Essay topics for A to ne ment and
The Kite Runner
‘Studying two texts in relation to one another allows students to widen
their understanding of the constructed nature of texts and to gain a better
understanding of the influence of sociocultural contexts in generating
both the text and the response of the reader.’
English Studies Curriculum Statement
‘Imagining what it is like to be someone other than yourself is at the core of our humanity…’
Ian McEwan (‘Only love and then oblivion…’ The Guardian, 15th September 2001).
Borrowing Jane Austen’s device of a naïve young female protagonist deceived by literary imagination into making a false
judgment about a man, Atonement transforms the mid-twentieth century historical novel into a meditation on time, memory,
guilt and forgiveness. The narrator’s attempt to rehabilitate the good name of her older sister’s lover, falsely accused of rape
because of her own childhood testimony, becomes the novel’s eponymous motivation. The attempt to ease a burden of guilt
over a similar childhood betrayal also lies at the heart of The Kite Runner. While its conclusion is slightly more optimistic
and its protagonist the male friend of the betrayed, rather than a culpable third party, it explores the same themes of
fractured human relationships, memory, forgiveness, love and the human need for second chances. While both texts also
experiment with narrative form and balance both hope for redemption with an ambivalent tone, there is a tension between
McEwan’s self-conscious metafiction and the rather more naïve post-colonial perspective of Hosseini’s novel.
The key assessment criterion for the paired texts study is:
 How effectively does the student compare and contrast texts to evaluate the role of sociocultural and situational
contexts?
The options for establishing a link between these paired texts could be:
 A common theme, idea, or topic (e.g. relationships, memory, forgiveness, love)
 The same historical or literary period (both are produced as early 21 st C. literary texts, but their settings differ
culturally between an Anglo-European perspective and an Afghani-American Diaspora)
 The same genre or different genres (the novel; romantic melodrama vs. cross-cultural quest; socio-historical
mystery)
 Similar or contrasting cultural perspectives (English vs. Afghani-American authors)
With the above in mind, choose one of the following topics to write a 1500-1800 word comparative
essay on Ian McEwan’s Atonement and Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner:
1. How do Ian McEwan and Khaled Hosseini explore the idea that misunderstanding can be destructive
in Atonement and The Kite Runner?
In this question the answer needs to focus on a comparison of the techniques used by McEwan and Hosseini to explore
the idea that misunderstanding can be destructive. The best responses should move well beyond plot development and
themes. You need to make it clear what the misunderstanding is as well as showing how it is destructive. The idea of
misunderstanding can be broadly interpreted, including personal intuitions, communication breakdowns, and even
societal lapses. The negative effects of such misunderstandings need to be a central part of the tension within the
response. However, it is not enough to simply give instances of misunderstanding which are destructive. The answer
should be more than story-telling. As well, while the word ‘misunderstanding’ may be clear in Atonement, you may
have some latitude in interpreting it in The Kite Runner. While many may interpret ‘destructive’ as ‘fatal’, where death
is certainly associated with, if not directly caused by, the misunderstandings in Atonement and The Kite Runner, other
interpretations are acceptable. The question makes it unacceptable to argue that misunderstanding is not destructive.
2. Compare the ways in which Ian McEwan in Atonement and Khaled Hosseini in The Kite Runner use
literary tradition to influence the reader’s point of view on ideas common to both novels.
This question also refers to techniques, but with a more particular focus on those implied by ‘literary tradition’, or the
way both authors have consciously used inherited narrative forms: specifically, Atonement’s intertextual critique of the
‘classic realist novel’ and the reflexive amalgamation of folk tale with Persian legend in The Kite Runner. A generous
definition should be given to the term ‘point of view’, but responses that highlight how aspects of the story (e.g.: setting
and symbolism; dialogue and disclosure; and critically, narrative perspective) alter a reader’s point of view concerning
common ideas, should form the central focus of the essay. Given that focalisation plays such a crucial role in
Atonement, and that Amir’s point of view in The Kite Runner depends on the counterpoint of characterisations between
himself, Hassan and Baba, this should not be difficult. Most will read ‘common’ as ‘the same’ and that is acceptable,
but the answer needs to refer to more than one idea or theme.
3. ‘No pain, no gain.’ Compare the ways in which this idea is explored by Ian McEwan in Atonement and
Khaled Hosseini in The Kite Runner.
Like the previous question, this clearly demands a focus on techniques, which means more than focusing on the
differences between the narratives and includes how the narratives are presented. Although the statement is presented as
a given, you could legitimately argue that the idea is explored in the text but ultimately holds true for some characters
and not for others. The question specifically refers to techniques and these must be the organising focus of the answer
to the question. The notion of pain and gain, and related synonyms, should engage you in a response that seeks out
truths in relation to suffering and the human condition, such as the idea that the attempt to imagine the feelings of
others is perhaps the one corrective that we can make in the face of continuing human suffering. Clearly pain of varying
degrees is experienced by the major characters of both texts in ways that are central to their narratives. While both
Hosseini and McEwan embrace the broadest connections between their characters and human suffering through motifs
of war and ethnic conflict, they do so by radiating outwards from the psychological pain of their protagonists.
