Great literature is about love and anguish and tenderness and violence. I don’t want to protect students from these topics; I want them to be immersed in them.

Arthur Miller wrote that “tragedy is the most accurately balanced portrayal of the human being in his struggle for happiness,” and that tragedy “is inseparable from a certain modest hope regarding the human animal.” Students need to read these stories.

August Wilson said that the blues is “very life-affirming, uplifting music. Because you can sing that song, that's what enables you to survive.”

Students deserve to read these stories.