# Poll: What books were you required to read during High-school? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 1, 2003, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-books-were-you-required-to-read-during-high-school/185611 "2003-07-01T17:23:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![fauxpas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e480ec/32.png) [@fauxpas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fauxpas)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-books-were-you-required-to-read-during-high-school/185611/1 "2003-07-01T17:23:46Z")
I’m talking about the ones that would have to be read nationally. Some such as Of Mice and Men, The Chocolate War, ect. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-books-were-you-required-to-read-during-high-school/185611/2 "2003-07-01T17:27:47Z")
Lord Jim, Johnny Tremaine, that one I can’t remember anything about except the guy picking his nose with his thumb, Brave New World, 1984, The Making of a President, Treasure Island, Earth Abides… I did so much reading on my own in high school that the stuff I was required to read didn’t make much of an impact on me. I know they required a lot more than that, but this is all I can come up with. ---
**Author:** ![Zorro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ad7895/32.png) [@Zorro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zorro)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-books-were-you-required-to-read-during-high-school/185611/3 "2003-07-01T17:39:49Z")
Salammbo, Les Fleurs du Mal, Le Pere Goriot, Emil und die Detektiven, The Ancient Mariner, the standard gamut of Shakespeare plays, all sorts of stuff, but one really sticks in my mind because of the associated horror: F\*\*\*ing **Emma** by Jane Austen. My God, that was psychological torture. It’s the only book I’ve ever wilfully destroyed. With firearms. ---
**Author:** ![insomnia4AM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4bbf92/32.png) [@insomnia4AM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/insomnia4AM)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-books-were-you-required-to-read-during-high-school/185611/4 "2003-07-01T17:57:41Z")
Johnny Tremaine, A Raisin in the Sun, Native Sun, Canterbury Tales, To Kill a Mockingbird, and tons of Shakespeare. Well, if you took honors classes you had to read all the Shakespeare. Every other set of classes read the others posted above. ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-books-were-you-required-to-read-during-high-school/185611/5 "2003-07-01T18:12:35Z")
_Ethan Frome_ _Fahrenheit 451_ (or was that in the 8th grade?) _Rebecca_ _Far from the Madding Crowd_ _The Heart is a Lonely Hunter_ _The Color Purple_ _Catcher in the Rye_ _The Diary of Anne Frank_ (8th grade?) ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-books-were-you-required-to-read-during-high-school/185611/6 "2003-07-01T18:18:10Z")
_Clan of the Cave Bear The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman For Whom the Bell Tolls Great Expectations Romeo and Juliet Catcher in the Rye The Handmaid’s Tale Grendel Canterbury Tales Beowulf On the Road Tess of the D’Urbervilles 1984 Brave New World The Confessions of St. Augustine Heart of Darkness All Quiet on the Western Front Les Miserables_ These are the ones that I remember having to read during HS. Some I liked, some I didn’t - and I know there are more that we read, but I don’t remember them. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-books-were-you-required-to-read-during-high-school/185611/7 "2003-07-01T18:21:09Z")
If you mean novels, as opposed to textbooks and anthologies and the like, here are the ones I remember: **Freshman English:** _Ivanhoe, Oliver Twist, Alice in Wonderland_ **Sophomore English:** _The Catcher In the Rye, The Great Gatsby, Babbitt, Huckleberry Finn_ **Junior English:** \*Beowulf, The Mayor of Casterbridge, Jane Eyre, Brave New World, \*the first book of _The Forsyte Saga, The Once and Future King_ **Senior English:** _The Scarlet Letter, East of Eden, Wuthering Heights, Tess of the D’Urbervilles, Barchester Towers, Our Mutual Friend_ If you want to include plays, I can throw in _Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night, Hamlet, Macbeth, Oedipus Rex, Antigone, Our Town, The Glass Menagerie, Of Mice and Men,_ and several others I’m forgetting. In U. S. History we had to read _The Jungle_. And I don’t remember the names of any of the books we had to read in German, except that one was by Durrenmatt. ---
