Why The Red Badge of Courage Works as a Common Reading
This paper argues that Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage is the stronger choice for a university common reading program aimed at first-year students, compared to Shakespeare's The Tempest. The author contends that Crane's novel resonates with contemporary students who have grown up during the post-9/11 era of U.S. military conflict, making its themes of war, fear, and personal courage immediately relatable. The paper also examines the novel's adaptability across academic disciplines — including psychology, history, journalism, theater, and literature — as well as its potential to generate campus-wide engagement beyond the classroom. Practical concerns such as length and language style are acknowledged but ultimately dismissed in favor of the book's enduring depth and relevance.
- Introduction: The Purpose of Common Reading Programs: Overview of common reading programs and thesis statement
- Contemporary Relevance for First-Year Students: Post-9/11 context makes Crane's war novel relatable
- Interdisciplinary Applications Across the Curriculum: Novel's use across psychology, history, journalism, theater
- Campus Engagement and Extracurricular Opportunities: Activities and events the novel can inspire on campus
- Addressing Student Concerns About the Text: Counterarguments about length and language addressed
- Conclusion: A Rewarding Choice for Every Student: Final endorsement of the novel's depth and relevance
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What makes this paper effective
- The argument is structured as a clear recommendation, systematically building the case for one book over the other across multiple criteria: relevance, interdisciplinary utility, campus engagement, and student accessibility.
- The paper anticipates counterarguments — student resistance to length and older prose style — and addresses them directly, which strengthens the overall persuasive case.
- Concrete examples of cross-disciplinary use (psychology, journalism, theater, history) demonstrate that the author has thought beyond the obvious literary application, adding practical credibility to the recommendation.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates comparative argumentation: rather than simply praising one text in isolation, it frames its analysis around a binary choice and uses multiple evaluative criteria to show why one option is superior. This approach — establishing criteria, then applying them consistently — is a foundational technique in evaluative and persuasive academic writing.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens by contextualizing common reading programs and stating its thesis. It then develops its argument across three main content sections: contemporary student relevance, cross-disciplinary adaptability, and extracurricular potential. A brief counterargument section concedes the book's accessibility challenges before reaffirming the recommendation. The conclusion ties student experience in college to the novel's thematic content.
Introduction: The Purpose of Common Reading Programs
Common reading programs have taken hold at many universities because they offer a "common intellectual experience to stimulate discussion, critical thinking, and encourage a sense of community among students, faculty, and staff." Most of these programs target first-year students, as there is a particular need to introduce new students to the university experience. Students also learn to appreciate literature on an entirely new level when they see how a single written work can encompass many different subjects. The two books offered — The Red Badge of Courage and The Tempest — provide different experiences, but both encourage further reading in great literature. However, one choice is clearly superior: The Red Badge of Courage can be understood in a contemporary context and is more easily adaptable across multiple academic disciplines.
Contemporary Relevance for First-Year Students
Students entering college for the first time are generally in their late teens. Because of what has happened since September 11, 2001, most of those students have grown up with war and the reality of U.S. military conflict since they began their educational careers. This is not to say that the current war on terror is in any way comparable to the immediacy of the Civil War, but it is a topic that has probably dominated many assignments and classroom discussions throughout their schooling. Beyond formal assignments, many students will know — or have known — someone involved in the war effort. This makes the events in The Red Badge of Courage feel more contemporary than the other selection.
Students would readily identify with the characters because they are young people of approximately the same age as incoming college students. The fact that some students may either be compelled or choose to go to war in the near future could make the book even more meaningful and understandable.
Interdisciplinary Applications Across the Curriculum
Another important consideration is the novel's adaptability across different academic disciplines. The story in The Red Badge of Courage is about far more than a soldier who witnesses his first battle and flees from it (Glencoe Literature Library). In fact, some study guides point out that many scholars believe Henry Fleming's ordeal was largely psychological in nature (Glencoe Literature Library). The fact that Fleming is a victim of the fears and doubts that any person facing battle — and possible death — would experience makes this book an excellent text for an introductory psychology classroom.
The Civil War is, of course, one of the central topics in American history courses, so the novel would also serve well in that context. The humanities broadly could make use of the text, but so could other disciplines. Theater students could study the many stage adaptations of the book, either reproducing them or analyzing the various forms the story has taken over time. Journalism students could examine both Crane himself — who was a working journalist — and the subject matter of the book, tracing how a reporter who covered the Spanish-American War came to write a novel about combat. Literature and composition classes may benefit most directly from this selection, but the range of possible academic applications extends well beyond those courses.
Conclusion: A Rewarding Choice for Every Student
Students may complain that they are not reading a more modern work of fiction, but they will likely be surprised by the depth and relevance of the subject matter. Stephen Crane's novel offers something for every student: a deeper understanding of the conflicts inherent in war, and a perspective that may help students navigating their own challenges in college find the courage to persevere.
Works Cited
Crane, Stephen. The Red Badge of Courage. New York: Forgotten Books, 1923. Web.
Glencoe Literature Library. Study Guide for the Red Badge of Courage. New York: McGraw Hill, 2006. Web.
[University]. "Common Reading Program." New Student and Family Programs, 2012. Web.
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