The titles in the Social Class Collection explore the historical and contemporary implications of social class and class division in cultures around the world. Representing a diverse range of perspectives, cultures, and societies, the selections in this Collection span a broad range of genres and forms, including essays, biographies, and fiction.
Publication year 2017
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Society: Class, Society: Community, Society: Globalization
Tags Travel Literature, Sociology, Poverty, Class, American Literature, Business / Economics, History: World, Politics / Government
Publication year 2023
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Family, Society: Class, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt
Tags Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 1970
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Life/Time: Coming of Age, Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Relationships: Friendship, Society: Community, Society: Economics, Society: Class, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Gratitude, Relationships: Family, Identity: Masculinity, Self Discovery
Tags Historical Fiction, Great Depression, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Food, Children's Literature, Education, Education, Realistic Fiction, History: World, Action / Adventure, Classic Fiction
No Promises in the Wind is a young-adult historical novel that takes place at the height of the Great Depression. The first-person narrative tells the coming-of-age story of a 15-year-old boy who leaves home with his younger brother because their family doesn’t have enough to eat. Josh and Joey Grondowski use their musical talents to survive on their own as they travel through a country of angry and impoverished people. First published in 1970, the... Read No Promises In The Wind Summary
Publication year 2014
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Relationships: Family, Society: Class, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Music
Tags Historical Fiction, Irish Literature, Domestic Fiction, Literary Fiction, Depression / Suicide
Written by Colm Tóibín, Nora Webster (2014) is a historical novel that follows the titular character, a young woman who is struggling to raise her four young children, process her grief, and reinvent her life after her husband passes away. In 2015, the novel won the Hawthornden Prize, and it has also received numerous other prestigious award nominations. Throughout his career, Colm Tóibín has alternated between fiction and non-fiction, producing works such as Brooklyn (2009), which... Read Nora Webster Summary
Publication year 1854
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Identity: Gender, Society: Class, Emotions/Behavior: Love
Tags Victorian Period, Industrial Revolution, Historical Fiction, Romance, Class, History: World, Victorian Literature / Period, Classic Fiction
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell debuted in Charles Dickens’s magazine Household Words, appearing in 20 weekly installments between September 1854 and January 1855. The novel was later published in two volumes. Dickens heavily edited the novel and changed the title from Margaret Hale to North and South. In the novel, Gaskell draws on her personal experience of being married to a Unitarian minister, a role that brought her into contact with all levels of... Read North and South Summary
Publication year 1817
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Life/Time: Coming of Age, Society: Class, Relationships: Marriage
Tags Classic Fiction, Romance, Historical Fiction, Satire, Gothic Literature, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, British Literature, History: World
Northanger Abbey is an early novel by Jane Austen. Though it wasn't published until after her death in 1817, Austen wrote the novel in 1803, intending it as a satire of the gothic novels that were popular during this period. Northanger Abbey follows the life and loves of its unlikely heroine, seventeen-year-old Catherine Morland, a naïve young woman away from her family for the first time and trying to navigate the world and the heart—with... Read Northanger Abbey Summary
Publication year 2001
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Society: Class, Values/Ideas: Equality, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice
Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Romance, Race / Racism, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Incarceration, Relationships, Allegory / Fable / Parable, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Social Justice, Education, Education, Modern Classic Fiction, Drama / Tragedy
Publication year 1956
Genre Short Story, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Society: Colonialism, Society: Class
Tags Race / Racism, Health / Medicine, African Literature
Publication year 1911
Genre Short Story, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Marriage, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Society: Class, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Society: Community
Tags Classic Fiction
“Odour of Chrysanthemums” is a short story by English author, D. H. Lawrence, written in 1909 and revised before its first publication in The English Review literary magazine in 1911. Lawrence also included it in his 1914 collection, The Prussian Officer and Stories. “Odour of Chrysanthemums” was among the first of Lawrence’s works to be published, though he had been writing extensively for some time. Its key themes of The Inevitability of Death and Decay... Read Odour of Chrysanthemums Summary
Publication year 1915
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Society: Class, Society: Education
Tags Classic Fiction, Auto/Biographical Fiction, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, British Literature, History: World, Historical Fiction, Romance
Of Human Bondage is a 1915 novel written by the British author W. Somerset Maugham. The novel follows the maturation of a young man named Philip Carey as he grows up in England at the very end of the 19th century. The novel incorporates elements of both realism and modernism and has been interpreted as having some autobiographical inspiration drawn from Maugham’s own life. By describing events from Philip’s life, Maugham develops themes related to... Read Of Human Bondage Summary
