Publication year 2024
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Indigenous Identity, Family, Truth & Lies
Required Reading Lists
Our Required Reading Lists Collection features poems, fiction, short stories, and other texts frequently studied in academic contexts. With texts spanning from the ancients, such as Plato, through contemporary literary giants, this well-rounded Collection represents the breadth and enduring appeal of literature and its study.
Fire Exit
First They Came...
Flora And Ulysses
For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow is Enuf
Freedom Summer
Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic
Gate A-4
Girl
Girl Dinner
Grendel
Gulliver's Travels
Hachiko Waits
Hanging Fire
Heart to Heart
Herland
Hidden Bodies
High Flight
Hills Like White Elephants
Home Burial
How Fascism Works
Publication year 2024
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Indigenous Identity, Family, Truth & Lies
Publication year 1946
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Politics & Government, Religion & Spirituality, Apathy, Self Discovery, Guilt, Community, Justice
Tags Holocaust, World History
Publication year 2013
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Family, Friendship
Tags Humor, Children`s Literature, Fantasy, Action & Adventure, Animals
Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures is a middle-grade magical realism novel written by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by K. G. Campbell, and originally published in 2013. DiCamillo is a renowned middle-grade author who also wrote Because of Winn-Dixie and The Tale of Despereaux, among other books. Flora and Ulysses was the recipient of the John Newbery Medal for the Most Distinguished Contribution to American Literature for Children in 2014. It was also adapted into a... Read Flora And Ulysses Summary
Publication year 1975
Genre Play, Fiction
Themes Race, Femininity, Coming of Age
Tags Poetry: Dramatic Poem, Drama, Gender & Feminism, Race & Racism, Women`s Studies, Dramatic Literature, Classic Fiction
A choreopoem is a work of art that combines dance, music, and poetry. Because the medium focuses as much on nonverbal communication as the written word, choreopoems are performance pieces. Ntozake Shange originated this format in 1974, when for colored girls who have considered suicide/ when the rainbow is enuf debuted in San Francisco, California. Later, the choreopoem made its Broadway debut in December 1976, a move that Shange describes as “either too big for... Read For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow is Enuf Summary
Publication year 2012
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Hate & Anger, Hope, Equality, Good & Evil, Justice, Safety & Danger
Tags Race & Racism, US History
Publication year 2006
Genre Graphic Memoir , Nonfiction
Themes Sexual Identity, Gender Identity, Family, Fathers, Daughters & Sons, Literature, Truth & Lies, Femininity, Masculinity
Tags LGBTQ+, Life-Inspired Fiction, Relationships, Love & Sexuality, Parenting, Depression & Suicide, Mental Illness, Grief & Death, Gender & Feminism, Biography
Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic (2006) is a graphic novel memoir written and illustrated by underground cartoonist Alison Bechdel. The book centers on Bechdel’s relationship with her late father Bruce Allen Bechdel, who died in what she believes was a death by suicide. Fun Home is a non-linear narrative that rehashes events from Alison Bechdel’s youth and adolescence. Her memories are presented in the comic panels, overlayed with her prosaic, retrospective musings in text boxes... Read Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic Summary
Publication year 2008
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Community, Language
Tags Narrative Poem, Middle Eastern Literature
Publication year 1978
Genre Short Story, Fiction
Themes Mothers, Colonialism, Coming of Age, Femininity, Community
Tags Gender & Feminism, Colonialism & Postcolonialism, Prose, Afro-Caribbean Literature, Education, Education, Modern Classic Fiction, Classic Fiction
Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl” was first published on June 26, 1978 in The New Yorker and was later included in Kincaid’s debut 1983 short story collection, At the Bottom of the River. According to Kincaid, her works, including “Girl,” can be considered autobiographical. Kincaid grew up on the Caribbean island of Antigua and had a strained relationship with her mother before Kincaid moved to New York City. These same cultural and familial contexts are present in... Read Girl Summary
Publication year 2025
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Femininity, Mothers, Community, Power & Greed
Tags Horror & Suspense
Publication year 1971
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Religion & Spirituality, Beauty, Good & Evil, Art, Order & Chaos, Loneliness, Revenge, Hate & Anger
Tags Fantasy, Mythology, Postmodernism, Education, Education, Classic Fiction
John Gardner’s 1971 novel Grendel is a retelling of the story of Beowulf, an Anglo-Saxon epic poem from the 6th century, from the perspective of the villain, the monster Grendel. In Grendel, the monster Grendel is an anti-hero, challenging the conventions of traditionally heroic behavior as he tries to understand the world in which he lives. In 1982, an animated Australian film adaptation of the novel called Grendel Grendel Grendel was released in major cities... Read Grendel Summary
Publication year 1726
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Power & Greed, Politics & Government, Self Discovery, Nation
Tags Satirical Literature, Classic Fiction, Fantasy, Action & Adventure, Travel Literature
Gulliver’s Travels is a 1726 novel written by Jonathan Swift. It is both an early English novel and a seminal satirical text in British Literature, remaining Swift’s best-known work and spawning many adaptations in both print and film. The targets of Swift’s satire range from political structures in early 18th-century England to the national rivalry between England and France during the same period. Swift also lampoons science and educational trends that lean towards more speculative... Read Gulliver's Travels Summary
Publication year 2004
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Grief, Community, Loyalty & Betrayal
Tags Animals, Children`s Literature
Publication year 1978
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Childhood & Youth, Coming of Age, Death, Fear, Race, Femininity, Mothers
Tags Free Verse, Race & Racism, Gender & Feminism
Publication year 2004
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Love
Publication year 1915
Genre Novel, Fiction
Tags Gender & Feminism, Science Fiction, Satirical Literature, Women`s Studies, Education, Education, Fantasy, Classic Fiction
Herland (1915) is the second installment of The Herland Trilogy by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, but it is typically read as a standalone novel. Gilman was an American humanist, feminist activist, and author of both fiction and nonfiction. Her most famous work is “The Yellow Wallpaper” (1892), a short story that depicts the late 1800s “rest cure”: a popular treatment for women’s mental health that Gilman underwent herself. Herland follows three men—Van, Jeff, and Terry—who find... Read Herland Summary
Publication year 1942
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Religion & Spirituality, Joy, War, Beauty, Space
Publication year 1927
Genre Short Story, Fiction
Themes Hope, Apathy
Tags Relationships, American Literature, The Lost Generation
Ernest Hemingway’s 1927 short story “Hills Like White Elephants” was published first in the periodical transitions and then in his short story collection Men Without Women. One of his most well-known short stories, it utilizes many of the techniques that typify Hemingway’s writing, such as minimalism, direct dialogue, and indirect characterization. The story consists almost entirely of dialogue, with only sparse, sporadic narrative description. Please note that this story concerns discussions of abortion and may... Read Hills Like White Elephants Summary
Publication year 1914
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Grief, Marriage, Conflict, Gender Identity, Death, Appearance & Reality, Family
Tags Poetry: Dramatic Poem, Blank Verse, Grief & Death
Publication year 2018
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Community
Tags Politics & Government, Sociology, World History, Psychology, Psychology, Philosophy, Philosophy, Social Justice
How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us Versus Them is a nonfiction book published in 2018 by the American philosopher and Yale University professor Jason Stanley. In it, the author discusses ten mechanisms by which fascist politicians gain and consolidate power in democratic states, potentially yielding a fascist state with an absolute leader. Drawing on examples that range from Nazi Germany to the contemporary United States, Stanley explains the appeal of fascist ideology during times... Read How Fascism Works Summary