Revision and Retrieval
Revision works best when you retrieve before you reread. Use the grids below to test what you know, then go back to the novel to correct the gaps. The quotation log is deliberately empty: fill it with short quotations from your own edition.
One-page timeline
| Stage | What happens | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Before the pandemic | Jimmy grows up in corporate compounds; meets Crake; studies humanities; becomes a copywriter. | Establishes the ordinary world that makes the catastrophe possible. |
| Crake's rise | Crake becomes a bioengineer, creates the Crakers and BlyssPluss, and hires Oryx. | Connects personal ambition to a global plan. |
| The catastrophe | The pandemic spreads; Crake kills Oryx; Jimmy kills Crake. | The novel's central violence and the end of the old world. |
| The aftermath | Snowman cares for the Crakers, journeys to the compound and struggles to survive. | The present-tense frame and the novel's emotional centre. |
| The ending | Snowman finds signs of other humans and considers what to do. | The novel refuses closure and leaves the future open. |
Character grid
| Character | Role | One claim | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Snowman / Jimmy | Protagonist | ||
| Crake / Glenn | Bioengineer | ||
| Oryx | Survivor and teacher | ||
| The Crakers | Engineered species | ||
| Sharon | Jimmy's mother | ||
| Ren | Jimmy's girlfriend |
World map
| Place or invention | What it is | Real-world target | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Compounds | |||
| Pleeblands | |||
| Pigoons | |||
| BlyssPluss | |||
| Crakers |
Concept grid
| Concept | Definition | Scene or example | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Speculative fiction | |||
| Biopolitics | |||
| Complicity | |||
| Consent | |||
| Satire | |||
| Unreliable narration |
Quotation log
Fill in three to five short quotations from your edition. For each, record the page, the context and what the quotation does. Do not copy long passages.
| Quotation | Page | Context | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
Retrieval questions
- Why does the novel begin after the pandemic rather than before it?
- How does the novel make the corporate world feel ordinary?
- What does Jimmy's name "Snowman" suggest about his role?
- How does the novel connect Oryx's exploitation to the wider economy?
- What is Crake's plan, and why is it persuasive to him?
- What does the novel suggest about consent and designed happiness?
- Why does the novel end before Snowman acts?
Blank-page routine
Close the book. Draw a timeline with five stages, a character map with five names and a world map with five inventions. Then open the novel and correct the gaps in a different colour. The corrections are your revision list.
Spaced plan
| When | Task | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Same day | Retrieve the timeline and character map; correct them. | 10 minutes |
| Two days later | Re-read one passage and add two annotations. | 15 minutes |
| One week later | Write one paragraph on worldbuilding without notes, then check it. | 20 minutes |
| Two weeks later | Retrieve the concept grid and explain each concept. | 15 minutes |
| Before the seminar | Prepare a position, evidence and one objection. | 15 minutes |
Key terms
Speculative fictionFiction that extrapolates from existing conditions rather than inventing entirely impossible ones.
DystopiaAn imagined society whose oppressive or dysfunctional conditions are presented critically.
SatireA mode that uses exaggeration, irony or ridicule to criticise a practice or belief.
BiopoliticsPower exercised through the management of life, health, reproduction and populations.
ComplicityInvolvement in or acceptance of a harmful system, often without direct responsibility for its worst acts.
ConsentAgreement given freely by someone with the capacity to choose.
Unreliable narratorA narrator whose account is shaped by limited knowledge, bias or self-interest.
EllipsisA gap or omission in the narrative.
Quotations must come from your own edition. Do not invent page numbers or wording.