Tell Us If You've Read These Books and We'll Guess Your High School GPA

By: William J. Wright
Estimated Completion Time
13 min
Tell Us If You've Read These Books and We'll Guess Your High School GPA
Image: Jacobs Stock Photography Ltd/DigitalVision/Getty Images

About This Quiz

Love them or loathe them, literary classics are a fact of life for high school students. Exposure to great books during those formative years can inspire a lifelong passion for the written word, or as is so often the case, an aversion to reading anything longer than a text message. Sadly, academic agendas and passionless teaching can transform reading into a chore — the educational equivalent of eating your vegetables. While it may be good for you, it's liable to leave a bad taste in your mouth. So, it's no wonder that many students (and maybe you were one of them) felt held captive by the canon. Nevertheless, the value of reading for pleasure shouldn't be underestimated. Many of the benefits are obvious: improved concentration, expanded vocabulary, the cultivation of better writing skills, and reduced stress. There's also mounting scientific evidence that reading fiction may even make you a better and more empathetic person. It's never too late. The library is still free.

Don't worry. If you were the kid who screamed out, "How is knowing what the symbolism of the moors means in 'Wuthering Heights' ever going to help me in life?" this quiz is as much for you as it is for all the literary prodigies out there. Relax. The pressure's off.

If you were your high school's answer to Rory Gilmore, you only studied for the tests, or you just skimmed your neighbor's notes, we're willing to wager that we can find your place on the academic spectrum, and maybe you'll discover or rediscover some favorite books along away. 



Herman Melville's "Moby Dick" is a tale of obsession and revenge on the high seas. Did you slay the white whale?
Yes! I conquered this novel with the tenacity of Captain Ahab!
Though the seas were rough, I got through it.
I made it to the end, but nearly drowned in all that symbolism!
Two pages in, I got hungry for seafood and never finished it.

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Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" has been interpreted as everything from a warning about unchecked technology to a terrifying treatise on motherhood. Did you read this monster of a book?
"Frankenstein"? Ah, yes, "The Modern Prometheus!" I wept for the creature's tragic plight.
I read it. It was good, but I was disappointed in the lack of angry villagers.
Wait. The monster's name ISN'T Frankenstein?
I took a pass on the book since I saw it on the late show about a million times.

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Emily Bronte's gothic romance "Wuthering Heights" is a tale of love, cruelty, and revenge set on the English moors. Did you open your window for this beloved novel?
Not only did I read this book, I was haunted by it! I think Cathy's ghost is at my window now!
I liked the atmosphere, but the end kind of drags.
These people are terrible! I couldn't wait to get it over with!
What exactly is a moor, anyway?

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Did you make it to the attic of "Jane Eyre's" gothic house of mysteries?
Did you know Charlotte Bronte's pen name was Currer Bell? I did because I love this book!
Although it gets depressing in parts, I'm glad I finished it. Jane's an inspiration.
What kind of creep keeps his sick wife locked up in the attic? No thanks!
Jane who?

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John Steinbeck's novella "Of Mice and Men" tells the story of two itinerant farm workers during the Great Depression. Have you read it or were you too busy living off the fat of the land?
Yes! For such a short book, it really packs some heavy themes and a real emotional punch.
It's a pretty easy read. Basically, I learned that sometimes dreams get crushed like a puppy in Lennie's hands.
Lennie didn't mean it! I'm not crying, you are!
Remember those old cartoons with the dog who said, "Which way did he go, George?" At least those were funny.

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John Knowles' 1959 novel "A Separate Peace" is an elegy to lost innocence. Have you taken the leap and read this book?
This book is great! It stirs up feelings of nostalgia, joy, and loss. It's a bittersweet journey back to adolescence.
Although it's a bit of a boy's book, it's hard not to identify with the characters on some level.
Skimmed it. If you've read one of these coming-of-age books, you've read them all. It's a little sappy.
Super Suicide Society? That seems kind of dumb. Is John Knowles related to Beyonce?

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"The Metamorphosis" by Franz Kafka tells the story of Gregor Samsa, who awakes to find himself transformed into a monstrous insect. Did you read it or do bugs make your skin crawl?
This book really fires up my existential angst!
I'll never look at cockroaches the same way.
I'm sure that this books means something. I'm just not sure what.
Bugs are gross. I skipped it and called an exterminator.

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Joseph Conrad's "The Heart of Darkness" tells the story of Charles Marlowe and his journey up the Congo River to find the elusive ivory trader, Kurtz. Have you read this one, or are you afraid of the dark?
Of course! This book satisfies as both an adventure tale and a layered look at human nature and the idea of civilization.
I read it. Somehow I made it through this jungle of complicated themes and back.
Halfway through, I was ready to get off the boat.
I read the Wikipedia summary. The horror. The horror.

