The other day, I participated in a tour of Gramercy Park, a
section of New York City that included the homes of several
famous American writers, among them John Steinbeck, William
Sydney Porter (aka O. Henry), and Washington Irving. The tour
comprised an eclectic group, with a number of foreign visitors,
so the guide mentioned that high school students read The Legend
of Sleepy Hollow by Irving. As we proceeded to our next stop, I
disclosed to our “thirty-something” guide that my experience
indicated that the story no longer generally appeared on the
required reading list in most high schools. His response: “Well,
it should,” to which I agreed. After that interchange, I began
to consider how many high schools had required reading lists at
all. I did some research and discovered that literature
guidelines in the local area exist for “suggested reading,”
only. The Connecticut Common Core states, “English Language Arts
teachers select and create materials based on instructional
purpose, literary merit, impact of