The “Other” Classics: Changing the High School Reading Program

My sophomore year, our English teacher, Mr. Tabor, assigned John Steinbeck’s East of Eden. This intimidating, 600-page tome wound up being a game-changer in my life as a reader. All the other English classes that year were reading The Grapes of Wrath, a classic in its own right, but Mr. Tabor essentially told us that in Steinbeck’s arsenal, this was the superior work. I’ve read both, and he was right. What sticks with me to this day is the fact that this particular teacher was brave enough to go outside the curriculum and give us the opportunity to read a writer’s lesser-known, but artistically superior, work. I have since read East of Eden a few more times, and its impact never lessens. I can’t pinpoint exactly what it was but in this novel, I read a family saga that somehow resonated. It’s not that the story mirrored my young life (which it didn’t), but rather that it was so richly written that once I got into it, I couldn’t get out, nor did I want to. To this day, I am grateful to Mr. Tabor for introducing me to this book well before Oprah made it one of her book picks and suddenly everybody couldn’t wait to read it.

To me, Mr. Tabor represents a vanishing entity in today’s schools: an educator willing to take a risk and expose his students to a masterpiece that is not typical of a high school English class reading list. That same year, we read Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury, not the usual Fahrenheit 451, and it provided an entirely different introduction to Bradbury’s work. I need to point out here that I’m not advocating omitting “classics” from our English classes, but rather being willing to broaden the lists of acceptable books. If we’re going to have students read The Old Man and the Sea, for instance, why not also let them try Hemingway’s short stories which, in my opinion, outstrip his classic English class fodder in style, depth, and artistry. If students are going to read Orwell’s 1984, why not Down and Out in Paris and London as well? Whether this would mean a restructuring of class curricula or simply adding some new titles, offering more choices, and rearranging things is not for me to decide or predict. But I can say confidently that from personal experience, I strongly advocate broadening our English class reading choices. I am always thrilled when one of my students tells me he’s reading Into the Wild or Bartleby the Scrivener in English class, for it’s affirmation that current events writing by popular writers (John Krakauer) is ok, as are shorter works by famous writers (Herman Melville.) It serves to provide a broader view of an often myopic aspect of the high school experience.

The following are some suggested readings by classic “English class authors.” My goal is to offer some perhaps lesser-known, but maybe more interesting choices, by the writers we’ve deemed worthy of having a perennial place on our English class reading lists. Please note that this is only a partial list and only my personal suggestions, however I truly believe that a concerted effort to broaden reading choices could yield more interest in reading and foster better readers.

George Orwell:
Typical English class books: 1984, Animal Farm
Suggested readings: Down and Out in Paris and London, Why I Write, Keep the Aspidistra Flying

John Steinbeck:
Typical: The Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men, The Pearl
Suggested: East of Eden, Cannery Row, The Winter of Our Discontent, The Red Pony, Travels with Charley

Scott Fitzgerald:
Typical: The Great Gatsby
Suggested: This Side of Paradise, The Beautiful and the Damned

Ernest Hemingway:
Typical: The Old Man and the Sea, A Farewell to Arms
Suggested: The Nick Adams Stories, Collected Short Stories

Charles Dickens:
Typical: Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities
Suggested: Hard Times, Selected Short Stories

Ray Bradbury:
Typical: Fahrenheit 451
Suggested: Dandelion Wine, The Illustrated Man, The Martian Chronicles

Arthur Miller:
Typical: Death of a Salesman, The Crucible
Suggested: A View from the Bridge, After the Fall

Thomas Hardy:
Typical: Tess of the d’Urbervilles
Suggested: Jude the Obscure, Selected Poems

Written by Phil Lane