Italian-highschool English literature textbook
Ever wondered what books of your nation are taught in other countries? Well, I always do. This is what we study in English literature (by any English speaking country) here in Italian highschools.
I only study English, so I can only do it for this language. If any Italian highschooler wants to add books mentioned by their text that I didn't have, or books their teachers made them study in class, they are welcome to do so.
Hope someone is interested.
created by reddyxxxjustnotmynam
last updated May, 2026
Comments
Wow, as a fellow high schooler, I didn't know I needed this list!! (I have a half forgotten shelf where I tried to keep track of what books we were studying but I always felt I was forgetting something). This is so thorough :0, most of this books we didn't even talk about (much to my disappointment). Maybe the only additions I can think of are something by Poe (personally we read The raven and The black cat) and 1984 by Orwell, although often there's not enough time to study Orwell at the end of the year, so idk if it would fit. I'd be SO curious to know what Italian texts are studied in other countries and HOW they're approached, but I'm afraid not a lot of people study them in school, and if they do, they read them translated? I think?
Yeah, I'd like to know so bad what books they study from Italy, but, to be honest, I doubt most study any at all. Maybe at university if they major in languages and choose Italian.
We don't read all of this, we usually read one or two Shakespeare plays, one Jane Austen novel and then depending on the teacher 4 or more/less novels from the other authors. Though, at least in my book, the plot to all of this was mentioned.
Teachers have some sort of freedom and can choose to treat other texts too, so as time goes, I'll add what she talks to us about.
There were a whole bunch of poems and short stories mentioned in the book too, but since it was just the one and not the whole collection I wasn't able to put them here.
