Unit: Growing Up and Growing Older
Film: Atonement
Director Joe Wright (Pride and Prejudice) gives Ian McEwan’s bestselling novel a sumptuous treatment for the screen that should come to be regarded as one of the defining films of the epic romantic drama. Indeed, everything about this film stems from those three words: there is little here that is not epic, romantic, and dramatic, and Atonement is a film that masterfully expresses the overarching sense of adventure and emotion that such stories are meant to convey. In this instance, the story centers around the love story of highborn Cecilia Tallis (Keira Knightley) and housekeeper’s son Robbie Turner (James McAvoy, in a star-making turn), in England shortly before World War II. Despite their class differences, they are powerfully attracted to each other, and just as their relationship begins Robbie is tragically forced away due to false accusations from Cecilia’s younger sister Briony (Saoirse Ronan). She has a crush on Robbie, too, and after reading a private letter he sent to Cecilia, and then witnessing the first expression of their mutual love but mistaking it for mistreatment, her resentment grows until it leads to her telling the lie that will send Robbie away. Soon World War II breaks out; Robbie enlists and is posted to France, Cecilia is a nurse in London, and Briony, now age 18 and aware of what she has done, tries to atone for her actions–but none of them will be able to get back what they have lost. Knightley and McAvoy are perfectly cast as the young star crossed lovers, and the young Ronan is particularly impressive, but it’s clear that the real star of this film is the director. Wright allows Atonement to revel in every moment of its story and each scene is compelling in its own way, but that now-famous extended shot with Robbie on the beach at Dunkirk–filmed in one take and sure to be considered one of the great long tracking shots in film history–is the most memorable moment in this remarkable film. Atonement is an excellent example of what can happen when a great book meets great filmmaking. This is one that is not to be missed. –Daniel Vancini
Here is a link to the film:
https://www.dropbox.com/home/Composition%20%20WRT%20101%20and%20ENG%201101?preview=Atonement+(2007)+1080p+BDRip+AAC+x264+(multisubs)-tomcat12.mp4
Assignment: Write about a significant turning point in your life, something that changed your outlook, something good or bad that helped make you who you are today. Draw similarities and/or differences between your own youth and that of characters from this unit. Concentrate on relationships with peers, parents, and other adults in your life and the lives of the characters you select.
It is essential that you make some references to at least two of our readings in this section as well as to the film we watched. Without these references, your paper will be incomplete! You can try to relate to each story separately, but mentioning the youth dilemmas of the characters and of yourself is essential. If you include all three readings and the film, that is even better.
This assignment should be about two pages minimum. Have an intro, several body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Have one body paragraph for each story, plus one for your turning point moment, if it does not relate specifically to one of the stories. Remember the intro relates to the whole essay, not just one story. Quote marks for the readings; underlining for the film title.
Academic writing requires you to use a 12-point font and skip lines (that means to double space).
Grammarly works in posts like on our class website and emails. It doesn’t seem to kick in on Word, but once you install it, you can make it work by copying/pasting and essay, for example, into an email body (not as an attachment), then after seeing the corrections, recopying, and pasting back into Word.
This essay is due within 10 days.
