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.

Hunger

by Roxanne Gay

Publication year 2017

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Mental Health, Race, Sexual Identity, Femininity, Shame & Pride

Tags Trauma & Abuse, Race & Racism, Social Justice, Gender & Feminism, LGBTQ+, Mental Illness, Biography

Content Warning: Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body describes and references rape and sexual violence, emotional abuse, and verbal abuse.Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body (2017) is a memoir by Roxane Gay that addresses the emotional, physical, and psychological effects of sexual assault—and how they tie into self-image. Though Gay’s memoir centers her body, food, and self-image, she also confronts society’s fatphobia—the world’s unwillingness to accept fat people as they are due to assumptions about... Read Hunger Summary

Identity

by Julio Noboa

Publication year 1977

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Politics & Government, Conflict, Perseverance

Tags Lyric Poem, Philosophy, Science & Nature, Latin American Literature, Animals

... Read Identity Summary

If—

by Rudyard Kipling

Publication year 1910

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Loyalty & Betrayal, Wins & Losses, Love, Perseverance, Hope, Coming of Age, Daughters & Sons

Tags Inspirational, Lyric Poem, Relationships

... Read If— Summary

If We Must Die

by Claude McKay

Publication year 1919

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Perseverance, Conflict, Equality, Power & Greed

Tags Grief & Death, Race & Racism, Colonialism & Postcolonialism, African American Literature, Harlem Renaissance, Education, Education, Classic Fiction

... Read If We Must Die Summary

If You Come Softly

by Jacqueline Woodson

Publication year 1998

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Love, Race, Coming of Age

Tags Romance, Realistic Fiction, Race & Racism, Modern Classic Fiction

If You Come Softly is a work of young adult fiction written by Jacqueline Woodson in 1998. In a reinterpretation of Romeo and Juliet, the novel tells the story of Ellie and Jeremiah, a young couple from New York City who finds love and connection across the boundaries of race.Plot SummaryThe novel begins with a prologue where Ellie wakes from dreaming about Jeremiah. Ellie tells her mother Marion that she dreamed about Jeremiah, and Marion... Read If You Come Softly Summary

I, Juan de Pareja

by Elizabeth Borton De Treviño

Publication year 1965

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Art, Race, Equality, Religion & Spirituality, Truth & Lies

Tags Historical Fiction, Children`s Literature, Education, Education, Arts & Culture, World History, Classic Fiction

Elizabeth Borton de Treviño’s I, Juan de Pareja is a young adult historical fiction novel published in 1965. Its complicated portrayal of slavery, art, and self-expression earned it the Newbery Medal in 1966. In 1656, Spanish Golden Age painter Diego Velázquez unveiled his newest portrait: a simple study of one of his enslaved workers entitled Portrait of Juan de Pareja. Upon viewing the painting, de Treviño was inspired to imagine the story of this man... Read I, Juan de Pareja Summary

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

by Harriet Jacobs

Publication year 1861

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Race, Social Class, Power & Greed

Tags Inspirational, Race & Racism, Trauma & Abuse, US History, African American Literature, American Civil War, Education, Education, World History, Classic Fiction, Biography

The memoir Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861) is an account of the life of Harriet Ann Jacobs, who calls herself “Linda Brent” in the narrative. It is a key text in the slave narrative genre, which were first-person narratives written by formerly enslaved people that hoped to convert readers to the abolitionist cause. While most slave narratives were written by men, such as The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano (1791), Narrative of... Read Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Summary

Inkheart

by Cornelia Funke

Publication year 2003

Genre Novel, Fiction

Tags Fantasy, Magical Realism, Coming of Age, Action & Adventure, German Literature, Children`s Literature

Cornelia Funke’s Inkheart (2003) is a novel of magical realism—the story takes place in the real world, but magic figures into the plot and character development. Funke went on to write other books in the Inkworld series: Inkspell (2005), and Inkdeath (2007). A fourth, The Colour of Revenge, will be released in October 2023. A movie adaption of Inkheart, produced by Funke, was released in 2008. Inkheart has received numerous literary accolades, including the 2004... Read Inkheart Summary

In Memoriam

by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Publication year 1850

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Grief, Death, Conflict, Nostalgia, Perseverance

Tags Lyric Poem, Grief & Death, Victorian Period

Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s In Memoriam AHH explores the cosmic implications of the death of a college friend (his sister’s fiancé), poet Arthur Henry Hallam, who died quite unexpectedly in 1833 at the age of 22 most likely from a cerebral hemorrhage. The poem is among the most ambitiously conceived philosophical poems in the English language and a monument to the dynamics of how Christians themselves grapple with the thorny question of mortality. The work stands... Read In Memoriam Summary