What is Classic Literature? classic  A widely read work recognized as outstanding in its field. Such a work remains in print long after initial publication; is translated, adapted, and issued in multiple editions; and continues to be the subject of criticism, commentary, study, and analysis (example: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain).workfieldin printpublication translatedadapted issueeditionsubject criticismcommentary (from the Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science)

101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers (from CollegeBoard.com) --Beowulf Achebe, Chinua Things Fall Apart Agee, James A Death in the Family Austen, Jane Pride and Prejudice Baldwin, JamesGo Tell It on the Mountain Beckett, SamuelWaiting for Godot Bellow, SaulThe Adventures of Augie March Brontë, CharlotteJane Eyre Brontë, EmilyWuthering Heights

Camus, AlbertThe Stranger Cather, WillaDeathComes for the Archbishop Chaucer, GeoffreyThe Canterbury Tales Chekhov, AntonThe Cherry Orchard Chopin, KateThe Awakening Conrad, JosephHeart of Darkness Cooper, James Fenimore The Last of the Mohicans Crane, StephenThe Red Badge of Courage

DanteInferno de Cervantes, MiguelDon Quixote Defoe, DanielRobinson Crusoe Dickens, CharlesA Tale of Two Cities Dostoyevsky, FyodorCrime and Punishment Douglass, FrederickNarrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Dreiser, TheodoreAn American Tragedy Dumas, AlexandreThe Three Musketeers Eliot, GeorgeThe Mill on the Floss Ellison, RalphInvisible Man Emerson, Ralph WaldoSelected Essays

Faulkner, WilliamAs I Lay Dying Faulkner, WilliamThe Sound and the Fury Fielding, HenryTom Jones Fitzgerald, F. ScottThe Great Gatsby Flaubert, GustaveMadame Bovary Ford, Ford MadoxThe Good Soldier Goethe, Johann Wolfgang vonFaust Golding, WilliamLord of the Flies

Hardy, ThomasTess of the d'Urbervilles Hawthorne, NathanielThe Scarlet Letter Heller, JosephCatch 22 Hemingway, ErnestA Farewell to Arms HomerThe Iliad HomerThe Odyssey Hugo, VictorThe Hunchback of Notre Dame Hurston, Zora NealeTheir Eyes Were Watching God Huxley, AldousBrave New World

Ibsen, HenrikA Doll's House James, HenryThe Portrait of a Lady James, HenryThe Turn of the Screw Joyce, JamesA Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man Kafka, FranzThe Metamorphosis Kingston, Maxine HongThe Woman Warrior Lee, HarperTo Kill a Mockingbird Lewis, SinclairBabbitt London, JackThe Call of the Wild

Mann, ThomasThe Magic Mountain Marquez, Gabriel GarcíaOne Hundred Years of Solitude Melville, HermanBartleby the Scrivener Melville, HermanMoby Dick Miller, ArthurThe Crucible Morrison, ToniBeloved O'Connor, FlanneryA Good Man is Hard to Find O'Neill, EugeneLong Day's Journey into Night Orwell, GeorgeAnimal Farm

Pasternak, BorisDoctor Zhivago Plath, SylviaThe Bell Jar Poe, Edgar AllanSelected Tales Proust, MarcelSwann's Way Pynchon, ThomasThe Crying of Lot 49 Remarque, Erich MariaAll Quiet on the Western Front Rostand, EdmondCyrano de Bergerac Roth, HenryCall It Sleep

Salinger, J.D.The Catcher in the Rye Shakespeare, WilliamHamlet Shakespeare, WilliamMacbeth Shakespeare, WilliamA Midsummer Night's Dream Shakespeare, WilliamRomeo and Juliet Shaw, George BernardPygmalion Shelley, MaryFrankenstein Silko, Leslie MarmonCeremony Solzhenitsyn, AlexanderOne Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

SophoclesAntigone SophoclesOedipus Rex Steinbeck, JohnThe Grapes of Wrath Stevenson, Robert LouisTreasure Island Stowe, Harriet BeecherUncle Tom's Cabin Swift, JonathanGulliver's Travels Thackeray, WilliamVanity Fair Thoreau, Henry DavidWalden Tolstoy, LeoWar and Peace Turgenev, IvanFathers and Sons Twain, MarkThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

VoltaireCandide Vonnegut, Kurt Jr.Slaughterhouse-Five Walker, AliceThe Color Purple Wharton, EdithThe House of Mirth Welty, EudoraCollected Stories Whitman, WaltLeaves of Grass Wilde, OscarThe Picture of Dorian Gray Williams, TennesseeThe Glass Menagerie Woolf, VirginiaTo the Lighthouse Wright, RichardNative Son

Why is reading important? Broaden Your Intellectual Horizons Explore the world from a variety of perspectives, most importantly your own. Study subjects in greater depth and detail. Assume the responsibility of reasoning, analyzing, and understanding for yourself.

Where can I find reviews, synopses, e-books, etc.? One very good source is the Alabama Virtual Library. Literature Resources from Gale offers biographies, literature criticism, multimedia, primary sources and literary works, reviews and news, and topic and work overviews. Let’s look at Literature Resources. l_ludc&authCount=1

Where can I find online e-books? SIRS Knowledge Source is a fantastic place to find links to e-books and other information about literary classics. Open SIRS Knowledge Source and choose SIRS Renaissance. Then, choose Literary Corner.

How do I prepare for the AP Exam? Read, read, read Analyze what you read Write analytically Think outside the box Work within time frames Take as many practice tests as possible