Synopses & Reviews
In this forceful manifesto, Hirsch argues that children in the U.S. are being deprived of the basic knowledge that would enable them to function in contemporary society. Includes 5,000 essential facts to know.
Review
"It makes fascinating reading, particularly when we bear in mind that, apart from a number of scientific items (included, somewhat inconsistently, in an effort to improve things), it is an attempt to establish what all culturally literate Americans actually know, not what they ought to know....Mr. Hirsch's proposal merits serious consideration." New York Times
Synopsis
A must-read for parents and teachers, this major bestseller reveals how cultural literacy is the hidden key to effective education and presents 5000 facts that every literate American should know.
In this forceful manifesto Professor E. D. Hirsch, Jr., argues that children in the United States are being deprived of the basic knowledge that would enable them to function in contemporary society. They lack cultural literacy: a grasp of background information that writers and speakers assume their audience already has. Even if a student has a basic competence in the English language, he or she has little chance of entering the American mainstream without knowing what a silicon chip is, or when the Civil War was fought.An important work that has engendered a nationwide debate on our educational standards, Cultural Literacyis a required reading for anyone concerned with our future as a literate nation."
About the Author
E. D. Hirsch, Jr., is a professor emeritus at the University of Virginia and the author of The Schools We Need, The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, and the best-selling Cultural Literacy. He is chairman of the board at the Core Knowledge Foundation and lives in Charlottesville, Virginia.