Lesson 4.1.1.16

4.1.1.16 Atonement by Ian McEwan Quiz: AQA English Literature A, Unit 1

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson 4.1.1.16, Atonement by Ian McEwan: 20 multiple choice questions for the AQA English Literature A (7712), Unit 1: Love through the ages, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. Who is the young writer who, as a child, falsely accuses Robbie Turner of assault?

    • Briony Tallis, a thirteen-year-old aspiring writer
    • Cecilia Tallis, Briony's older sister in the house
    • Emily Tallis, the mother of the household
    • Lola Quincey, the cousin who is attacked that night

  2. What is the setting for the opening section of Atonement, in which the central event happens?

    • a hospital in London during the First World War
    • a mining village in Wales in the early 1930s
    • a beach in Normandy after the war has ended
    • the Tallis family estate in Surrey on a hot summer day

  3. Who is Robbie Turner's love interest, a member of the Tallis family?

    • Cecilia Tallis, Briony's older sister
    • Emily Tallis, the mother of the household
    • Lola Quincey, the cousin who visits the house
    • Betty Tallis, the young aunt who lives nearby

  4. Which real historical event is central to the novel's second section?

    • the retreat to Dunkirk in 1940
    • the Battle of Hastings in 1066
    • the General Strike of 1926 in Britain
    • the Irish Easter Rising of 1916

  5. What is the significance of the fountain scene in the first section?

    • It is a comic episode involving a dance on the lawn
    • It is a rescue scene at sea involving the family's boat
    • It is a charged moment of misunderstanding that Briony misreads
    • It is a meeting with a royal official from the palace

  6. Of what crime is Robbie wrongly convicted?

    • espionage for the Germans before the war
    • theft of Cecilia's jewellery from the house
    • manslaughter of a child in a road accident
    • the sexual assault of Lola Quincey

  7. What is the setting of the final section, which shows Briony as an elderly writer?

    • a village in Yorkshire in the early 1960s
    • a nursing station at Dunkirk during the evacuation
    • London in 1999, when Briony is seventy-seven
    • Paris in 1935, when Briony is still a child

  8. What does Briony attempt to do in her later life as a novelist?

    • She tries to atone for her false testimony by writing a version of events
    • She becomes a famous actress on the London stage
    • She writes a comic novel about a tea party in Surrey
    • She sues Robbie for damages in a court of law

  9. Which statement best describes the novel's narrative structure?

    • a simple chronological report with no gaps or revisions
    • a layered narrative that raises questions about the reliability of Briony's account
    • a play in five acts with a chorus of narrators
    • a novel written entirely in letters between the lovers

  10. Which war forms the background to the novel's later sections?

    • the Boer War in South Africa
    • the Korean War in the early 1950s
    • the Crimean War in the 1850s
    • the Second World War

  11. Why is the novel described as a meditation on guilt and responsibility?

    • It is entirely a comic satire on the English upper class
    • It is a detective story about a murder at the house
    • It shows that guilt never affects anybody in the story
    • It shows how one misjudgement can damage lives, and how the narrator struggles with her culpability

  12. Which meaning of the novel's title, Atonement, is most important?

    • Robbie's promotion to a higher rank in the army
    • a religious ceremony held in a village church
    • Briony's struggle to make amends for her false testimony
    • a financial settlement agreed by the family lawyers

  13. Which literary technique suggests problems with the reliability of Briony's narration?

    • a list of dates and times for each event
    • metafiction, in which the narrator admits to having altered events
    • a dialogue between two servants in the kitchen
    • a fixed omniscient narrative with no room for doubt

  14. What is the significance of Robbie's experience in the war?

    • It has no real effect on the plot of the novel
    • It shows the physical and emotional damage of war and the separation of the lovers
    • It shows that war is a time of comfort and rest for soldiers
    • It proves that Robbie is guilty of the crime he was convicted of

  15. Which character's life most clearly shows the consequences of the false accusation?

    • Paul Marshall, who is punished for his role in the crime
    • Lola, who marries a member of the royal family
    • Briony, who becomes a famous and successful novelist
    • Cecilia, who breaks with her family and works as a nurse

  16. Which statement best describes the novel's ending?

    • It leaves uncertain whether atonement was achieved and whether the lovers were reunited
    • It shows Briony confessing her lie in open court
    • It shows Robbie escaping to America with his new family
    • It shows the lovers married happily in 1935 in the church

  17. Which question is most useful when evaluating Briony's guilt?

    • Does her later writing amount to atonement, or is it self-serving control over the past?
    • Does Briony own a typewriter in her study at home?
    • Is the house in Surrey large enough to hold a party?
    • Did Robbie study at Cambridge before the war began?

  18. Which phrase best describes the novel's central theme?

    • the importance of obeying authority without question
    • the destructive power of imagination and misinterpretation
    • the benefits of rural tourism for the local economy
    • the triumph of science over superstition in the countryside

  19. What is the title of the play Briony writes as a child?

    • Two Figures by a Fountain
    • The Long Walk to Dunkirk
    • Dunkirk, a play by Cecilia
    • The Trials of Arabella

  20. What does Cecilia do during the war?

    • She becomes a spy for the army
    • She marries Paul Marshall in France
    • She trains as a nurse in London
    • She runs the family estate in Surrey

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