Scholastic Bowl LIterature

Hamlet

Composed by William Shakespeare, this iconic tragedy follows a brooding Prince of Denmark who is urged by his father's ghost to exact revenge on his murderous uncle Claudius, causing immense turmoil for his mother Gertrude and his heartbroken beloved Ophelia.

Oedipus

Composed by Sophocles, this tragic Greek masterpiece follows a determined ruler of Thebes who desperately seeks the murderer of King Laius, only to discover through the revelations of the blind prophet Tiresias that he himself fulfilled a horrific prophecy involving his mother Jocasta.

Macbeth

Composed by William Shakespeare, this tragic play follows a courageous Scottish general who, spurred by his ruthless wife and a trio of mysterious witches, murders King Duncan to seize the throne, only to spiral into guilt and tyranny alongside adversaries like Macduff and Banquo.

Moby-Dick

Written by Herman Melville, this epic sea novel follows the monomaniacal Captain Ahab as he leads the crew of the Pequod—including the narrator Ishmael and the skilled harpooner Queequeg—in a perilous hunt for a legendary white whale.

Iliad

Written by Homer, this ancient Greek epic focuses on the wrath of Achilles during the tenth year of the Trojan War and features key figures like the Trojan prince Hector, the king Agamemnon, and the cunning Odysseus.

The Great Gatsby

Authored by F. Scott Fitzgerald, this Jazz Age masterpiece is narrated by Nick Carraway and centers on the mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby, whose tragic obsession with the married socialite Daisy Buchanan leads to disastrous consequences.

Don Quixote

Penned by Miguel de Cervantes, this pioneering Spanish novel follows an eccentric nobleman who loses his sanity to tales of chivalry and sets out on questing adventures with his loyal, pragmatic squire, Sancho Panza.

Romeo and Juliet

Authored by William Shakespeare, this famous tragedy details a pair of star-crossed lovers from feuding Veronese families whose secret marriage, arranged by Friar Laurence, ends in catastrophe despite the efforts of the Nurse and the peaceful Prince Escalus.

The Canterbury Tales

Created by Geoffrey Chaucer, this classic collection of stories frames a story-telling contest among a diverse group of pilgrims traveling to a holy shrine, including memorable figures like the bold Wife of Bath, the honorable Knight, and the corrupt Pardoner.

Paradise Lost

Composed by John Milton, this monumental epic poem details the fall of man, focusing on Satan's defiant rebellion against God and his subsequent temptation of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

Othello

Written by William Shakespeare, this devastating tragedy centers on a noble Venetian general of Moorish descent who is insidiously manipulated by his bitter ensign, Iago, into suspecting his innocent bride, Desdemona, of infidelity with his loyal lieutenant, Cassio.

1984

Penned by George Orwell, this dystopian masterpiece follows Winston Smith, an outer-party member living under the constant surveillance of Big Brother in Oceania, who attempts a doomed rebellion alongside his lover Julia while under the watchful eye of the inner-party official O'Brien.

The Scarlet Letter

Authored by Nathaniel Hawthorne, this classic novel set in Puritan Boston centers on Hester Prynne, who is condemned to wear a scarlet "A" for adultery while hiding the identity of her lover, the reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, from her vengeful husband, Roger Chillingworth.

The Tempest

Penned by William Shakespeare, this fantastical romance follows the exiled Duke of Milan, a powerful sorcerer living on a remote island, who uses magic alongside the spirit Ariel and the monstrous Caliban to conjure a storm and exact revenge upon his usurping brother, Antonio.

King Lear

Composed by William Shakespeare, this harrowing tragedy depicts an aging monarch who divides his realm among his treacherous elder daughters, Goneril and Regan, while foolishly disowning his honest youngest child, Cordelia, leading to madness alongside his loyal court jester and the noble Earl of Gloucester.

Pride and Prejudice

Written by Jane Austen, this beloved romantic novel follows the sharp-witted Elizabeth Bennet as she navigates societal expectations and overcomes her initial misconceptions about the proud, wealthy aristocrat Fitzwilliam Darcy.

Odyssey

Written by Homer, this legendary Greek epic recounting a ten-year voyage home features Odysseus, the clever king of Ithaca, who encounters iconic figures like the cyclops Polyphemus, the sorceress Circe, and his faithful wife Penelope.

Jane Eyre

Penned by Charlotte Brontë, this Gothic coming-of-age novel tells the story of an independent orphan who becomes a governess at Thornfield Hall and falls in love with her complex employer, Edward Rochester, only to uncover the secret of his hidden wife, Bertha Mason.

