Poetry & Short Fiction
POETRY
SHORT FICTION
NOTE: (*) Teachers should use discretion in selecting these works for middle school students because of the complex literary style, advanced reading level, and/or age-appropriateness of the content. Remember, teach only what you have read.
- “Ballad of Birmingham,” Dudley Randall (1963)
- “Cross,” Langston Hughes (1926)
- “Dream Deferred – Harlem,” Langston Hughes (1951)
- “Incident,” Countee Cullen (c. 1925)
- “Speech to the Young: Speech to the Progress-Toward,” Gwendolyn Brooks (N.D.)
- “We Real Cool,” Gwendolyn Brooks (1960)
- “Still I Rise,” Maya Angelou (1978)
- “Women’s Studies,” Robin Morgan
SHORT FICTION
- “A Modest Proposal,” Jonathan Swift (1729)*
- “Battle Royal,” from Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison (1952)*
- “The Child by Tiger,” Thomas Wolfe (1937)*
- “The Guest,” Albert Camus (1957)
- “The Lottery,” Shirley Jackson (1949): (9-12, 5.9)
NOTE: (*) Teachers should use discretion in selecting these works for middle school students because of the complex literary style, advanced reading level, and/or age-appropriateness of the content. Remember, teach only what you have read.