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The Road: A Text Companion

A complete study companion for those studying or teaching the dystopian novel The Road by Cormac McCarthy at A Level.

A detailed, well thought through companion to the text

J Hinshelwood, Teacher & Peer Reviewer
  • A comprehensive collection of commentaries which explore every aspects of the novel’s context, plot, characters, narrative, themes, motifs and ideas, language and key quotations.
  • The novel’s exploration has also been divided into 16 sections with commentary on the key aspect of that section to make the analysis of this novel easier to digest.
  • Thought-provoking questions and activities have been interspersed throughout to encourage further exploration and individual interpretation, particularly on how McCarthy constructed his narrative.

Also includes AQA B Lit practice exam questions for Section A of the exam.

Very excited about such a thorough resource for a modern text - will save precious time for a teacher new to the text

T Kenney, HoD & Peer Reviewer

What do teachers say about this resource? (4906)

Outstanding stuff! This is a detailed, well thought through companion to the text. Focus is given to the elements on the A Level Specification and aids a teacher in starting to think about the best way to approach this text. The sections with synopsis and analysis, especially of the narrative features, was particularly useful, as the focus of the LITB1 exam is quite simply the techniques. One area that I thought was particularly strong was the AO2 focus.

J Hinshelwood, Teacher & Peer Reviewer

Very excited about such a thorough resource for a modern text - will save precious time for a teacher new to the text. I like the clear layout of the sections into defined areas and the degree of coverage of language features. This resource provides an appropriate degree of analysis of language and structural features, while asking students to reflect on aspects of narrative. This is a clearly presented resource, the layout enabled sections to be read in isolation as well as dealing with section by section. This resource would help a student work on the text independently for an original writing option.

T Kenney, HoD & Peer Reviewer

The divisions of the sections is particularly useful and will help students. I think it is VERY useful.

C Reynolds, Teacher & Peer Reviewer

This is a very good resource. There is an excellent level of detail and very clear focus on narrative & on answering exam questions.
The specimen exam questions seem to follow the type of genuine questions asked by the exam board.There is a clear focus on exam skills in the analytical approach taken.
There is a really clear focus on narrative methods and the contextual information is excellent.
The resource is extremely valuable to teachers, especially to those new to the text as a guide to the overall themes and general narrative techniques. I think this is really helpful as a teachers' guide.
The focus on narrative very closely matches the specification, and the writer considers how students should approach the exam in close detail throughout the resource.
There is not much around on this text, so it is really useful to have a comprehensive guide which is specifically tailored to the specification.

H Dyson,Course Manager for English Lit & Peer Review

High quality, clearly written, largely well-researched.
Very clear section summaries and comments on themes , style etc.
Its clarity and coverage of themes and characters make it very accessible and usable by both teachers and students.

A Cavender, English Literature Course Manager & Peer Reviewer