1. By
Simran Nagra

2. Ian McEwan Studied: University of Sussex He was awarded a CBE in 2000
Ian McEwan was born on 21 June 1948 in Aldershot, England.
He was awarded a CBE in 2000
Studied:
University of Sussex
University of East Anglia.
Ian McEwan was born on 21 June 1948 in Aldershot, England. He studied at the University of Sussex, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature in He received his master’s degree in English Literature at the University of East Anglia.
He has been married twice. He had a 13-year marriage to a therapist named Penny Allen, that ended in 1995 and lead to a custody battle over their two sons. His second wife, Annalena McAfee, was formerly the editor of The Guardian's Review section.
In 2002, McEwan discovered that he had a brother who had been given up for adoption during World War II; the story became public in 2007. David Sharp (the brother), was born six years before McEwan, when his mother was married to a different man. Sharp has the same parents as McEwan but through an affair.
McEwan's first published work was a collection of short stories, First Love, Last Rites (1975), which won the Somerset Maugham Award in He achieved notoriety in 1979 when the BBC suspended production of his play Solid Geometry because of its supposed obscenity. 
His novel Atonement received the WH Smith Literary Award (2002), National Book Critics' Circle Fiction Award (2003), Los Angeles Times Prize for Fiction (2003), and the Santiago Prize for the European Novel (2004). He was awarded a CBE in In 2007 book Atonement, was adapted into a movie directed by Joe Wright. McEwan has also written a number of produced screenplays, a stage play, and children's fiction.
In 2006 he was accused of plagiarism; specifically that a passage in Atonement (2001) wrote a similar passage from a memoir, No Time for Romance, published in 1977 by Lucilla Andrews. McEwan had included a brief note at the end of Atonement, referring to Andrews's autobiography, among several other works. McEwan denied charges of plagiarism, claiming he was unaware of the earlier work. 

3. 1935 Surrey was famous for manufacturing gunpowder and automobiles
1935 Surrey was famous for manufacturing gunpowder and automobiles. Surrey is a wealthy part of Britain where there are many estates and mansions.
Part 1 of the novel also mentions Cambridge University.
Context
The novel is first set in the year 1935 in Britain. At that time, World War II has not started yet, but tensions were rising. Before 1935, Surrey was famous for the production of gunpowder and cars. After World War I happened, the gunpowder industry fell. Surrey is a wealthy part of Britain where there are many mansions; this is heavily linked to the novel.
Part 1 of the novel also mentions Cambridge University, Cambridge is a highly university, known for the high level of education that is given. The University did not accept women as full-time students. Women did have the ability to sit at lectures and take exams and earn a Bachelor's degree. This is tightly linked with the idea that the Tallis family had wealth to afford the children to attend as well as the scholarship that was given to Robbie.
Part 2, of Atonement, then takes place in the countryside of France during the years of World War II, 1940 to be more specific. The war began in the year 1939 immediately after Nazi Germany invaded Poland. In the nine-day period where the troops would be shipped back to Britain, over 300,000 troops were saved. Many Nurses were needed in hospitals due to the causalities that were admitted, therefore Cecilia, and then later Briony went to a nursing school to train.
Part 3 takes place in the same year, but the focus has been shifted to London. Hospitals in London helped the wounded soldiers of the war. Nurses were trained to protect the patients for nearly any scenario including the case of nuclear fallout. One scenario would be if they are exposed to different gasses, if exposed, the nurses would place patients in a gas refuge room with gas masks and a cup of tea.
Part 2, of Atonement, then takes place in the countryside of France during the years of World War II, 1940 to be more specific. Part 3 takes place in the same year, but the focus has been shifted to London. Hospitals in London helped the wounded soldiers of the war.

4. Form and Genre
Atonement is a prose, novel that is set during WW2, therefore it is historical fiction in a metafictional novel that makes you aware that you are reading a book. We discover at the end that part of the book we have been reading is actually Briony's book. Part of the book is supposed to have been written by one of the characters. Atonement can be called a postmodern novel simply because it was written in the postmodern period. Atonement is a romance as it is largely about Robbie and Cecilia's relationship and is a work of a realist novel as it intends to tell a story that is firmly set in the real world and which could possibly have happened. Briony is a homodiegetic narrator as she knows all the parts of the story, and is part of the narrative. She explains part of the novel that she could not possibly be present for, for instance at war with Robby traveling through France.

5. Atonement/Forgiveness
Page 7
Consciousness
Atonement/Forgiveness
Misperception/
Misinterpretation
“It wasn't only wickedness and scheming that made people unhappy, it was confusion and misunderstanding; above all, it was the failure to grasp the simple truth that other people are as real as you.” 
Atonement/Forgiveness – the book examines the importance of actions, and having to deal with the consequences of each action. Briony is left to atone for her actions throughout the ‘parts’ in the books of an accusation she had made in the last few pages of the first part. Although Briony is asking Cecilia for her forgiveness, there is always bitterness.
Consciousness– This is an idea very clearly introduced and developed on page 34: “Was being Cecilia just as vivid an affair as being Briony?” Briony’s and Cecilia are connected in many ways, but are part of their own independent worlds. They’re divided by a gap that can only be described as a superficial, shallow difference. The point of view of the character changes the interpretation of the storyline. It is the difference in perception that leads to the consequences that Briony, Cecilia, and Robbie are left to suffer with. Innocence relies on the perception of accurate knowledge; the gap is the accurate knowledge.
Misperception/Misinterpretation–Briony’s misinterpretation of the scene by the fountain, and later Robbie’s letter, leads to the accusation, which drives the plot of the rest of the novel. These misinterpretations occurred due to biases, opinion and personality structures of particularly on character- Briony. It is important to note that, with Atonement, the guilt of misperception is not limited to the characters. An event that could be misinterpreted by the reader is the death of Robbie at Bray Dunes. Although the evidence of his death was great, it was still subtle enough to be misconstrued while the reader may misinterpret it without being aware.
Innocence/Naivety – Briony is a main victim of innocence and naivety in this novel, but is she responsible for her actions? There is no objective answer. Briony, at the time of the incident, was ignorant of two critical things. First, the intentions of her sister’s and Robbie’s sexual desire. And second, of her biased opinion structures, the things which compelled her to feel the need to protect Cecilia and condemn Robbie. This lack of knowledge does not excuse Briony from her actions however; she takes on a lot of guilt throughout her adult life. 
Power of the Author – the author is the insight that the reader has to this world. Briony uses the ability to control her own world to drive her into her fiction writing. She allowed the control over fiction writing to blend into her real present that caused her into the misinterpretation, and false allegations that were made.
Power of the Author
Innocence/Naivety