**Author:** ![fauxpas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e480ec/32.png) [@fauxpas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fauxpas)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-books-were-you-required-to-read-during-high-school/185611/8 "2003-07-01T18:29:16Z")
Yes, I’m sorry everyone, I did mean novels. As well as plays and literature such as the ones you described. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-books-were-you-required-to-read-during-high-school/185611/9 "2003-07-01T18:44:33Z")
All I can remember are from AP English in 12th grade: Scarlet Letter, Tess of the D’Urbervilles, As I Lay Dying (we called it “As I Lay Breeding”), Streetcar Named Desire, Twelfth Night. I can’t recall the rest. ---
**Author:** ![TeaRoses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c37758/32.png) [@TeaRoses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaRoses)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-books-were-you-required-to-read-during-high-school/185611/10 "2003-07-01T18:44:37Z")
I can’t remember all of them, but I do remember: Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (I never finished it) The Stranger (that I enjoyed) Catcher in the Rye (read out loud in class, odd choice) Macbeth ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angel_of_the_lord/32/2949_2.png) [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_the_Lord)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-books-were-you-required-to-read-during-high-school/185611/11 "2003-07-01T18:51:32Z")
_Frankenstein The Scarlet Letter Beowulf Heart of Darkness Hamlet Macbeth Othello King Lear Lord of the Flies The Grapes of Wrath Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man Rime of the Ancient Mariner_–Not really a book, but hey. _Antigone Oedipus Rex Crime and Punishment_ There were a lot of books I couldn’t count because we were given a choice between several options. For instance, I read _1984_, _Brave New World_, _Silas Marner_(sp?), _Metamorphosis_, and _All Quiet on the Western Front_ for class, but I could have read other books instead of those. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-books-were-you-required-to-read-during-high-school/185611/12 "2003-07-01T18:51:45Z")
Just for the record, I’ve never even heard of **The Chocolate War**. Also, no one’s mentioned **Tale of Two Cities** yet. ---
**Author:** ![Alto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Alto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alto)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-books-were-you-required-to-read-during-high-school/185611/13 "2003-07-01T18:57:46Z")
We read_1984, Brave New World, The Scarlet Letter, The Pearl, Cannery Row_ and _We Have Always Lived in the Castle_. My theory has always been that no book will be assigned to be read in high school (in America) unless it’s depressing. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-books-were-you-required-to-read-during-high-school/185611/14 "2003-07-01T19:02:12Z")
Great Expectations-Ugh To Kill a Mockingbird-Yeah! The Pearl-Ugh Macbeth/Julius Caeser/Romeo and Juliet-Ugh\* But I love Shakespeare now, it was just taught in such a damned woooden fashion\* Jane Eyre-Yeah! The Glass Menagerie-Ugh Johnny Tremaine-Yeah! ---
**Author:** ![fauxpas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e480ec/32.png) [@fauxpas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fauxpas)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-books-were-you-required-to-read-during-high-school/185611/15 "2003-07-01T19:11:49Z")
BTW: What is atticus? I know this is waaaaay off the subject but I’m still curious, don’t tell me yet, because I plan on reading many of the books mentioned already this summer that way I’m prematurely read. So sort of explain it to me. ---
**Author:** ![Eirik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b19c9b/32.png) [@Eirik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eirik)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-books-were-you-required-to-read-during-high-school/185611/16 "2003-07-01T19:12:20Z")
I think all of the books that I was required to read have been mentioned. I had a lot more fun with the recommended reading lists that I was given in 10th and 12th grades, essentially very long lists of books that we could choose from. From those, I read: Rhinocerous by Ionsco The Metomorphosis by Kafka The Once and Future King by TH White Animal Farm by Orwell 1984 by Orwell Death of a Salesman by… gagh! drawing a blank. Some of the most awful and dull stuff I’ve ever read came out of high school, though. Tess of the D’Urbvervilles was dull for me, as was The Sun Also Rises (though that turned out to be useful for the English AP exam that year). Didn’t help that I had a 12th grade teacher who could suck the joy out of even a Shakesphere play. When I went to college, I had such a bad taste in my mouth about English lit that I sought out other areas, taking classes in ancient Greek and early American lit. Much more interesting… ---