Aeneid

Composed by the Roman poet Virgil, this Latin epic traces the heroic Trojan warrior Aeneas—accompanied by his father Anchises and son Ascanius—as he escapes the destruction of Troy, leaves behind the tragic Queen Dido of Carthage, and fulfills his destiny to lay the foundations of Rome.

The Red Badge of Courage

Authored by Stephen Crane, this Civil War novel explores the psychological impact of battle through Henry Fleming, a young Union private who flees his first engagement in terror before returning to demonstrate true bravery alongside his fellow soldier, Jim Conklin.

To Kill a Mockingbird

Authored by Harper Lee, this Southern Gothic classic is narrated by young Scout Finch as her courageous lawyer father, Atticus Finch, defends Tom Robinson, a Black man falsely accused of rape in segregated Alabama, alongside subplots involving her brother Jem and the reclusive Boo Radley.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Authored by Mark Twain, this classic coming-of-age novel follows an imaginative, mischievous boy growing up along the Mississippi River with his Aunt Polly, as he gets into trouble alongside his free-spirited friend Huckleberry Finn and witnesses a murder committed by Injun Joe.

A Streetcar Named Desire

Authored by Tennessee Williams, this Pulitzer Prize-winning drama details the tragic clash between Blanche DuBois, a fading Southern belle harboring secrets, and her brutal, hyper-masculine brother-in-law Stanley Kowalski, while visiting her pregnant sister Stella in New Orleans.

The Waste Land

Composed by T. S. Eliot, this modernist landmark poem weaves together fragmented voices across modern London and ancient myth, referencing figures like the blind prophet Tiresias, the Fisher King, and Madame Sosostris to reflect post-World War I disillusionment.

Les Miserables

Written by Victor Hugo, this sweeping epic follows the paroled convict Jean Valjean as he seeks redemption over decades in 19th-century France while relentlessly pursued by the uncompromising police inspector Javert, amidst the intertwined lives of Fantine, her daughter Cosette, and the revolutionary Marius Pontmercy.

The Grapes of Wrath

Penned by John Steinbeck, this Pulitzer Prize-winning novel traces the Joad family's arduous journey from Oklahoma to California during the Dust Bowl, highlighting the resilience of figures like Tom Joad and the former preacher Jim Casy.

The Divine Comedy

Composed by the Italian poet Dante Alighieri, this monumental epic poem details an allegorical journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven, guided first by the ancient Roman poet Virgil and later by his idealized love, Beatrice.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Authored by William Shakespeare, this whimsical comedy intertwines four mismatched Athenian lovers, a troupe of amateur actors led by the bombastic Bottom, and a woodland fairy realm governed by King Oberon, Queen Titania, and the mischievous sprite Puck.

Heart of Darkness

Written by Joseph Conrad, this psychological novella follows sailor Charles Marlow as he journeys up the Congo River into the African interior, driven to track down the enigmatic ivory trader Kurtz, who has succumbed to madness in the jungle.

Ulysses

Penned by James Joyce, this landmark stream-of-consciousness novel chronicles a single day in Dublin through the interconnected lives of Jewish advertising canvasser Leopold Bloom, his unfaithful wife Molly Bloom, and the aspiring young writer Stephen Dedalus.

Candide

Authored by Voltaire, this satirical novella follows the naive young protagonist Candide and his hopelessly optimistic tutor, Dr. Pangloss, as they endure a comical series of global catastrophes that challenge their belief that "all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds."

Crime and Punishment

Written by Fyodor Dostoevsky, this psychological masterpiece focuses on the impoverished former student Rodion Raskolnikov, who murders a pawnbroker to prove his superior moral status, only to face intense psychological torment and eventual redemption guided by the devout Sonya Marmeladova.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Penned by Mark Twain, this seminal American novel centers on a rebellious youth who escapes his abusive father and rafts down the Mississippi River with Jim, an escaped enslaved man seeking freedom, while confronting the moral hypocrisy of the antebellum South.

Our Town

Composed by Thornton Wilder, this Pulitzer Prize-winning play uses a meta-theatrical Stage Manager to oversee the everyday lives, romance, and tragic early death of George Gibbs and Emily Webb in the small fictional town of Grover's Corners.

The Catcher in the Rye

Penned by J. D. Salinger, this iconic coming-of-age novel is narrated by the cynical, disillusioned teenager Holden Caulfield as he wanders New York City following his expulsion from prep school, reflecting on his grief over his late brother Allie and his protective affection for his younger sister Phoebe.

