A Latin epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans.

A short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1843. It is related by an unnamed narrator who endeavors to convince the reader of the narrator's sanity while simultaneously describing a murder the narrator committed.

One of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It follows the Greek hero Odysseus, king of Ithaca, and his journey home after the Trojan War.

An epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton. Narrates the story of the Garden of Eden through Satan’s perspective.

This pioneering work of science fiction and Gothic horror written by Mary Shelly developed an indelible 'monster' of a theme that has endured for centuries: of the scientist as a “modern Prometheus”.

An epic poem from ancient Mesopotamia, regarded as the earliest surviving notable literature and the second oldest religious text, after the Pyramid Texts.

A short story by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in November 1846.The story, set in an unnamed Italian city at carnival time in an unspecified year, is about a man taking fatal revenge on a friend who, he believes, has insulted him.

“...Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”

A collection of 24 stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. Recounts the stories told by 12 people traveling together on a pilgrimage.

A 1925 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, the novel depicts narrator Nick Carraway's interactions with mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby and Gatsby's obsession to reunite with his former lover, Daisy Buchanan.

A Spanish novel, originally published as two books, by Miguel de Cervantes that details the adventures of an old nobleman who has deluded himself into believing he is a knight.

A 1970 short story written by Richard Matheson and turned into a Twilight Zone episode. The protagonist is given a box with a button by a salesman who says if she presses it someone she doesn't know will die, and she will receive $200,000.

“How does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore
And a Scotsman, dropped in the middle of a forgotten spot
In the Caribbean by providence impoverished
In squalor, grow up to be a hero and a scholar?”

This canonical novel was based in part on Joseph Conrad’s experiences as a steamboat captain in the Congo in 1890.

A French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. It follows an escaped convict’s journey of redemption through life in an economically struggling, revolutionary France.

An Athenian tragedy by Sophocles that was first performed around 429 BC.Throughout this mythic story of patricide and incest, Sophocles emphasizes the irony of a man determined to track down, expose, and punish an assassin, who turns out to be himself.

A frequently anthologized short story written by Joyce Carol Oates in 1966 that depicts the kidnapping of a young American girl named Connie.

“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,...”

“Mark but this flea, and mark in this,
How little that which thou deniest me is;
It sucked me first, and now sucks thee,
And in this flea our two bloods mingled be;
Thou know’st that this cannot be said
A sin, nor shame, nor loss of maidenhead…”

An 1847 novel by Emily Brontë, published under the pseudonym Ellis Bell. It concerns two families of the landed gentry living on the West Yorkshire moors, the Earnshaws and the Lintons, and their turbulent relationships with Earnshaw's adopted son, Heathcliff.

A Russian novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky focuses on the mental anguish and moral dilemmas of Rodion Raskolnikov, an impoverished ex-student in Saint Petersburg who formulates a plan to kill an unscrupulous pawnbroker for her money.

A 1957 short story written by James Baldwin, originally published in Partisan Review. The story contains the recollections of a black algebra teacher in 1950s Harlem as he reacts to his brother Sonny's drug addiction, arrest, and recovery.

A spoken word poem written by Amanda Gorman and recited by her at the inauguration of Joe Biden on January 20, 2021.

An Elizabethan tragedy by Christopher Marlowe, based on German stories about the title character Faust who trades his soul to the devil.

A French Gothic novel by Victor Hugo, published in 1831. It explores gender norms, sexulaity, disability, religion, corruption, and the nature of humanity through the intersecting lives of Esmerelda, Quasimodo, Phoebus, and Claude Frollo.