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Set during the American Civil War, Louisa May Alcott's 1868 novel "Little Women" follows the lives of four sisters. Have you read this beloved classic?
I'd give half a dozen limes to read it again! This book is a divinity!
I finished it, but I'd rather spend a week with Great Aunt March than read it again.
Louisa May Alcott called Little Women "moral pablum." After reading it, I have to agree.
How small are these women? How'd they get that way? It sounds like bad sci-fi to me. I skipped it.

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One of Charles Dickens' most popular novels, "Great Expectations" is the story of a poor orphan who transcends his station in life thanks to a secret benefactor. Did you read it?
I loved it! This book has more plot twists than Satis House has cobwebs!
Long, complex, and filled with eccentric characters, it's the literary equivalent of filing through a pair of manacles.
Just when I thought it ended, it didn't. I'd rather eat Miss Havisham's wedding cake than lay eyes on this book again.
I expected something great, not something so long.

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Did you make it through the savage fight for survival that is "The Lord of the Flies"?
This book is every kid's fantasy subverted into an anarchic nightmare. I read it wondering how I would survive in the same circumstances.
I finished it, but I have to admit that I would have probably dropped that rock on Piggy, too.
I didn't need a book to tell me that kids are awful!
"Lord of the Flies"? More like bored of this book!

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Mark Twain's "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is among the most controversial works of American literature. Have you read it or are books just too "sivilized" for you?
Sure, Samuel Clemens' language is challenging for a modern audience, but the core of this book is satire. It's a critique of its era and the prevailing attitudes of its times.
It's not bad, but some of Twain's use of dialect is hard to understand.
Did no one keep an eye on their kids in the old days? This story's a child protective services nightmare!
Is this the one about the blue dog?

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Published in 1951,"The Catcher in the Rye" is J.D. Salinger's perennially controversial novel of teen angst. Have you read it?
This book should be read at least twice: once when you're a kid and can relate to Holden Caulfield and once when you're an adult and can't.
I finished the book, but by the end, I'm not sure whether I or Holden Caulfield learned a thing!
I read it, but I wished I hadn't! This Caulfield kid's a foul-mouthed jerk!
Reading's for phonies.

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Daniel Keyes' "Flowers For Algernon" tells the story of Charlie Gordon, a mentally challenged man who undergoes experimental surgery to boost his intellect. Have you read this heartbreaking tale?
Yes! This story is all the more tragic because Charlie is aware of his decline. I'll definitely leave flowers on Algernon's grave.
I liked it, but I'm not sure I would read it again. It really makes you question how you treat people.
The mouse dies? Charlie loses his intelligence? Too much for me. I like happy endings.
Gave up when I realized it wasn't a cute animal story. Too sad for me!

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Have you driven a stake through the heart of Bram Stoker's "Dracula"?
Yes, I'd gladly lash myself to the wheel of the Demeter to read this gothic classic again. I give it an enthusiastic four fangs up!
Its format as a series of letters and journal entries is kind of hard to follow. I was surprised at how different it was from the movies.
I'm just glad none of these vampires sparkle.
Why should anybody have to read "Dracula"? It's encoded in the popular culture's DNA!

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Not to be confused with H.G. Wells' science fiction classic, Ralph Ellison's "Invisible Man" concerns itself with racial rather than physical invisibility. Have you read this powerful novel?
Yes! Ellison's metaphor of invisibility to describe racial and class marginalization is brilliant!
It wasn't what I was expecting, but its power is undeniable.
The subject matter was way too heavy for me. I would have rather read about an actual invisible man.
This guy never actually disappears, so, what's the point?

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"Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton is a compilation of ancient myths and legends. Have you stolen lightning from the gods and read these epic tales?
If you love literature, history, theology, or psychology, you'll come back to this book again and again. Edith Hamilton really engages the reader with her prose when relating these myths.
It's kind of hard to keep up with all those gods and heroes, but there's enough adventure and intrigue to keep it exciting.
Wow! I had no idea that this is where they got the idea for "Clash of the Titans"!
Reading this made me feel like I was pushing a big rock up a hill for eternity.

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Did you commit the thoughtcrime of reading George Orwell's "1984"?
I'd fight an endless war against Eurasia to read it again. This novel is powerful and timely. Parts of it are frighteningly similar to life today.
It might have been more effective if Orwell had titled it with a later, more futuristic date.
Whose big brother is watching? That guy sounds like a weirdo.
1984 conjures up thoughts of big hair and bad clothes. Why would I want to read this? It's the 21st century!

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Have you explored the accursed confines of "The House of the Seven Gables"?
Hawthorne expertly keeps the fantastic elements simmering under the surface. Human failings are as powerful as any curse.
With that title, I was expecting an outright ghost story. It has a great gothic vibe without beating you over the head like a bad horror novel.
Remember how the monsters were never real on "Scooby-Doo"? This book is the literary equivalent of that.
This "House of the Seven Gables" is a house of pain. I went to the House of Pancakes for a late breakfast and left the book there.