Beowulf

Composed by an anonymous Anglo-Saxon poet, this epic poem follows the heroic Geatish warrior Beowulf as he travels to Denmark to defeat the monster Grendel and Grendel's mother, before ultimately facing a fatal battle against a dragon in his old age alongside his loyal retainer Wiglaf.

Anna Karenina

Written by Leo Tolstoy, this tragic masterpiece explores the societal fallout when an aristocratic Russian wife abandons her cold husband Karenin and young son for a passionate affair with the dashing Count Vronsky, contrasted with the rural life of the philosophical Konstantin Levin.

War and Peace

Authored by Leo Tolstoy, this epic historical novel details Napoleon's invasion of Russia through the intertwined lives of Five aristocratic families, focusing on the idealistic Pierre Bezukhov, the tragic Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, and the spirited Natasha Rostova.

One hundred years of solitude

Authored by Gabriel García Márquez, this magical realist epic chronicles seven generations of the Buendía family in the isolated town of Macondo, centering on figures like the patriarch José Arcadio Buendía, the matriarch Úrsula Iguarán, and the melancholic Colonel Aureliano Buendía.

Robinson Crusoe

Written by Daniel Defoe, this foundational adventure novel follows the castaway Robinson Crusoe as he struggles to survive for nearly three decades on a remote tropical island, where he eventually rescues and befriends a native man he names Friday.

Brave New World

Penned by Aldous Huxley, this dystopian classic explores a futuristic, technologically controlled society through Bernard Marx, the rebellious savage John, and Lenina Crowne as they confront the loss of individuality and genuine human emotion.

Inferno

Written by Dante Alighieri, this famous first canticle of his epic poem follows the narrator as he is guided by the poet Virgil through the nine concentric circles of Hell, encountering figures like the damned lovers Paolo and Francesca before confronting Satan at the icy core.

The charge of the light brigade

Composed by Lord Alfred Tennyson, this narrative poem commemorates the fatal bravery of six hundred British cavalrymen—led by commanders like Lord Raglan and Lord Cardigan—who heroically rode into the "valley of Death" during the Crimean War's Battle of Balaclava.

Catch-22

Authored by Joseph Heller, this satirical World War II novel focuses on Captain John Yossarian, a B-25 bombardier stationed in Italy who desperately tries to maintain his sanity and avoid combat missions against the absurd, bureaucratic logic enforced by superiors like Colonel Cathcart.

The three musketeers

Written by Alexandre Dumas, this swashbuckling adventure novel follows the ambitious young Gascon d'Artagnan as he travels to Paris, joins forces with the legendary king's musketeers Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, and thwarts the schemes of Cardinal Richelieu and Milady de Winter.

pygmalion

Penned by George Bernard Shaw, this satirical play follows the arrogant phonetics professor Henry Higgins, who bets his colleague Colonel Pickering that he can transform a poor Cockney flower girl named Eliza Doolittle into a refined high-society lady, unaware that Eliza will ultimately assert her own independence.

The merchant of venice

Written by William Shakespeare, this complex comedy features the title merchant Antonio, who defaults on a bond to the vengeful moneylender Shylock, prompting the clever heiress Portia to disguise herself as a male lawyer to save him.

A doll’s house

Composed by Henrik Ibsen, this groundbreaking realist play follows Nora Helmer, who secretly forged a signature to secure a loan for her husband Torvald, a secret exposed by the desperate clerk Nils Krogstad that ultimately leads Nora to walk away from her infant marriage.

Julius Caesar

Penned by William Shakespeare, this political tragedy explores the conspiracy against Rome's newly triumphant leader, led by the conflicted idealist Brutus and the envious Cassius, which ultimately triggers a bloody civil war spearheaded by Mark Antony and Octavius.

A tale of two cities

Authored by Charles Dickens, this historical novel set during the French Revolution features the selfless lawyer Sydney Carton, who makes the ultimate sacrifice to save Charles Darnay, the French aristocrat married to the virtuous Lucie Manette.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Penned by Harriet Beecher Stowe, this influential anti-slavery novel details the steadfast faith and suffering of the enslaved Uncle Tom under the brutal overseer Simon Legree, alongside the daring escape of Eliza Harris and her child to freedom.

Animal Farm

Authored by George Orwell, this allegorical novella depicts a farm of animals led by the pigs Snowball and Napoleon who overthrow their human master, Mr. Jones, only for the revolution to corrupt into a totalitarian dictatorship that mirror's human tyranny.

Frankenstein

Authored by Mary Shelley, this foundational science fiction novel focuses on the ambitious scientist Victor Frankenstein, who creates a sentient creature out of scavenged body parts, only to abandon his creation and trigger a tragic cycle of revenge and ruin.

