These are the Most Assigned Novels by Women in U.S. Colleges
Less than a third of assigned reading in U.S. colleges is written by a woman. But who are the women authors that are being assigned? WordTips analyzed 300,000 English Literature syllabi in U.S. colleges using OpenSyllabus.org to see, and these are the results.
Most Assigned Novels by Women in American Colleges
- Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
- Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
- Beloved by Toni Morrison
- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
- The Awakening by Kate Chopin
While Frankenstein took the top spot on the list, WordTips also analyzed the most assigned female authors, which causes authors with a larger body of work — like Virginia Woolf and Toni Morrison — to take higher spots on the list.
Most Assigned Women Novelists In American Colleges
- Virginia Woolf
- Toni Morrison
- Mary Shelley
- Jane Austen
- Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Most states agreed on Frankenstein as their most-assigned novel written by a woman, but the second most common pick shows a little more variety, as the graphic below demonstrates.
Check out the full analysis at WordTips, including the difference between books assigned in public colleges and Ivy League schools.
Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in Breaking in Books.
Also In This Story Stream
- The Bestselling Books of the Week, According to All the Lists
- 72 of the Best Horror Books, According to Horror Authors
- The Best Books of the Year So Far, According to Amazon
- The Most Read Books on Goodreads This Week
- 60% of Netflix’s Most Popular Shows Are Based on Comics or Books
- Audible’s Top Audiobooks of 2024 So Far
- First Looks of the New Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim Anime
- The 2024 Lambda Literary Award Winners
- The Bestselling Books of the Week, According to All the Lists
- Shop From These LGBTQ-Owned Bookstores During Pride Month