4. In what ways has the pairing of Atonement and The Kite Runner added to your understanding of the
idea of empathy?
There are two aspects to this question that need to be considered: The ‘idea of empathy’ and the concept of the reader’s
understanding being ‘added to’ through the process of reading the texts in terms of each other. Implicit in the question,
but not stated, is the notion that ‘empathy’ will be a central idea in both texts, an idea to which McEwan himself has
explicitly drawn our attention in the article quoted above. You will need to discuss both how the process of pairing the
texts added to your understanding as well as the idea of empathy. Better responses will explore the way in which the
differences between the texts reinforced aspects of the similarities, and therefore added to your understanding. This
should require some thought given that, apart from their contrasting cultural settings, both texts are quite similar in their
use of a writer’s bildungsroman to explore the expiation of a childhood crime. Do not interpret the question as a free
opportunity to discuss the connections and comparisons between the texts, and then fail to address how the pairing
‘added’ to your understanding of empathy as an idea.
5. Compare the techniques that Ian McEwan in Atonement and Khaled Hosseini in The Kite Runner use
to explore the effects of guilt.
Again the question refers to techniques and these must be the organising focus of the answer to this question. The
discussion should be focused on the effects of guilt, for example, personal and communal. You should not simply offer
a discussion of guilt in the texts, without any reference to the effects it has or the techniques used to explore them. The
latter will relate to both the narratives in general – Briony’s need for atonement as a guiding principal in the novel, or
the parallels between Amir’s failures of personality and those of his culture – as well as specific techniques of
representation like structure, language, characterisation, symbolism, etc. One example could be Atonement’s Meissen
vase as a motif for guilt, with the ‘hairline cracks’ beneath ‘the glazed surface’ of Briony’s conviction (p.168), and
Amir’s self-perception as a ‘snake in the grass’(p.92); although the motif of the gaze as a sign of guilt and shame is also
a highly significant motif common to both novels.
6. Compare the ways in which Ian McEwan in Atonement and Khaled Hosseini in The Kite Runner use
the device of a journey to explore ideas.
The term ‘device of a journey’ was used here to alert you to the notion that this is a question about technique. Mere
comparison of journey plots in two texts will not be adequate. You must show the link between the journey motif and
the ideas in each text and make comparisons in these terms across the two texts. The ‘journey’ may be a spiritual,
intellectual or physical journey and the type of journey device could be the basis for comparison. The ideas explored
may be similar or different. The focus of the answer must be on the ways in which the two authors have used the
journey device. Where responses focus on the emotional journeys of certain characters, an obvious choice for this pair
of texts, again they must explore a character’s ‘journey’ as a technical device to explore ideas, rather than through plot
detail. One interesting starting point may be to contrast the heroic failure of Robbie’s journey across France with
Amir’s epic and cathartic rescue of Sohrab, as journeys that explore the human desire to recapture lost innocence, love
and loyalty. The contrast here would rest not solely on success as against failure, but also lie in the difference between
artistic and material agency in the renovation of a stained reputation (Robbie’s and Hassan’s respectively).
7. Compare the techniques that Ian McEwan in Atonement and Khaled Hosseini in The Kite Runner use
to explore the idea that people must face the consequences of their actions.
That ‘people must face the consequences of their actions’ is a given and you are not asked to debate the proposition but
to ‘compare the techniques used’ to explore it in two texts. Recounts of plots describing how individuals face the
consequences of their actions are not adequate. You may refer to plot structure, setting, characterisation, narrative
technique etc., as you compare the techniques used by the authors to explore the idea. Do NOT treat the characters as
real people, referring only to the ‘who’ and ‘what’ rather than the ‘how’ and ‘why’. Identify the consequences the
characters had to face, and what led them there, but do NOT fall into recounting the plots of the texts. The most
successful responses will engage with the techniques used by the authors of the texts, such as McEwan’s use of
focalization and complex characterisation of Briony as child, young adult and mature author seeking atonement for the
error of her childhood, in comparison with Amir’s narrative journey and various character foils, from his imaginative
identification with the Rustem and Sohrab story to his parallels with Baba, Assef and even Soraya.
8. Compare the ways in which McEwan and Hosseini use setting to reinforce the central ideas in both
Atonement and The Kite Runner.