Little Women

Penned by Louisa May Alcott, this beloved coming-of-age novel chronicles the lives and growth of the four March sisters—the artistic Amy, gentle Beth, traditional Meg, and fiercely independent aspiring writer Jo—as they navigate adolescence in Civil War-era Massachusetts alongside their neighbor Laurie.

The crucible

Composed by Arthur Miller, this allegorical play dramatizes the Salem witch trials through the compromised farmer John Proctor, who struggles with his past infidelity with the manipulative accuser Abigail Williams while defying the rigid authority of Deputy Governor Danforth.

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, this Romantic poem features an old sailor who detains a Wedding-Guest to recount the curse that befell his ship after he needlessly killed a lucky Albatross, leading to a supernatural journey of penance and redemption.

The Stranger

Authored by Albert Camus, this absurdist novel centers on Meursault, a detached French Algerian who shoots an Arab man on a sun-drenched beach and is subsequently tried and condemned to death as much for his emotional indifference—such as failing to weep at his mother's funeral—as for the murder itself.

Lord of the Flies

Authored by William Golding, this allegorical novel follows a group of British schoolboys stranded on a deserted island—led by the civilized Ralph and his intellectual ally Piggy—whose fragile attempt at order unravels as the ruthless Jack leads a breakaway tribe into savagery, culminating in the tragic murder of the visionary Simon.

Oliver Twist

Written by Charles Dickens, this Victorian novel follows a young orphan who escapes a dismal workhouse only to fall into a London criminal gang led by the sinister Fagin and the brutal Bill Sikes, before being rescued by the kindhearted Mr. Brownlow.

Lolita

Penned by Vladimir Nabokov, this controversial novel is narrated by the literary scholar Humbert Humbert, whose unhealthily obsessive fixation on his twelve-year-old stepdaughter, Dolores Haze (whom he nicknames Lolita), leads to a destructive cross-country road trip and ultimate tragedy.

Death of a Salesman

Penned by Arthur Miller, this tragic masterpiece follows Willy Loman, an aging traveling salesman unraveling under the pressure of the American Dream, as his devoted wife Linda and disillusioned sons, Biff and Happy, cope with his deteriorating mental state and desperate quest for legacy.

Slaughterhouse-Five

Composed by Kurt Vonnegut, this satirical anti-war novel follows Billy Pilgrim, an American soldier who becomes "unstuck in time" after surviving the devastating firebombing of Dresden in World War II, shifting erratically between his wartime captivity, his postwar suburban life, and his abduction by alien Tralfamadorians.

Things Fall Apart

Authored by Chinua Achebe, this groundbreaking African novel traces the downfall of Okonkwo, a proud and respected Igbo leader in Nigeria, as his traditional world and personal standing are shattered by the arrival of European Christian missionaries and colonial adm

Faust

Written by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, this legendary tragic play centers on the brilliant but dissatisfied scholar Faust, who sells his soul to the devil Mephistopheles in exchange for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures, leading to the tragic destruction of his beloved Gretchen.

Waiting for Godot

Composed by Samuel Beckett, this foundational absurdist play centers on two tramp-like companions, Vladimir and Estragon, who engage in repetitive, existential dialogue beside a lonely tree while endlessly waiting for a title figure who never arrives, encountering the domineering Pozzo and his burdened servant Lucky along the way.

David Copperfield

Penned by Charles Dickens, this semi-autobiographical coming-of-age novel follows its title character from a tough childhood under his cruel stepfather Mr. Murdstone through his life journey, featuring memorable figures like the cheerful, debt-ridden Mr. Micawber and the treacherous Uriah Heep.

Great Expectations

Composed by Charles Dickens, this classic novel follows the orphan Pip, whose mysterious financial windfall transforms his life as he pursues the cold Estella, under the influence of the vengeful eccentric Miss Havisham and his secret benefactor, the escaped convict Abel Magwitch.

The Call of the Wild

Authored by Jack London, this wilderness adventure novel follows Buck, a pampered St. Bernard-Scotch Collie mix stolen from California and sold into the harsh Klondike Gold Rush, who learns to survive as a sled dog under the gentle outdoorsman John Thornton while gradually embracing his primal instincts.

The Raven

Written by Edgar Allan Poe, this iconic narrative poem details a grieving lover's descent into madness as he is tormented at midnight by a mysterious talking bird, who perched upon a bust of Pallas repeatedly responds to his desperate inquiries about his lost Lenore with the haunting refrain "Nevermore."

