Regardless of your goals for college or your ideas on a major, your first year or two is going to be spent taking “general education” courses. This means, whether you’re a math major or a philosophy major, you’re probably going to have to take a literature class, a writing/composition class. Regardless of your major, what you learn in these classes is going to pertain to the rest of your college career and the rest of your life. Reading and writing skills are applicable to almost every career out there.
In order to prepare you for these courses, you are generally required to take 4 years of English/Language Arts in High School. Likely, these classes focus on grammar, literature and scholarly writing. Though these things seem useless to a future chemistry major, the lessons you learn in these classes will be applied throughout your schooling and throughout your career.
The following books are the top ten books to read to prepare you for the new learning processes and writing choices many of your college classes will ask you to make. Some texts, you may have already read in high school. Some, you may read in your coursework in college. All are different and from different eras and writers, but all share one common thread: an important lesson, ideology or foundation that will help you in your college career.
1. Hamlet, William Shakespeare: Though technically a play, you’ll probably read Hamlet in high school. It is absolutely imperative to be familiar with Shakespeare’s works as you enter your college coursework. Not to say you must understand every word of every Shakespearian play, merely to say know a few plays, what they’re about, and why they are timeless classics. With Hamlet, you have the classic Shakespearean tragedy. Hamlet’s battle with his own demons poised against the dramatic events happening around him make it the best choice for Shakespeare. If you’re reading it on your own, consult your teacher or someone knowledgeable in the area for help with difficult areas.
2. Oedipus The King, Sophocles: Another play, also in the classic tragedy vein. However, in Oedipus Rex (part of the Oedipus trilogy) the breaking point of each character is in a different vein. By reading Oedipus, you will make yourself familiar with the background behind the psychological terms you will undoubtedly be taught in college. Another you will probably read in high school, but if you are not taught it, again seek help from those with some background in the area with any confusion or questions.
3. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte: One of the reasons Jane Eyre is such an important read before you go into college, is because of its connections with feminism. Although in today’s society Bronte’s ideas on women finding some independence seem tame, in her day they were completely outside the norm. By making this connection to the historical context of the novel, you can begin to learn to use knowledge across disciplines. Interdisciplinary approaches are very popular, especially in liberal arts schools. By taking the time to read a book that expands your horizons beyond just literature, you will begin to prepare you mind for a new approach to learning and applying what you’ve learned.
4. Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston: Hurston’s book is all about a journey-the journey of the main character. While many books you may read in high school are about a character taking a journey, in Their Eyes Were Watching God our character is taking a physical and personal journey. By contrasting the two in the text, you are reinforcing your analytical skills. These skills will be used in every discipline. In fact, the better your analytical skills, the better you will be at studying. Hurston’s novel also offers a unique point of view that was not used very often when she wrote the book-the point of view of a black woman.
5. Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad: You will likely read this in high school, but it is an important read. In the novel, the human psyche is delved into by taking a fictional voyage. The reader is asked to take a look at the human condition and face the uncomfortable actions of one man. The book also asks the reader to put themselves into the story, and trying to decide what they would do in a dire situation. Heart of Darkness offers a glimpse at tough introspection, which you will be expected to do in college.
6. My Antonia, Willa Cather: This novel is a prime example of the realism and naturalism movement in literature. Cather’s book is important because it gives an account of a realistic view at the Midwest pioneer daily life. Contrasted with the idealist image taught in elementary school and presented in many movies, Cather provides a bleakness that is in direct antithesis to the excitement of the “pioneer spirit.” This will help readers learn to discern the reliability of an ideal versus a factual account.
7. One Writer’s Beginnings, Eudora Welty: This non-fiction memoir is a behind the scene look at how Eudora Welty grew up and subsequently became an important writer. Looking at a writer’s life in a first hand account is an invaluable resource to see how their lives shaped their writing. Often, in college you will be asked to analyze a piece of work (fiction, non-fiction, scholarly) from the vantage point of the author: what biases does the author have, what reasons for writing a particular way. One Writer’s Beginnings will help start that journey to looking at a text from a whole-picture standpoint.
8. Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck: This novel is a long one, and not by any means an easy read. However, it’s length is an important part of reading this book. The amount of reading you do in college will be much more than you did in high school. By working through a long text you will begin to develop strategies on how best to deal with a long text in order to get the most information. This will be an invaluable tool in college. Grapes of Wrath also deals in important literary devices like allusions and extended metaphors. The “inner chapters” offer a metaphorical look at the straightforward story told throughout the other chapters. This broken down style will help ease you as a student into more complex texts.
9. Small Wonders, Barbara Kingsolver: This collection of essays is the perfect glimpse into a completely different style of writing: creative nonfiction. Reading and studying a different style of writing will broaden your own writing. This is important to grasp before you head off to college because, except in small cases, you will be asked to delve beyond the typical high school five paragraph essay used in high school. You will be held more accountable for the style and purpose of your writing. By reading a type of essay that goes beyond the five-paragraph style, you can begin to think about the new style you will develop in college.
10. The Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams: Another play, The Glass Menagerie delves into themes of loneliness, disillusionment and memory. Rich in symbolism, Williams’ play offers a look into the human condition. By analyzing the four characters your perception is developed-not just in reading fiction, but in reading people as you must do in psychology and everyday life. Disillusionment is a theme that runs through a great course of American literature and is important to explore before moving on to college where this theme will be applicable in literature and history courses.
For a wide variety of reasons these ten texts will help broaden your mind and views. As you prepare for college, these texts will begin the process into new ways of thinking, learning and processing, making them invaluable reads
