to be cruel." "possessed a strange mind and a facility with words." Guilt for twins being forced to do the play: mild empathy. Melodramatic.

Lola: First Impressions

"Her sandals revealed an ankle bracelet and toenails painted vermilion. The sight of these nails gave Briony a constricting sensation around her sternum, and she knew at once that she could not ask Lola to play the prince." Lola's clothing and attitude highlight her attempt to appear as an adult. Briony is aware of the age gap, and of her cousin's femininity, which prevent her from casting Lola as the Prince. Hint of sensuality makes Briony uncomfortable. "You'll be in the play, or you'll get the clout, and then I'll speak to The Parents." Lola's parents are getting divorced, so she has assumed a paternal role over the twins. "Do you think Shakespeare...in each other." page 12. Impression that adults have more knowledge about the world. "Briony felt the disadvantage of being two years younger than the other girl, of having a full two years' refinement weigh against her, and now her play seemed a miserable, embarrassing thing." page 13. As people age, they are refined. Briony feels unable to understand Lola since she's younger. "Briony could not keep up with the older girl." page 14. It appears that Lola is able to outsmart Briony simply because she is older.

Chapter One

Briony's play introduced. Twins arrive. Play rehearsed for the first time. Illness was popular in melodrama: pale, weak, vulnerable female. "this was the project's highest point of fulfilment"-foreshadowing.  

Chapter Two

Cecilia's room described: contrasts to Briony's, reveals Cecilia's nature. Robbie working: social class, gender. Vase: symbol of the effect of Robbie and Cecilia's relationship Wealthy family pays for Robbie's education-atypical. Different perspectives on events. Fountain: symbol-family have a positive appearance but he fountain doesn't really work. The house is a jarring combination of different styles. Fountain incident from Cecilia's perspective.

Chapter Three

Briony sees the fountain incident from the nursery window. Briony only sees stock characters; clear-cut heroes and villains. Non-linear structure: events of chapter two repeated from another perspective. Seemingly omniscient narrator. Intrusive narration: 3rd person but intrudes on a character's thoughts and feelings. May be psycho-analytical/judgemental. Language changes depending on perspective.

Chapter Differences

Briony's chapters: self-indulgent Robbie's chapters: elevated, sympathetic Cecilia's chapters: blunt

Chapter Four

Guests arrive. Meet Paul Marshall.

Chapter Five

Briony gives up on the play: she's unpredictable, inconsistent. Paul meets Lola. Lola: compassion for the twins; exercises motherly authority. Paul: compares his sisters to Lola; sexualises Lola (she's still a child) The twins are scolded for using the word "divorce."  

Chapter Six

Introduced to Emily: paranoid. Migraines: illness of the imagination? Held hostage by her body. Leon refused "the offer of a leg-up from his father" (pg 64): goes against class expectations. Inattentive to children. Takes on responsibility for the house. "Briony's late and unexpected arrival" (pg 68): she wasn't a planned child. Emily was "educated at home until the age of sixteen, and was sent to Switzerland." (pg 64): finishing school-etiquette school "a squeal of laughter abruptly smothered" (pg 69) overheard by Emily: ambiguous, ominous, she misinterprets it: "This wealthy young entrepreneur might not be such a bad sort, if he was prepared to pass the time of day entertaining children." Emily jealous of Hermione because she gets all of the attention: parallel to Lola and Briony's relationship.

Chapter Seven

Briony imagines people admiring her nettle swiping (pg 75): infantile Briony's progression of emotions: anger and frustration->hatred and spite-> self-resentment and self-loathing-> joy and self-admiration->sadness and self-pity. Island temple: neglected like the children: "closer to, the temple had a sorrier look," "clumsy repairs" (pg 72). "But when Briony looked today, the boot had vanished, as everything would in the end." (pg 73): melodramatic, foreshadowing. Cecilia seems maternal toward Briony at times.

Chapter Eight

Robbie's perspective. Describes the connection between the families. Jack Tallis supports the lower-class Turner family. Robbie reflects on the fountain incident-emasculated by Cecilia. Cecilia seems more conscious of the class difference than Robbie. Intertextual references: Gray's Anatomy: seminal test for biology. Twelfth Night: Robbie as Malvolio: servant; admirer of wealthy women; gets locked up.

Chapter Nine

Cecilia's perspective. She is choosing an outfit: superficial, thinks too much about it, her appearance is her whole identity. Helps twins find socks: maternal-> Briony is now too old to look after-> she shifts her responsibility onto twins. Self-absorbed family. Cecilia is more level-headed and resourceful than Emily. Talks to Leon about Clarissa, like she did with Robbie: this book is about an unhelpful family.  

Chapter Ten

Briony feels unfamiliar emotions upon seeing the letter. She feels like she has matured, but she hasn't. Briony sees the letter as a confession of a sex crime. She dramatises everything-> she finds the letter exciting. Oblivious to consequences. The reader is given an equal chance to solve the crime. "agitation close to joy": Briony craves drama. Lola tells Briony that the twins "pounced on me"-insinuates rape; unlikely that the twins could pin Lola to the ground. Immediately after, Briony tells Lola about the letter-her thoughts are more important to her,    

Chapter Eleven

Robbie's perspective. The dinner is awkward and superficial: "suffocation" (pg 125).