Best piece of literature you were forced to read in high school?

Lord of the Flies and Fallen Angels. The first one because it was more like an actual reading book, and the second one just because i loved the characters to death. The cussing only made it funnier.

 

A story called "Simple Story" by a jewish writer named "Shay Agnon" he won some well respected prizes over this piece and I myself enjoyed it.
I allso enjoyed the way my teacher talked about it and read it, she really loves that writer.

 

1984 and "Do androids Dream of Electric Sheep." Two stories that changed my perspective of literature

 

Unsurprisingly, the most enjoyable piece of literature that was included within my course study of English, was The Tell Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe. A magnificent piece that still rings with sincerity to this day. It is a shame that he is not a mainstay within high school education here in Australia, being a master of the English language.

 

I'm glad you added that you meant favorite ha ha. my favorite has to be George Orwell's 1984 I know I didn't read it until after I graduated, but it was a on a list of books we could choose from for book reports and my friend beat me to it. I am thoroughly enjoying it now. I also really enjoyed Frankenstein by Mary Shelly. I enjoyed Shakespeare's plays as well as Homer's The Illiad and The Oddysey, both of which we only read in part.

I absolutely HATED Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness and yet I respect it because of its themes. It is a decent book. And I had to go through it 3 times before it all really clicked...

 

The Grapes of Wrath, King Lear, and Native Son are the ones that have stuck with me the most.

Worst thing to read: Romeo and Juliet. Not my idea of romantic at all. How can you be in love after just seeing each other a couple of times? That's lust, not love!

 

It's the equivalent of today's teen romance.

 

I was the odd one out in school because all the books that others considered as 'forced' material I had previously devoured for enjoyment ex: Catcher in the rye, Of mice and Men, To Kill a Mockingbird, Shakespeare, Yeats and the entire Jane Austen collection were among my favorites even though I never considered them to be forced on me as I seek them out before entering the classroom

 

Piggy's brain matter on the rocks has been forever burned into my brain.

 

OMG! I forgot about that (probably on purpose). That was just the saddest thing!

 

"To Kill A Mockingbird" was probably the best piece of literature we read in school. I thought the topics that the novel highlighted were done masterfully. Scout's viewpoint was also brilliant; a great character.

However, my favourite novel from school days would still have to be "The Woman In White" by Wilkie Collins. It is just a brilliant mystery novel. I was fully expected to be bored whilst reading this, but the story drew me in from the first chapter. I couldn't put it down. And despite it being written in 1859, it was not hard to understand the different style of writing.

 

Wow... that's a tough one to narrow down. I could go for a top three, probably.
The Girl Who Owned A City, Fahrenheit 451, and The Martian Chronicles (although it's tied really closely with A Sound Of Thunder).
I suppose I'm a bit of a Bradbury fan, haha. But The Girl Who Owned A City was really a good story and it's stuck with me.

 

A Midsummer Night's Dream by Shakespeare.

 

No one else read Catch-22 for school and liked it?! I did enjoy some of the others mentioned here as well as some not mentioned, but that was by far my favorite. What's strange is that's not even the type of book I generally like. I've been meaning to read it again lately.

 

My visit to the library today found them celebrating the American Library Association's banned book week. Lord of the Flies as well as a couple others mentioned in the thread were among the books that had been banned in the past.

 

Oh yeah! I loved Lord of the Flies! I also enjoyed The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck.
I think my favorite book in college, so far, is between Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë and Thérèse Raquin by Émile Zola >_<

 

Catch-22 is one of my favorite books. We didn't read it in high school, however. I read it on my own when I was in college.

 

Poem - Beowulf translated by Seamus Heaney
Short Story - Plato's allegory of the cave.
Novella - The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
Novel - 1984 by George Orwell
Play - Hamlet (Best film version is Hamlet directed by Kenneth Branagh)
I can't recall reading any essays, though I'm sure I did.

 

Your tastes are very similar to those of @Lemex. I'm sure he'll appreciate your choices. I've been meaning to read the Heaney translation of Beowulf but never got around to it. Hopefully I'll get a chance to read it soon.

Are you talking about Plato's The Republic (which is not a short story)? Or is there an actual short story about Plato's cave? If so, I want to read it!

 

When the Legends Die
"A young Native American walks between the lonesome forest where he was raised and the complicated modern world he must navigate to survive. Thomas Black Bull’s parents forsook the life of a modern reservation and took to ancient paths in the woods, teaching their young son the stories and customs of his ancestors. But Tom’s life changes forever when he loses his father in a tragic accident and his mother dies shortly afterward. When Tom is discovered alone in the forest with only a bear cub as a companion, life becomes difficult. Soon, well-meaning teachers endeavor to reform him, a rodeo attempts to turn him into an act, and nearly everyone he meets tries to take control of his life. Powerful and timeless, When the Legends Die is a captivating story of one boy learning to live in harmony with both civilization and wilderness." [Amazon.com]

 

If you like Beowulf read Grendel by John Gardner.
I believe it is a section of the Republic. When I read it, our teacher only gave us a print out of it. For the life of me I can't recall any other short stories we read. However, I would change my Novella to The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, I had forgotten that was an assigned reading in school.

 

@thirdwind was right. You, @Gilborn, have fine taste.

 

Thank you, but I can't take the credit really.
My English teacher was working on her PhD my Junior and Senior year of high school, so she decided to have us read many of the same works she was having to read as preparation. I'm sad to say that it was better class than many of the English courses I took in college.

 

I'm reading Mary Shelley's Frankenstein at the moment for my AP Literature and Composition class. While I haven't finished it yet I do have to say that i really enjoy the language and the fact that she wrote it when she was relatively my age is amazing in itself.

As for a book I finished it would be Enders Game as other previous posters had said. Read it as a freshman and have to say that it wasn't at all what I was expecting it to be. A rather good thing.

 

I think my freshman year the only full novel that was assigned was A Separate Peace by John Knowles. While its was a interesting read from a teenage angst perspective, overall it wasn't very good. However, we did spend more than a six weeks on Romeo and Juliet, because that's his play that deserves the most focus. Putting it in perspective our teacher had us 'read' Julius Caesar for the last six weeks and then spend the rest of the time watching the series Rome from HBO. I would say the most I took away from my freshman English class was the love for Rome the show. Other than that, complete waste of time. Good for your school not washing down your education!