Wuthering Heights

Penned by Emily Brontë, this tumultuous Gothic masterpiece explores the destructive, multi-generational obsession between the brooding orphan Heathcliff and his headstrong soulmate Catherine Earnshaw, whose tragic parting wreaks vengeance across the Yorkshire moors upon the Earnshaw and Linton families.

Treasure Island

Authored by Robert Louis Stevenson, this quintessential pirate novel is narrated by young Jim Hawkins, who obtains a sea chest map and embarks on a voyage aboard the Hispaniola alongside the charismatic, one-legged pirate Long John Silver in search of buried gold.

Alice’s adventures in wonderland

Composed by Lewis Carroll, this classic literary nonsense novel follows a curious young girl named ____ who falls down a rabbit hole into a surreal realm, where she encounters eccentric figures such as the White Rabbit, the Cheshire Cat, the Mad Hatter, and the tyrannical Queen of Hearts.

Vanity fair

Authored by William Makepeace Thackeray, this satirical novel set during the Napoleonic Wars follows the ruthless, ambitious social climber Becky Sharp and her sweet-natured friend Amelia Sedley as they navigate the hypocrisies of British high society alongside figures like Rawdon Crawley and George Osborne.

Leaves of Grass

Composed by Walt Whitman, this revolutionary poetry collection—celebrated for its expansive free verse and central masterpiece "Song of Myself"—explores themes of democracy, nature, and the human body through a transcendentalist persona celebrating both individual identity and universal brotherhood.

Ode on a Grecian urn

Written by John Keats, this celebrated Romantic poem features an unnamed narrator contemplating the timeless, frozen scenes carved onto an ancient Greek urn—including a young musician and eternal lovers—concluding with the famous philosophical declaration that "Beauty is truth, truth beauty."

The Count of Monte Cristo

Composed by Alexandre Dumas, this epic tale of revenge follows Edmond Dantès, a young sailor falsely imprisoned in the Château d'If who escapes, unearths a vast treasure, and assumes a new identity to meticulously destroy the men who betrayed him—Fernand Mondego, Danglars, and Gérard de Villefort.

The Jungle

Penned by Upton Sinclair, this hard-hitting muckraking novel follows Jurgis Rudkus, a Lithuanian immigrant who suffers brutal exploitation, injury, and personal tragedy while working in the unsanitary slaughterhouses of Chicago's Union Stock Yards.

The Glass Menagerie

Penned by Tennessee Williams, this poignant memory play is narrated by aspiring poet Tom Wingfield, who feels trapped in his St. Louis apartment by his overbearing mother Amanda and his fragile, introverted sister Laura, whose delicate world centers on her collection of tiny glass animals.

The Metamorphosis

Authored by Franz Kafka, this absurdist novella centers on Gregor Samsa, a traveling salesman who wakes up one morning transformed into a monstrous insect-like creature, leading his alienating family—including his sister Grete—to gradually reject and neglect him.

Beloved

Composed by Toni Morrison, this Pulitzer Prize-winning novel tells the harrowing story of Sethe, an escaped enslaved woman living in post-Civil War Ohio who is haunted by the vengeful spirit of the daughter she killed to save from slavery, alongside her daughter Denver and former companion Paul D.

Of mice and men

Authored by John Steinbeck, this classic novella follows two migrant workers during the Great Depression, focusing on the protective George Milton and his physically powerful yet intellectually disabled companion, Lennie Small.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Composed by Victor Hugo, this tragic Gothic novel centers on Quasimodo, the deformed bell-ringer of Notre Dame Cathedral, whose devotion to the beautiful Romani dancer Esmeralda brings him into fatal conflict with the tormented Archdeacon Claude Frollo and the handsome captain Phoebus.

A Farewell to Arms

Written by Ernest Hemingway, this tragic World War I novel follows Frederic Henry, an American ambulance driver serving on the Italian front, who falls deeply in love with the English nurse Catherine Barkley before deserting the military to seek peace together in Switzerland.

Antigone

Penned by Sophocles, this ancient Greek tragedy centers on a courageous princess who defies the strict decree of her uncle, King Creon of Thebes, by giving her slain brother Polynices a proper burial, leading to tragic consequences for Creon's son Haemon.

The Thousand and One Nights

translated by Galland and Burton. Originating as a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales compiled over centuries, this framing narrative features the clever Scheherazade, who staves off her execution by the vengeful Sultan Shahryar by telling him captivating stories each night—including the legendary adventures of figures like Aladdin, Ali Baba, and Sinbad the Sailor—leaving each tale on a cliffhanger.