section III pt 2

The specific event Stevens identifies as a "key turning point" involving Miss Kenton

His decision to end their nightly meetings over cocoa

Stevens' exact quote justifying his reading of romance novels

An "extremely efficient way to maintain and develop one's command of the English language."

The academic who noted Stevens' life was trapped in a "precast structure of subjectivity"

Graham MacPhee

Year Miss Kenton arrived at Darlington Hall

1922

The exact adjectives Stevens uses to describe Miss Kenton's job references and later her dedication

"Unusually good references" and "nothing less than dedicated"

Miss Kenton's playful, exact question to Stevens regarding his fear of attractive staff

"Might it be that our Mr. Stevens fears distraction? Can it be that our Mr. Stevens is flesh and blood after all and cannot fully trust himself?"

Miss Kenton's exact words condemning her own choice not to quit over the Jewish maids' firing

"It was cowardice, Mr. Stevens. Simple cowardice."

The two elite British schools where upper-crust men like Lord Darlington were traditionally educated, and where he may have been educated?

Eton or Harrow; Oxford or Cambridge

The two historical British aristocrats cited as the real-life inspirations for Lord Darlington

The Marquess of Londonderry (Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart) and Lord Lothian (Philip Henry Kerr)

The prominent historian who noted that right-wing Conservatives sought peace by removing Germany's grievances

Ian Kershaw

The previous employer of William Stevens at Loughborough House

Mr. John Silvers

Stevens' specific four-word visual memory of his father confronting the unruly guests

A "dark, severe presence"

The historic name of the war in which Stevens' brother Leonard was killed

"Southern African War" (Second Boer War)

The specific phrase Stevens uses to describe the military strike that killed his brother

A "most un-British attack on civilian Boer settlements"

The historical decade that reflects Mr. Farraday's rise as an American superpower buyer

The 1950s

Mr. Farraday's exact quote questioning Stevens' authenticity as a traditional butler

"You're a genuine old-fashioned English butler, not just some waiter pretending to be one. You're the real thing, aren't you?"

Who played William Stevens in the film adaptation?

Peter Vaughan

What is dignity to Mr. Smith?

Achieved through actions

When is M. Dupont invited to the unofficial conference held at Darlington Hall (chapter?)

"Day Two-Morning"

Dr. Carlisle is a…

local physician

The common/popular understanding of an "unreliable narrator"

A narrator who is lying, mentally ill, or being deliberately misleading.

The short story by Edgar Allan Poe used to exemplify a narrator descending into madness

"The Tell-Tale Heart"

The novel by Gillian Flynn used to exemplify a narrator creating a fake kidnapping narrative

Gone Girl

The full range of behaviors the term actually refers to in literary studies beyond outright lies

Misinterpretations, poor judgments, and failures of memory.

The literary critic who coined the term "unreliable narrator"

Wayne Booth

The title and publication year of Wayne Booth's groundbreaking work

The Rhetoric of Fiction (1961)

The phrase describing the gap between the narrator's values and the author's values

Ironic distance

The literary example used by Wayne Booth to show a narrator with worse morals than the author

Huckleberry Finn

The author of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Mark Twain

The specific action Huck Finn takes that he mistakenly believes is unethical

Deciding not to turn Jim (an enslaved man escaping to freedom) over to the authorities.

The precise reason Huck Finn believes helping Jim escape is wrong

He was raised to think that slavery is morally right and that Black people do not deserve freedom.

Why Huck Finn qualifies as an unreliable narrator under Booth's definition

Because his judgments are not the same as the judgments of the author

The four narrative theorists and literary critics listed who expanded on Booth's concept of unreliability

Seymour Chatman, Shlomith Rimmon-Kenan, Kathleen Wall, and James Phelan

The three central tasks that narrators perform according to James Phelan

1. They report 2. They interpret 3. They evaluate (or judge)

The two ways a narrator can unreliably perform any of Phelan's three central tasks

By "under" performing or "over" performing them

The literary term for when a narrator fails to judge something harshly enough

"Underevaluate"

The literary term for when a narrator assumes there is more going on in a given scene than there really is

"Overinterpret" (or "reading into" an event)

The author and year of the influential essay that used the novel to challenge narrative theory

Kathleen Wall; 1994

The full title of Kathleen Wall's 1994 essay

"The Remains of the Day and Its Challenges to Theories of Unreliable Narration"

Where an essential indication of a narrator's unreliability is frequently found, according to Wall

In the discourse of narration, or the "verbal habits of the narrator."

The three specific examples of "verbal habits" provided in the text

1. Repeated phrases 2. Words repeated or omitted 3. Undue attention given to certain aspects of a situation

The core reason Stevens is unreliable (vs. simply lying)

Because of how he describes and assesses his past (along with frequent misremembering), not because he is fabricating events.

According to Kathleen Wall, what has Stevens found it necessary to "bracket off"?

"Large areas of feeling, experience, and desire"

Why did Stevens feel forced to bracket off his feelings?

