Classic Books That You NEED to Read for Any English Class

For any teenager, English class can be a staple of the high school experience, fostering meaningful discussion, dialogue, and discourse between peers. Discussing classic novels like the ones below can help to gain new insights into a book's meaning and why it was written. Below is a list of classic novels any high schooler should read before college or entering the workforce.

1) To Kill a Mockingbird

Author: Harper Lee

Publication Year: 1960

Description: To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, is a seminal novel set in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama. This novel is told through the eyes of a young Scout Finch as her father, Atticus, defends a black man named Tom Robinson, who was falsely accused of [censored] a white woman. The TKM story is loosely based on Lee's own experiences, especially through Scout's journey investigating the reclusive Boo Radley with her brother, Jem, and his friend, Dill. To Kill a Mockingbird exudes themes of racial injustice, prejudice, loss of innocence, and empathy.

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2) Lord of the Flies

Author: William Golding

Publication Year: 1954

Description: Lord of the Flies is an allegorical novel that follows a group of British schoolboys who find themselves stranded on a deserted island after a plane crash. They elect Ralph as their leader to maintain order and lead the effort to build a signal fire for rescue, but their fragile 'society' descends into savagery as they attempt to govern themselves. The novel comments on themes of human nature, innate savagery, loss of innocence, and breakdown of order.

3) Brave New World

Author: Aldous Huxley

Publication Year: 1932

Description: Brave New World is a classic dystopian fiction novel that depicts a futuristic world where citizens are genetically engineered before conception, socially conditioned, and pharmaceutically drugged to ensure conformity and suppression of dissent against the central government. The story follows characters Bernard Marx, Lenina Crowne, and John the 'Savage,' who is an outsider raised on a reservation that refuses to conform to the rules of the World State. Humans are put into a strict hierarchy and indoctrinated through sleep conditioning.

And, to maintain this 'brainwashing,' they take a drug called 'Soma.' Bernard questions this society which ultimately leads to him finding John and attempting to dissent against the world state. The novel follows themes of freedom, sacrifice, human connection, individuality, and truth.

4) Frankenstein

Author: Mary Shelley

Publication Year: 1818

Description: Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, is a gothic novel that follows Victor Frankenstein, a scientist who creates a sentient creature from spare body parts, only to abandon it in horror. The Monster ends up alone, yet he observes human civilization and begins to develop human feelings or the 'human condition.' The Monster still has savage instincts and murders many close to Victor, leading to his ultimate demise and a tragic cycle of life and death.

5) Things Fall Apart

Author: Chinua Achebe

Publication Year: 1958

Description: Things Fall Apart, a novel rooted deeply in the colonization of Africa, chronicles the rise and fall of Okonkwo, an Igbo warrior in late 19th century Nigeria. His obsession with masculinity and rejection of weakness leads readers to question their societal norms. However, missionaries make their way to their village, Umuofia, leading to a brutal crackdown and ultimate manslaughter. The novel encompasses themes of societal structures, masculinity, cultural imperialism and subjugation, and fate vs free will.