Harlem Renaissance: OCR A Level Unseen Prose Practice

A four-page practice resource for OCR A Level English Literature, American Literature 1880–1940. It uses an extract from Claude McKay’s Home to Harlem (1928) for a Section A critical appreciation task in the style of H472/02.

The resource includes the prose extract, a 30-mark practice question, suggested timing and a context sheet covering the Great Migration, the First World War, the Jazz Age, Prohibition and the Harlem Renaissance. A wider-reading page offers connections to writers including Fitzgerald, Hughes, Larsen, Toomer, Dreiser and Hurston.

Reading prompts focus on narrative viewpoint, sensory language, rhythm, place, identity, money and desire. Brief vocabulary notes and source links are also included. The supporting material encourages students to connect context and wider reading to the details of McKay’s writing.

Suitable for timed practice, homework or preparation for an unseen prose response. Original historical language is retained. This is an independent practice resource, not an official OCR examination paper. Supplied as a four-page PDF.