In this question, the answer needs to focus on a comparison of ‘the ways’ McEwan and Hosseini use setting to reinforce
the central ideas within each text. The emphasis should be on how the authors use setting, not on the central ideas,
which may be the same or different. Setting (location and time) needs to be understood as a prism through which to
reinforce ideas, not simply as a means to better understand character. Answers which merely link attributes within
characters have missed the crux of the question. While it is acceptable to write about the degree to which one of the
authors uses setting, it is not acceptable to say that one author does not use setting to reinforce central ideas at all, but
uses other techniques and then write about these. It is acceptable to write about how the use of setting intertwines with
other techniques – devices such as imagery and symbolism – to reinforce the central ideas within each text. McEwan’s
associations of classical architecture with the Tallis family home, or the links between Amir’s childhood memories of
Afghanistan and the rehabilitation of Hassan’s character are good examples of this. Better answers will juxtapose the
two texts within single paragraphs using linking sentences.
In addition to reading the following assessment criteria, it may be helpful for you to consider
the specific grade band quality indicators for a paired text essay (on page four)
Criteria for Judging Performance
Your performance in the shared studies will be judged by the extent to which you demonstrate:
understanding
analysis and application


How well do you show an understanding of the ideas in
texts?
 How clearly does the student explain authors’ use of
textual features to communicate ideas and influence the
reader’s response?
 To what extent do you recognise the characteristics of
different text types?
 How well do you understand the role of audience, purpose,
and form in a text?
communication


How accurate and fluent is your expression?
How appropriate are the form and register for the audience
and purpose?





How well do you clarify the role of the author in
constructing texts?
How aware are you of the role of the reader in making
meaning of texts?
How precise is your response to the meaning and intention
of the set question?
How effectively and appropriately do you use evidence
from the texts to support an argument?
How effectively do you integrate quotations into the line of
discussion?
How effectively do you compare and contrast texts to
evaluate the role of sociocultural and situational contexts?
QUALITY INDICATORS FOR A PAIRED TEXTS ESSAY
A-GRADE BAND (17–20)
Well-focused and sustained answer to the question at a level of depth throughout the essay.
Personal, reflective, and evaluative engagement with the texts, conveyed in an expressive and natural style of writing.
Depth of understanding, synthesis, and interpretation of the central ideas of the texts.
Depth of understanding and analysis of such textual features as plot, character, setting, and their significance in the world
of the text.
Analysis and interpretation of the authors’ construction of text.
Textual references incorporated naturally and fluently in the line of discussion and integrated with the student’s own
response and language.
A depth of understanding of the connections between the texts, based on an analysis and synthesis of their similarities and
differences.
A discussion that integrates both texts and moves between each.
Essay is written with expressiveness, a sophisticated vocabulary, fluency, and precision, and in a style and register
appropriate to the topic.
B-GRADE BAND (14– 16)
Clearly structured and focused discussion of the question or topic.
Personal and reflective engagement with the texts.
Perceptive understanding and analysis of the texts and their central ideas.
Perceptive insights into such textual features as plot, character, setting, and so on.
General understanding of the authors’ construction of text, but with a partial grasp of the effects of the stylistic features on
the reader’s understanding and response.
Textual references incorporated naturally and fluently in the line of discussion.
A perceptive understanding of the various connections between the texts.
A discussion that interrelates both texts and compares and contrasts them.
Essay is written clearly and correctly, with an appropriate vocabulary and in a style and register appropriate to the topic.
C-GRADE BAND (11–13)
Sound focus on the requirements of the question and how it relates to the texts.
Sound understanding of the texts, with a tendency to make inadequately supported generalisations or to lack
discrimination in the selection of material to illustrate a point.
Clear understanding of the details of the texts, more likely to be evident through descriptions and summaries of character
and plot, rather than through an exploration and analysis of characters and issues.
Some awareness of the author’s craft, with a limited exploration of how it is evident in the texts.
Use of relevant references to the text.
A sound understanding of a number of the connections between the texts.
A discussion that deals with the two texts in a segmented manner.
Clear and fluent writing, generally accurate in spelling, punctuation, and grammar.
D-GRADE BAND (8–10)
Little attention given to the question or topic.
Essay structure tends to present lists of details from the texts, with little or no developed line of thought.
Superficial or simplistic understanding of the texts, often with textual inaccuracies.
Focuses on concrete aspects of the texts, often dealing with character and plot, usually chronologically, with little
reference to the main ideas of the texts.
No reference to, or understanding of, the stylistic features of the texts.
Textual references not integrated into the discussion.
Few connections made between the two texts and each is dealt with separately from the other.
Simplistic or faulty expression, sentence structure, vocabulary, spelling, and punctuation.
E-GRADE BAND (0–7)
Answer inadequately addresses the question.
Substantial inaccuracies or gaps in the student’s knowledge or understanding of the texts.
The two texts are dealt with in relative isolation from each other.
Often a very short answer.
Faulty language expression, with frequent errors in spelling, punctuation, and grammar.