Eleventh grade is a defining year for every high school student. It is the main year that most colleges and universities look to for admission. Literature courses for eleventh grade students are grounded in the Common Core Standards for English Language Arts and the expectations of the new SAT. Writing vocabulary development, readings of historical texts, and the development of speaking and listening skills are all highlighted during a student's junior year. In 11th grade, students are required to read five novels and a number of paired works, including short stories, poems, and nonfiction novels, that serve to enrich a students’ understanding of the motifs, symbols, and themes of the novels. The texts are thematically linked, and students explore questions related to racism, identity, colonialism, reality, and human nature over the course of the year. While "The Scarlett Letter" and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" are classic works of art and usually assigned in the eleventh grade, they are dated and uninteresting for modern students. The following novels will educate on the same themes with a more vibrant and up to date story.