We have all had to read multiple novels in our literature classes each and every year, but what effect do the novels have on us?
   Whenever a teacher introduces a new novel to read in class, everyone seems to react as if they’re almost dying. Everyone gets all upset and all their positive energy just seems to vanish. There’s just always such negativity when a novel is even mentioned. 
   Typically, each school reads a similar set of books throughout the student’s high school career. There’s "The Great Gatsby," "To Kill a Mockingbird," "Romeo and Juliet," "Macbeth," "Lord of the Flies," "The Scarlet Letter," "Of Mice and Men," "Animal Farm" and so much more. The process of having to read the novels can be long and also very challenging. There are students who have to work, students who play sports or maybe have a difficult and unsteady lifestyle at home. With those challenges and having to read a novel on top of everything going on can be very aggravating, annoying and highly distracting.
   Yet reading a novel is not all so bad. When you think about it, you can get a lot out of reading them. For one your grammar and vocabulary improve and you even learn some culture. Most the books read in class are a little dated and with that you can get more out of what it was like in that time period. There’s "The Great Gatsby" which gives you a feel of the 1920’s and some shocking adventure. There’s "The Scarlet Letter" which takes you back to the 17^th century and gives you an understanding on how important it was to live a proper and successful lifestyle. Last but not least there’s "Macbeth" which takes you way back to the 1600’s and you can get a better feel for battling royals and the lust for power.
   Then again why read books that are so dated since no one can understand what they’re saying for the most part? Plus reading books that are more current can be more fascinating and amusing, because they’re written in a way we can better comprehend.
   It would be nice if teachers would introduce books from all different interests. The novels always seem to be similar in time periods, style and even stories. We should want to know what happens next in each of the stories we read. We should want to not feel like we are wasting our time with the reading assignments. We should want to enjoy reading. Then again we don’t and it’s simply because the choice of novels. More current books that can fit different interests would be more enjoyable.
   So are books our first choice in what we’d like to be doing? Usually not, but there is a lot of good that can come from reading them, including a sense of accomplishment once you’ve completed the book, a feel of adventure and creativity while reading them and in the long run improvement in your grammar and vocabulary.