Lit2Go

Flesch–Kincaid Grade Level 9

Readability levels for passages on Lit2Go are reported as Flesch-Kincaid grade levels which are roughly equivalent to U.S. grade levels.

Books

9.0

The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man

by James Weldon Johnson

James Weldon Johnson's The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man is a fictional, tragic tale about a young mulatto's coming-of-age in the early 20th century. The unnamed narrator, who has a black mother and white father, is light-skinned enough to pass for a white man but his emotional connections to his mother's heritage make him unable to fully embrace that world.

A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur’s Court

by Mark Twain

A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur’s Court is a satirical novel that depicts a contemporary American, Hank Morgan, who is transported to medieval England. In the court of the legendary King Arthur, Morgan uses his modern knowledge to face the trials and tribulations of the middle ages. 

Dracula

by Bram Stoker

Dracula is a horror novel by Bram Stoker, narrated in first person diary entries and letters, telling the story of an encounter with Count Dracula.

How Sammy Went to Coral-Land

by Emily Paret Atwater

How Sammy Went to Coral-Land is a children’s short story about a salmon named Sammy who has grand adventures when he swims to Coral-Land alone. The story deals with bravery, danger, and finding out what you want is right in front of you.

Pygmalion

by George Bernard Shaw

Pygmalion is a play by George Bernard Shaw. It tells the story of Henry Higgins, a professor of phonetics who makes a bet with his friend Colonel Pickering that he can successfully pass off a Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, as a refined society lady by teaching her how to speak with an upper class accent and training her in etiquette.

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is the longest major poem by the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, written in 1797-98 and published in the first edition of Lyrical Ballads in 1798. Along with other poems in Lyrical Ballads, it was a signal shift to modern poetry and the beginning of British Romantic literature.

A Victorious Union

by Oliver Optic

A Victorious Union, part of Oliver Optic's Blue and the Gray series, is an adventure story set in the time of the Civil War.

The War of the Worlds

by H.G. Wells

The War of the Worlds, by H. G. Wells, is an early science fiction novel which describes an invasion of England by aliens from Mars. It is one of the best-known depictions of an alien invasion of Earth.

9.4

History

by Ralph Waldo Emerson

History is within everyone, so living life is the best way to know history/people/life. History books should be written from this more open, organic perspective. Someone experiencing life is closer to true knowledge than someone who reads about it.

9.5

Agnes Grey

by Anne Brontë

Agnes Grey is Anne Bronte's story about a governess, similar to her sister's work Jane Eyre in that both novels explore the social issues that a Victorian governess not only observes but becomes involved with. Agnes Grey was Anne's first novel.

The Mystery of Cloomber

by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Narrated by John Fothergill West, a Scottish man, who moves from Edinburgh to Wigtownshire to care for the family estate when his father's half brother dies. Near the estate is The Cloomber Hall, for years uninhabited, but now the residence of John Berthier Heatherstone, a general of the Indian Army. General Heatherstone is an anxious man, apprehensive about someone he offended in India. The Mystery of Cloomber unfolds, revealing Heathstone's war crime against a Buddhist priest.

Sense and Sensibility

by Jane Austen

Sense and Sensibility is a novel of manners and societal expectations. The story concerns two sisters, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood (Elinor representing “sense” and Marianne “sensibility”). Along with their mother and younger sister Margaret, they are left impoverished after the death of their father. The family is forced to move to a country cottage, offered to them by a generous relative. Before the move, Elinor forms an attachment to Edward Ferrars, and after the move, Marianne forms one for John Willoughby. These attachments lead to problems both personally and socially, and they must learn important lessons about themselves before resolutions can occur.

The novel was published in 1811 and was the first of Austen's works to be published, although it was originally printed under the pseudonym "A Lady."

A Tale of Two Cities

by Charles Dickens

A Tale of Two Cities is a historical novel by Charles Dickens. The plot centers on the years leading up to the French Revolution and culminates in the Jacobin Reign of Terror. It tells the story of two men, Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton, who look similar but are very different in personality. Darnay is a romantic French aristocrat, while Carton is a cynical English barrister. However, the two are in love with the same woman, Lucie Manette.

9.6

Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus

by Mary Shelley

Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus was first published in London, England in 1818. It contains elements of the Gothic novel and the Romantic movement. It was also a warning against the “over-reaching” of modern man and the Industrial Revolution. The story has had an influence across literature and popular culture and spawned a complete genre of horror stories and films. It is often considered the first science fiction novel.

9.7

9.8

Moby Dick

by Herman Melville

Also known as The Whale, this is the story of Ishmael, a sailor aboard the Pequod with Captain Ahab. Ishmael soon realizes that vengeful Ahab's only mission is to find the sperm whale, Moby Dick.

9.9

Up from Slavery

by Booker T. Washington

Up from Slavery is the 1901 autobiography of Booker T. Washington detailing his slow and steady rise from a slave child during the Civil War, to the difficulties and obstacles he overcame to get an education at the new Hampton University, to his work establishing vocational schools (most notably the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama), to helping black people and other disadvantaged minorities learn useful, marketable skills and work to pull themselves, as a race, up by the bootstraps. He reflects on the generosity of both teachers and philanthropists who helped in educating blacks and native Americans.

Passages

9.0

“The Belly and the Members”

Aesop's Fables

by Aesop

The parts of the body feel they are working very hard and the belly is not. They decide to stop working until the belly works harder. The consequences of this decision gave the body parts an important lesson on teamwork.

“The Kingdom of the Lion”

Aesop's Fables

by Aesop

The king of beasts, the Lion, makes an effort to bring peace between all of the birds and beasts over which he has reign. Having completed his ruling, one of the animals has a comment. This fable has a surprise ending.

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9.9

“The Black Doctor”

Tales of Terror and Mystery

by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

A story about a doctor, referred to as the Black Doctor, who was a respectable physician. He was a bachelor for a considerably long time and then became engaged to a woman thirteen years his junior. In June before the wedding, the woman is interviewed and the engagement is suddenly called off. The Black Doctor avoids her and therefore avoids the rest of the town.

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