In my English class, Romeo and Juliet and Of Mice and Men are a part of the 9th grade curriculum, and Tempest was covered last year. I understood the words fine when they were within context. Also, only about 28% of the novels I read were by both Verne or Wells.
The main problem is that I usually do not remember the word meanings in an isolated sense. I can do it fine on the new SAT (vocab in context), but when isolated I draw a blank.
I will definitely check out your suggestions when I have time! Those sure sound really interesting.