Publication year 2016
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Art, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Emotions/Behavior: Joy, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Identity: Sexuality, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Natural World: Place, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Fathers, Relationships: Teams, Self Discovery, Society: Class, Society: Community, Society: Politics & Government, Society: War, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Values/Ideas: Fate, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology
Tags Auto/Biographical Fiction, Historical Fiction, Arts / Culture, Renaissance
Publication year 2022
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Society: Education, Society: Class, Society: Community, Self Discovery, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice
Tags Children's Literature, Education, Education, Modern Classic Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Social Justice, Race / Racism
Publication year 2005
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Marriage, Life/Time: Aging, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Identity: Race, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Relationships: Mothers, Society: Class, Society: Community, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Relationships: Fathers, Relationships: Siblings, Life/Time: Midlife, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt, Relationships: Friendship, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Values/Ideas: Art, Emotions/Behavior: Apathy, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Values/Ideas: Equality, Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Identity: Masculinity, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Society: Education, Identity: Femininity, Self Discovery, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Identity: Gender, Emotions/Behavior: Hope
Tags British Literature, Race / Racism, Modern Classic Fiction
On Beauty by the celebrated British author Zadie Smith was published in 2005. On Beauty was shortlisted for the prestigious Man Booker Prize and won the Orange Prize for Fiction. Smith is known for writing novels and essays that analyze the intersections of identity in the contemporary world with nuance, clarity, and empathy. She is also known to be influenced by the classic English author E.M. Forster. On Beauty is loosely based on Forster’s masterpiece... Read On Beauty Summary
Publication year 2020
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Society: Class, Natural World: Environment, Emotions/Behavior: Fear
Tags Mystery / Crime Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 2002
Genre Graphic Memoir , Nonfiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Art, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Identity: Femininity, Identity: Language, Identity: Race, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Life/Time: Midlife, Natural World: Animals, Natural World: Food, Relationships: Mothers, Self Discovery, Society: Class, Society: Education, Society: Immigration, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Values/Ideas: Literature
Tags Humor, Arts / Culture, Biography
One! Hundred! Demons! is a semi-autobiographical genre-defying graphic novel by American cartoonist and pedagogue, Lynda Barry. Over the course of her career as a prominent cartoonist with nationally syndicated comic strips, published collections, and illustrated novels, Barry has received many national and state-wide awards for her work, including two Eisner awards and MacArthur Genius Grant.Originally published serially in Salon magazine, the collected cartoon chapters were collected and published by Sasquatch Books in 2002, and later... Read One! Hundred! Demons! Summary
Publication year 2008
Genre Short Story, Fiction
Themes Society: Politics & Government, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Revenge, Society: Class, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice
Tags Latin American Literature, Education, Education, Classic Fiction
Publication year 1919
Genre Short Story, Fiction
Themes Society: Class, Identity: Gender
Tags Classic Fiction, Humor, American Literature
William Sydney Porter, better known as O. Henry, published “One Thousand Dollars” in his 1908 collection of short stories The Voice of the City: Further Stories of the Four Million. The stories explore New York City at the turn of the 20th century. Believing every person had a story to tell, O. Henry wrote about the poor and the rich and the shared experience of being human. This study guide references the 1908 edition of... Read One Thousand Dollars Summary
Publication year 1887
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Society: Class
Tags Philosophy, German Literature, Education, Education, History: World, Psychology, Psychology, Philosophy, Classic Fiction, Politics / Government
Friedrich Nietzsche’s On the Genealogy of Morals: A Polemic (1887) is an analysis of the development of morality in human history. The renowned 19th-century philosopher wrote On the Genealogy of Morals to entice readers to his larger works. In it, he challenges traditional ideals about Christian morality and the origin of virtue and ethics. Nietzsche argues that moral values are products of social power. Qualities which society has deemed virtues—such as honesty, meekness, patience, and... Read On the Genealogy of Morals Summary
Publication year 2025
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Identity: Indigenous, Identity: Race, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Life/Time: The Past, Society: Class, Society: Colonialism, Society: Community, Society: Education, Society: Immigration, Society: Nation, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Equality, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice
Publication year 2024
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Emotions/Behavior: Joy, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Identity: Masculinity, Identity: Race, Identity: Sexuality, Life/Time: The Past, Relationships: Fathers, Relationships: Marriage, Relationships: Mothers, Self Discovery, Society: Class, Society: Colonialism, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Equality, Values/Ideas: Fame, Values/Ideas: Literature