By Emilee Boster
Since freshman year, I’ve read at least 3 books for each English class. During my junior year, I started reading more and more in my free time. I had always enjoyed reading in English class, but I realized how much I enjoyed reading all sorts of books of all different genres and time periods.
Freshman year, we read the Alabama classic To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I enjoyed the simplicity of this story. It was easy to read considering the point of view was the young protagonist. The themes of the story were loud, example “you never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view.” The story spotlights systematic racism in a way that most people can understand.
That year we also read the beloved Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. This play is an example of literature never changing. The bones of this story are the same as any romantic film currently produced, and I believe that is the reason why a majority of teenagers liked this story. It was simple, but the plot twist at the ending was quite dividing. I remember some people in my class disliking it, whereas others, myself included, enjoying this turn of events.
In 9th grade, we also read Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. This was most likely one of the first classic literature I read. Steinbeck writes very simply, so this story was perfect for ninth grade students. Though Steinbeck did create major themes in the story, like he does in most of his stories, I simply enjoyed Of Mice and Men for its simple story. And again, it had an interesting plot twist (or would you call it a plot twist considering the story kind of led up to the “big event” per say).
The 10th grade reading curriculum was vastly different from 9th grade. The required reading over the summer was The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. I read this short book in one day and was deeply engrossed in it. I remember highlighting and annotating the book, despite how difficult it was to read the horrendous events Douglass had to endure. It was an eye-opening experience to read them, though, because slavery is often watered down. But this detailed its terribleness from a first person account.
In contrast to Frederick Douglass, I was not a huge fan of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. I really enjoyed the discussions after the novel of its themes of guilt with specific symbols, but I disliked the drawn-out descriptions of detail. Perhaps because we live in such a fast-paced world, I tend to skim a lot of descriptions like that.
Also during sophomore year, my class read (with all individual parts) Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare. I really enjoyed this play, especially because Mrs. Kelly Cimino helped explain all the meanings of it when we couldn’t comprehend the language. I was engaged with the story, considering I read the part for Brutus.
During the summer going into 11th grade (AP English Language), we were required to read F. Scott Fitzgerald’s iconic novel The Great Gatsby. Based on a poll of the senior class, this “roaring twenties” story was the class favorite. Students, even those who despise reading, enjoyed this story and its corresponding movie. I enjoyed examining Fitzgerald’s characterization of the American Dream and descriptive details of an extravagant lifestyle. I have found myself often referring to the story in essays and discussions of literature.
We also read Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. My class seemed to enjoy this story as well. I remember having deep conversations with others about the protagonist Chris McCandless’s mental health and chosen lifestyle choice. It divided many of us: many thought he was far too narcissistic, whereas others believed him to be a man with much dissatisfaction of the modern world. It also opened my eyes to journalist writing like Truman Capote’s exquisitely-written In Cold Blood.
Though I have enjoyed most of these stories, the required reading for AP English Literature has been by far my personal favorite. We have read a very wide variety of authors’ short stories, which I have enjoyed because it broadened my horizon on different authors and their writing styles. My personal favorites were “Life After High School” by Joyce Carol Oates (reminded me so much of the song “Heather” by Conan Gray), “A&P” by John Updike, and “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner.
I read both of the required reading books and thoroughly enjoyed both. The Road by Cormac McCarthy was unlike any other dystopian novel I had ever read before. McCarthy’s simplistic writing and short sentence structure kept the story fast-paced so most all readers stayed engaged. As every good dystopian novel does, it left many questions in my brain: what on earth happened for the world to be like that?
The other required reading for 12th grade was The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway. This was the third novel/novella I had read of Hemingway, and it contrasted so much with them. The symbolism and themes made for a deep, reflective essay. Like many pieces of literature, Hemingway saturated the story with Biblical allusions and symbols that were the focal point for many people’s essays. I tend to gravitate towards simplistic almost folk-tale like stories, and The Old Man and the Sea was definitely that, so that was the main theme of my essay.
The last complete novel we read in Literature was Old School by Tobias Wolff. As a book nerd, I especially liked that writers appeared in this novel and that the boys in the story idolized them and their works—something many aspiring teenage writers do. Also, as someone who enjoys Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Dead Poets Society, and School Ties, the story’s setting and characters captivated me. If everyone really understood the novel, it would’ve revealed a lot about themselves as teenagers.
We also read the play Fences by August Wilson and watched the corresponding, word-for-word film featuring Denzel Washington and Viola Davis. At the end of the play, we wrote a timed writing analyzing it and its themes, which I believe taught me more about it and my opinion on it. We spent a lot of time analyzing the characters and their actions, but as I often do, I found myself self-evaluating myself in the process. It also taught me about a different time in history, which I always enjoy learning more about.
And lastly, we read the play A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams. I read the part of Stella while one of my best friends read the part of Blanche. I enjoyed writing the essay for this book and the discussions of Blanche and Stanley that we had. We watched the movie as we read along with the play which helped us to visualize everything that happened.
Many of these stories, like I formerly mentioned, taught me a lot about myself and about writing. I have, I believe, become a better writer simply by reading these great works of literature. Perhaps I truly loved all the stories we read over the course of my high school career, or perhaps I simply blotted out the ones I disliked. Either way, the themes and communication skills in these required reading books will hopefully translate in my own writing.
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