American Literature: Student Guide for A Level OCR

Stimulating notes outline some of the literary concepts, contexts and terminology that define American writing of the period, including prejudice, inequality and a reimagining of the American hero and the American dream. Covers key authors including Hemingway, Steinbeck, Twain and Fitzgerald.

Component 02: Comparative and Contextual Study

Comprehensive overview of the topic covering all key aspects of the paper...

...The clarity of the materials and their focus on key topics enable us to use this for first teaching or revision

A Amrane, KS5 Coordinator & Customer (on American Literature)

Arm your students with an arsenal of ideas!

Give students a firm grounding in your chosen topic with student-friendly notes, essential context, and activities on carefully-chosen key aspects. A broad selection of extracts from set texts and unseen prose are analysed against topical features to prepare for the exam.

Excellent – right focus – varied materials – easy to use...

...Background, contexts 100% relevant

C Campbell, HoD & Customer (on American Literature)
Key areas include…
  • Authorial Techniques
  • Characterisation
  • Themes and Motifs
  • Context
  • Setting
  • Literary Criticism
...and many more topic-specific areas

Target exam skills

  • Extract analyses model critical appreciations for unseen extracts
  • Reflective activities – matched to the AOs – encourage engagement and consolidate learning
  • Exam preparation questions build confidence and develop essay-writing skills
  • Practice essay questions and peer/self-assessment mark schemes track student progress

Answers included for easy delivery and marking

What do teachers say about this resource? (8200)

Excellent resource which has been embraced by Year 13 for revision and by Year 12 as a basis of their understanding of the topic... It is well thought out and comprehensive... The resources focus the wide topic of American Literature into manageable ideas... It is comprehensive and easily usable but more importantly gives students references to the wider reading for the course... It is worth the cost even if you only use it for revision... Excellent match to the specification.

N Phipps, HoD & Customer (on American Literature)

Excellent – right focus – varied materials – easy to use... Background, contexts 100% relevant... All ZZ resources [are] good because they hit the right level of challenge/guidance... Definitely get it – will save you many hours of work and give both you and your students renewed confidence.

C Campbell, HoD & Customer (on American Literature)

Comprehensive overview of the topic covering all key aspects of the paper... It has lists of key words for each section and further reading opportunities to support the least able and stretch the most able... The clarity of the materials and their focus on key topics enable us to use this for first teaching or revision... The format is great too as you can easily photocopy single pages and then cut to suit your students needs... More versatile than other resources.

A Amrane, KS5 Coordinator & Customer (on American Literature)

I like the focus on a variety of texts and the summary of different topics and themes. The titles and structure are clear, and the text is very accessible for students and teachers alike. It provides a useful starting point for key areas... It condenses a great deal of important information and looks across a variety of texts, which is very time-consuming for a teacher to do. It is essentially a resource which summarises and saves time... It sets the scene for the texts studied, looks widely over surrounding reading, and provides valuable context... It deals with the AOs very well and clearly focuses on the requirements of the exam... The indicative content at the end of the resource is great!

C Hughes, Teacher & Peer Reviewer (on American Literature)