**Author:** ![lachesis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@lachesis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lachesis)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-books-were-you-required-to-read-during-high-school/185611/17 "2003-07-01T19:17:54Z")
eep. i read so many of the “classics” on my own during school years, it’s hard to remember which ones were ‘required’. (yes, i was a bookworm. yes, i was a loner with a very small number of friends. yes, luckily, said friends also appreciated reading.) _The Telltale Heart Murders of the Rue Morgue The Purloined Letter Cimarron Animal Farm Macbeth The Mayor of Casterbridge_ (funnily enough, i’d just finished reading it on my own, so i didn’t have to buy a copy for class) \*King Lear Bless the Beasts and Children Brave New World Alice In Wonderland \* (and maybe _Through the Looking Glass_ too, but that might have been just me again) _The Pushcart War_ we also did English/lit classes based on movies, like “Dr. Strangelove” and “Failsafe” (take a guess what _that_ course was analyzing). ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-books-were-you-required-to-read-during-high-school/185611/18 "2003-07-01T19:18:10Z")
Hmm. Let’s see… this is probably not complete, but it’s pretty decent.[ul] [li]Freshman year: Romeo and Juliet, Great Expectations, Antigone, Julius Caesar. I think we read A Tale of Two Cities over the summer. (I definitely read it at some point, anyway.)[/li][li]Sophomore year: Long list here. Night, The Chosen, All My Sons, The Appretice [I doubt anyone else read the last two; I think they’re both by Bernard Malamud. Our teacher that year wanted to make it into a Jewish Literature course.] The Glass Menagerie, Lord of the Flies, Catcher in the Rye, A Streetcar Named Desire, A Raisin in the Sun, The Pearl.[/li][li]Junior Year: Ethan Frome, Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, Washington Square Park, The Great Gatsby, The Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men, The Crucible, Death of a Salesman (it’s by Arthur Miller).[/li][li]Senior Year: Hamlet, A Prayer for Owen Meany, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, The Once and Future King.[/li][/ul] I remember reading some of the other books listed here, like The Chocolate War and Animal Farm, in eighth grade. > [@](#): > > My theory has always been that no book will be assigned to be read in high school (in America) unless it’s depressing. My friends and I said the very same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-books-were-you-required-to-read-during-high-school/185611/19 "2003-07-01T19:29:51Z")
Ah, okay, and we read some short stories freshman year… I do remember The Tell-Tale Heart, and I guess there were others. ---
**Author:** ![easy\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb8c5e/32.png) [@easy\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/easy_e)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-books-were-you-required-to-read-during-high-school/185611/20 "2003-07-01T19:30:47Z")
Freshman year all I can remember are _The Odyssey, To Kill a Mockingbird, Romeo and Juliet,_ and _Julius Caesar_, but I know we did more than that. Sophomore year I didn’t take a traditional English class. I had one semester of debate, and one of composition and research. Junior year _Ethan Frome, The Scarlett Letter (and some Hawthorne short stories), The Narrative of the Life of Frederic Douglass, Walden, The Assistant, Cosmos, Civilisation, Heart of Darkness,_ an Emerson collection, _MacBeth_ Senior year _1984, Brave New World, Frankenstein, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Jane Eyre, Native Son, Song of Solomon, Inferno,_ several stories by Kate Chopin, including _The Awakening_ and _Desiree’s Baby,_ selections from _Canterbury Tales, Hamlet_ Except for sophomore year, all had the usual textbook, short story, and anthology readings. My junior and senior years I had books I was supposed to purchase and read over the summer and I had to hand in a “journal” detailing my thoughts. The summer books junior year were _Walden_, the Emerson, and the Douglass. Senior year they were _1984, Frankenstein, Song of Solomon,_ and _Native Son_. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-books-were-you-required-to-read-during-high-school/185611.md?page=2)