'AO5 for American Literature- all features.
' :A complete set of notes for OCR Paper 2 A Level Comparative Essay of studying the
American Lit module
- The essay tests AO1,AO3, AO4 and AO5
This document sets out key features of american literature that you need to be
referencing throughout your essays, as well as AO5 critical interpretations of each
feature relevant to OCR requirements and useful to bolster your grade.
O5 (Mainly) – Some AO3
AO5 in relation to American literature shows your wider understanding of the genre.
It’s best used in the introduction to your essays where you want to show this
awareness, but can also generally apply to all features of the American literature that
have been explored.
1. Journeys and Migration
● Susan Shillinglaw emphasises upon the centrality of migration in American Literature
by her comment:
“The American story was always an exodus story” (2014) – easy link to The Grapes
of Wrath.
● Justin Cronin (2010):
“One of the great themes of American literature is the individual’s confrontation with
the vast open spaces of the continent.”
● John Steinbeck in Travels With Charley noted that:
“Nearly every American hungers to move.” (1962)
● Frontiers and the Pioneer Spirit (pioneers want to avoid the status quo, express and
take risks; frontiers relate to a myth about living on the edge in America during
industrialisation).
2. The Frontier
● Turner (1893) – “The frontier had been responsible for producing a distinctive
American spirit, relatively free from European influence and trained in the practical
realities of democratic social organisation.”
● Hubell (1925) – the frontier gave two very important things to American literature
which included “a vast field of unexploited literary material” and a “new point of view”.
' :A complete set of notes for OCR Paper 2 A Level Comparative Essay of studying the
American Lit module
- The essay tests AO1,AO3, AO4 and AO5
This document sets out key features of american literature that you need to be
referencing throughout your essays, as well as AO5 critical interpretations of each
feature relevant to OCR requirements and useful to bolster your grade.
O5 (Mainly) – Some AO3
AO5 in relation to American literature shows your wider understanding of the genre.
It’s best used in the introduction to your essays where you want to show this
awareness, but can also generally apply to all features of the American literature that
have been explored.
1. Journeys and Migration
● Susan Shillinglaw emphasises upon the centrality of migration in American Literature
by her comment:
“The American story was always an exodus story” (2014) – easy link to The Grapes
of Wrath.
● Justin Cronin (2010):
“One of the great themes of American literature is the individual’s confrontation with
the vast open spaces of the continent.”
● John Steinbeck in Travels With Charley noted that:
“Nearly every American hungers to move.” (1962)
● Frontiers and the Pioneer Spirit (pioneers want to avoid the status quo, express and
take risks; frontiers relate to a myth about living on the edge in America during
industrialisation).
2. The Frontier
● Turner (1893) – “The frontier had been responsible for producing a distinctive
American spirit, relatively free from European influence and trained in the practical
realities of democratic social organisation.”
● Hubell (1925) – the frontier gave two very important things to American literature
which included “a vast field of unexploited literary material” and a “new point of view”.