Because of the "huge investment he has made in a certain image of himself and of his place in life"

The exact two-word phrase Stevens uses to describe Miss Kenton's on-the-job execution

"Exemplary professionalism"

The three specific phrases Stevens repeats to maintain that his nightly cocoa meetings were strictly business

1. "Overwhelmingly professional in tone" 2. "Predominantly professional" 3. "Essentially professional character"

Stevens' exact professional phrasing for Miss Kenton leaving the estate to get married

A "professional loss of some magnitude"

The structural literary term for how Stevens treats Miss Kenton's emotional importance to him

Understatement (he understates her importance)

The structural literary term for how Stevens treats Lord Darlington's historic role

Overstatement (he overstates his greatness)

Stevens' exact quote describing Lord Darlington's inner nature and core motivation

A "truly good man at heart, a gentleman through and through" driven by a "desire to see 'justice in the world.'"

Stevens' devastating exact quote realizing he gave up his autonomy to a flawed master

"You see, I trusted. I trusted in his lordship's wisdom….I can't even say I made my own mistakes. Really—one has to ask oneself—what dignity is there in that?'"

The two specific structural forms of unreliability that combine to show Stevens' self-delusion

Understatement and overstatement

Stevens' exact definition of what "bantering" is

"A conversation of a light-hearted, humorous sort" (or a "witty retort")

How Stevens interprets the cultural meaning of bantering in the United States

A "sign of a good, friendly understanding between employer and employee"

The specific standard British speakers try to meet when delivering witticisms quickly

They must be delivered "in the best of taste"

The exact title of the radio program Stevens listens to in order to practice bantering

Twice a Week or More

What psychological traits are required for a person to be able to banter?

Being comfortable with being caught off guard, being ironic, or engaging in friendly teasing.

What alternative values does the casual style of bantering prioritize over Stevens' rigid dignity?

Warmth, friendliness, and vulnerability.

Stevens' exact quote regarding the hidden potential of light-hearted conversation

"…in bantering lies the key to human warmth."

What does Stevens' final decision to practice bantering represent beyond a professional goal?

A small but meaningful personal and existential change at the conclusion of his journey.

The name of the interviewer Kazuo Ishiguro spoke to regarding how to read his historical settings

Gregory Mason

Ishiguro's explicit standard for his historical research to ensure he doesn't break reader immersion

To avoid getting anything "wildly wrong"

Stevens' exact quote defending Lord Darlington against modern hindsight

Anyone criticizing him "is just conveniently forgetting the true climate of those times."

The text publication timeline referenced for Mein Kampf before Hitler became Chancellor

Eight years before he was appointed Chancellor in 1933

The prominent historian who identified the central dilemma British observers faced regarding Hitler's dual messaging

Ian Kershaw

The specific question that puzzled British observers according to Kershaw's analysis

"…was the 'true' Hitler the man who spoke of peace in his speeches, or the author of Mein Kampf, set on German expansion?"

The historical term given to the political efforts to strike a workable peace deal with Hitler

Appeasement

The name and year of the specific treaty that culminated the policy of appeasement

The Munich Agreement in 1938

The specific region of Czechoslovakia annexed by Germany under the 1938 treaty

The Sudetenland

The exact infamous phrase used by Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain to describe the failed peace deal

"Peace in our time"

The two specific examples given of Hitler violating the Treaty of Versailles prior to the Munich Agreement

1. Withdrawing from disarmament conferences 2. Rearming the German air force

Historian Ian Kershaw's exact definition of appeasement

"offering concessions from a position of weakness"

Historian Peter Neville's exact definition of appeasement

It "involves conciliation and attempting to understand rival viewpoints in interstate relations."

Stevens' exact quote revealing his deep psychological need to justify his years under Lord Darlington

"All those years I served him, I trusted I was doing something worthwhile."

The 19th-century Anne Brontë novel cited for its depiction of internal domestic staff hierarchies

Agnes Grey

The two television dramas referenced that illustrate how domestic servants competed for coveted roles

Upstairs, Downstairs and Downton Abbey

The anthropologist whose quote regarding our power to reshape the world is contrasted with Stevens' rigidity

David Graeber

David Graeber's exact famous quote about the mutability of our social reality

"The ultimate hidden truth of the world is that it is something that we make, and could just as easily make differently."

Stevens' exact definition of choosing a noble employer to serve for the rest of his life

"Loyalty intelligently bestowed"

The exact two words Stevens uses to describe the premise that ordinary people cannot understand international politics

An "inescapable truth"

The specific political framework Lord Darlington and his aristocratic guests debated the merits of

Democracy

The phrase used to describe Stevens' hierarchy-dependent perspective on dignity versus Mr. Smith's democratic view

A "top-down" approach (Stevens) versus a "bottom-up" understanding (Mr. Smith)

The ultimate personal transformation Stevens undergoes as a result of his journey

A reckoning with how his life could have been different after seeing the cracks in his value system.