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It would be tragic to skip over Sophocles. Have you read "Oedipus Rex"?
No scholar's education can be complete without exposure to this tragedy. This play is ground zero for dramatic irony.
The form of Greek drama is a little hard to follow, but once you get in the groove of the choruses, it starts to make sense. That ending is horrifying!
His mom!?!?! I really wasn't expecting the ick factor to be so high in ancient Greek drama! What the heck was wrong with Sophocles?
I didn't read it — no tragedy there.

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Many actors consider this play cursed! Do you have the blood of Shakespeare's "Macbeth" on your hands?
No amount of toil and trouble could keep me from loving this play.
Is this a dagger I see before me? No, it's just more unfathomable Elizabethan English to wade through.
To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow ... I think I'll put off finishing until then.
This play's cursed, you say? I better not risk anything by reading it.

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Ray Bradbury's 1953 novel "Fahrenheit 451" is set in a dystopian future where books are forbidden. Have you read this science fiction classic?
Bradbury's novel is as much about how apathy can kill culture as it is about censorship. Like the old lady with the match, I'd rather burn with my books than live without them!
The dramatic irony blazes hot in this book!
Is it ironic that I decided to watch the movie instead?
When I read that book paper burns at Fahrenheit 451, I grabbed a box of matches and tried it out with this novel.

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F. Scott Fitzgerald's Jazz Age novel "The Great Gatsby" tells the story of self-made millionaire Jay Gatsby and his doomed love for the inconstant Daisy Buchanan. Say, old sport, have you read this American classic?
This book made me want to do the Charleston all night long!
Is it just me, or are most of these characters really unlikable?
I'd rather let Daisy Buchanan drive me home than read this book again.
What's so great about it?

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"Ethan Frome" is the story of a tragic love affair set against the backdrop of a bleak New England winter. Have you read Edith Wharton's most enduring novel?
The only words to describe this novel are sweet despair and irony.
Well, that was bleak. It left me wishing I had sledded headfirst into a lampost!
They shouldn't have swerved. It would have made this book a little shorter.
I just couldn't bear another sad book, so I faked a cold to get out of class that week.

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Jonathan Swift's satiric "Gulliver's Travels" skewers class, politics, religion and human nature. Have you taken the journey to Lilliput?
Yes, I've read "Gulliver's Travels"! I'm no primitive Big Endian and I don't consort with Yahoos!
After reading this book, you have to agree that horses really are better than people.
Jonathan Swift never let a good story get in the way of satire.
I couldn't get past the Lilliputians. The idea of tiny people creeps me out!

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Henry David Thoreau's "Walden" is a celebration of simple living. Have you read this declaration of personal independence?
Naturally, I read it. I'm ready to escape the rat-race and suck the marrow out of life!
I don't think I would live anywhere that I couldn't get take-out, but Thoreau has some good ideas about living.
How was Thoreau able to survive in the woods when he spent all his time writing such purple prose?
I took the author's advice about living deliberately. As an act of self-determination, I avoided finishing this book.

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Did you slay the beasties of "Beowulf"?
This a must-read. From King Arthur to Conan, heroic fantasy wouldn't exist without "Beowulf."
The language was like wading into the murky depths to slay Grendel's mother. Nevertheless, I was the victor!
It's great story once someone explains it to you. Are you sure this is in English?
Sorry, nerds. I left my 20-sided dice at home.

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Do you know the sinful secrets of "The Picture of Dorian Gray"?
The ever-flamboyant Oscar Wilde proves that there is no truth in beauty!
Although the plot is rather hard to believe, Wilde's characters and dialogue keep it interesting.
The lack of an explanation for the portrait's power is frustrating and distracting. Still, it's a Wilde ride!
Why does a book about a painting have no illustrations?

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In Robert Louis Stevenson's novel "Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," Henry Jekyll accidentally creates a murderous alter ego. Have you read this Victorian shocker?
Both my id and my ego adore this Freudian nightmare!
The most frightening part of this book is realizing that Hyde lives in all of us.
The plot of this novel has been so beaten to death by a century of pop culture that you don't have to read it too closely.
I gave in to my primitive instincts and took a nap.

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Have you felt the icy grip of "The Turn of the Screw"?
I've driven myself mad trying to solve this ghostly puzzle of a book! Do you hear something at the window?
Yes, I've read it and I'm certain that the ghosts are real . . . maybe.
After reading "The Turn of the Screw," I've come to the conclusion that Henry James hates me.
Sorry, I'm only interested in friendly ghosts. I skimmed it and didn't see the name Casper in it once.

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