Cultural Literacy

[tallwhitegirl]

Have any of you ever read Cultural Literacy by E.D.Hirsch, Jr. first published in 1987? I am just finishing it and found it quite interesting. I agree in large part with his opinion of our society - that is there is a difference between knowing how to read and being literate. He argues that in order to call oneself literate, there is a certain canon of common knowledge one needs in order to effectively communicate as well as to understand what one reads. While I believe that his list of "what every American needs to know" is somewhat outdated, in knowing these things and for myself as a homeschooling parent, teaching these things to my children, their reading comprehension will improve. I don't think that this reference book, nor E.D.Hirsch's Dictionary of Cultural Literacy should be the end all be all education that I provide my children, but it's definitely a good start.

I'm interested to know, for those who may have read this book and/or other works by Hirsch, what your opinion is.

 

[Occlith]

I have read it and have recommended it to those wanting a better understanding of various subjects in general without having to search through different reference books and literary sources.

A link is posted to the online version of the book in this thread, post #9. Hopefully, it has been useful as a quick and painless resource as well as being a being a catalyst for seeking in-depth information on many cultural topics.

 

[TheLibraryGirl]

So much more than a reference book

What I love about this book is that it allows you to pick up erudite 'common knowledge' that you may have missed, even if you're a widely read person. Those who read it from cover to cover (and remember it) will doubtless conquer at trivia games too, as an added side bonus.

Obviously, there is the whole "whose culture?" question to apply to this text, but you can't please everybody, and it's still way better than nothing.

Hey TWG - I'm reading How to Read a Book too.