Classics

[CRNDLSM]

When I was in school in the 90s, there were classics I kinda had to read.  Earliest examples probably from the 60s maybe catcher in the rye or catch 22.  It's been 30 years since the 90s, are there new 'classics'?

[dukealien]

When I was in school in the 90s, there were classics I kinda had to read.  Earliest examples probably from the 60s maybe catcher in the rye or catch 22.  It's been 30 years since the 90s, are there new 'classics'?

Probably so (shudder).  In my day it was Macbeth (bowdlerized - the Porter's soliloquy cut, but our naughty English teacher let us hear a recording which included it), Julius Caesar, Pride and Prejudice, A Tale of Two Cities (missed David Copperfield, mercifully).  Not much poetry.  Today it's probably Gaea and BLM every day...

[TranquillityBase]

When I was in school in the 90s, there were classics I kinda had to read.  Earliest examples probably from the 60s maybe catcher in the rye or catch 22.  It's been 30 years since the 90s, are there new 'classics'?

Lots of lists if you Google something like "typical books read in high school english classes" but every school district probably has its own list and most of the lists you find are what people think students "should" read.

Shakespeare is still there, but as Duke said, no other poetry.  Catcher in the Rye still shows up, along with things like 1984, Fahrenheit 451, To Kill a Mockingbird, Slaughterhouse-Five, The Great Gatsby, The Scarlet Letter, Moby Dick......the lists go on and on.

This is a list by a Long Beach middle school teacher I found when I asked the question on Quora:

9th grade: To Kill a Mockingbird, The Lord of the Flies, The Call of the Wild, Jane Eyre, The Catcher in the Rye, The Fault in Our Stars, Romeo & Juliet
10th grade: Things Fall Apart, The Great Gatsby, The Count of Monte Cristo, Hamlet, Great Expectations, The Alchemist, Dracula, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, The Hobbit, The Scarlet Letter, Treasure Island, Frankenstein, The Time Machine, The Invisible Man, All the Light We Cannot See, King Lear, Blindness
11th grade: The Federalist Papers, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Ethan Frome, The Jungle, Walden and “Civil Disobedience,” Black Like Me, I am Malala, A Separate Peace, The Crucible, Dubliners, The Grapes of Wrath, A Tale of Two Cities, The Devil in the Write City, Heart of Darkness and the Secret Sharer, The Red Badge of Courage, The Glass Castle (Walls), Of Mice and Men
12th Grade: (Depends on the course): Shane, Forrest Gump, Angela’s Ashes, The Kite Runner, Beloved, The Joy Luck Club, The House on Mango Street, Like Water for Chocolate, Life of Pi, The Hate U Give, 1984, Flowers for Algernon, Fahrenheit 451, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee
The school district and each school determines which books will be read.

[busker]

Surely all of JK Rowling's works should be prescribed reading at school. Even her first HP book is better than Treasure Island.
Why would you prescribe reading material about rape (TKAM) and mass murder (TLOTF) in the 9th grade?
Even the Kite Runner, with its sordid descriptions of sodomy and rape, is completely unnecessary.
If the students have that much time on their hands, let them read 'On the origin of species'

[CRNDLSM]

I put the years of publication up, thank you tranquilitybase for the list.  There are a few after 2000 they look mostly biographical.  I remember life of pi becoming required reading after I graduated


To Kill a Mockingbird, 1960
The Lord of the Flies, 1954
The Call of the Wild, 1903
Jane Eyre, 1847
The Catcher in the Rye, 1951
The Fault in Our Stars, 2012
Romeo & Juliet 1597

10th grade: 
Things Fall Apart, 1958
The Great Gatsby,  1925
The Count of Monte Cristo, 1846
Hamlet, 1600
Great Expectations, 1860
The Alchemist, 1988
Dracula, 1897
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, 1861
The Hobbit, 1937
The Scarlet Letter, 1850
Treasure Island, 1883
Frankenstein, 1818
The Time Machine, 1895
The Invisible Man, 1952
All the Light We Cannot See, 2014
King Lear, 1608
Blindness 1995

11th grade: 
The Federalist Papers, 1788
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, 1820
Uncle Tom’s Cabin, 1852
Ethan Frome, 1911
The Jungle, 1905
Walden and “Civil Disobedience,” 1854
Black Like Me, 1961
I am Malala, 2013
A Separate Peace, 1959
The Crucible, 1953
Dubliners, 1914
The Grapes of Wrath,1939
A Tale of Two Cities, 1859
The Devil in the Write City, 2003
Heart of Darkness and the Secret Sharer, 1899
The Red Badge of Courage, 1895
The Glass Castle (Walls), 2006
Of Mice and Men 1937

12th Grade: (Depends on the course): 

Shane, 1946
Forrest Gump, 1986
Angela’s Ashes, 1996
The Kite Runner, 2003
Beloved, 1987
The Joy Luck Club, 1989
The House on Mango Street, 1983
Like Water for Chocolate, 1989
Life of Pi, 2001
The Hate U Give, 2017
1984, 1949
Flowers for Algernon, 1959
Fahrenheit 451, 1953
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, 1962
Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee 1970