Reviews for A first dictionary of cultural literacy

The average rating for A first dictionary of cultural literacy based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2015-05-12 00:00:00 Bjarne Christensen for a combined review of this and two related books associated with the concept of Cultural Literacy, see Cultural Literacy "Cultural Literacy" was a term introduced by E.D. Hirsch in the late 1980s with his book of the same name: Cultural Literacy (1987). By this term, Hirsch referred to knowledge of a detailed and particular sort, not general knowledge. Here's an example that illustrates. Suppose you're a younger person, or a person from a minority sub-culture (American Indian, inner city migrant, etc) or a not very culturally literate older person, and people you know, or have recently met at a new school or a new job, throw around terms like "reconstruction" (they seem to be talking about something political? that happened in the past); and "moma", or "the moma" (you're like huh?; or make a joke about "babe ruth" (a dame? movie star? candy bar?);none of which you really understand. Well, in these instances, because of your ignorance about these terms and names, you are excluded (unless you're willing to ask) from the conversation, the plans for going to an art museum, the laughter. So Hirsch propounded this theory about people needing to know a lot of facts, terms, names from an amorphous set of same. That if one knows enough of this stuff they can function in the culture as other people do, but if they don't know enough they're excluded from participating, even if they want to. Hirsch is certainly given credit for the introduction of the term into the social sciences, and it's generated a large amount of interest, commentary, probably criticism, in the past quarter century, at least in the U.S. And Hirsch himself has remained quite visible in the area, being the founder and chairman of the Core Knowledge Foundation. (Not to be confused with the U.S. "Common Core" initiative in public school education - though obviously there is a close connection between the theories involved in both cases.) See for Hirsch, and for Cultural Literacy (the term and the area of study in the social sciences). The review The subtitle of this book says it all: "What Our Children Need to Know". It's about half as long as one of the other books reviewed at the link above, The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy. It's split up into almost all the same chapters, leaving out only the first two from that one: The Bible, and Mythology and Folklore (interesting!) Here's what the kids read about Abraham Lincoln in this book.Abraham Lincoln was president during the CIVIL WAR and one of the greatest American leaders. Born in a log cabin in Kentucky, he educated himself and became a politician and lawyer in Illinois who was respected for his sincerity and character. As president, he opposed the extension of slavery and fought to preserve the UNION. During the Civil War, he issued the EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION, which led to the end of slavery in America. His GETTYSBURG ADDRESS and his Second Inaugural Address, in which he urged the nation to reunite in a spirit of forgiveness, are among the finest speeches in American history. After the war, he was assassinated by JOHN WILKES BOOTH.The entry on Lincoln in the non-kids version is about three times as long. As well as an index, this book has a six page Guide to Further Reading, consisting of books "appropriate for ages six through 12". These are put into fourteen categories, obviously differing from the chapter headings.

Review # 2 was written on 2010-04-01 00:00:00 Perry Tollefson As a child, I would have really enjoyed this book. I have always enjoyed learning a little about this and a little about that, and it would have been a good springboard to learning things that really interested me in greater depth. My only critique with this book is the same that I've had with every book that I've seen by E.D. Hirsch so far - all of the illustrations are in black and white. I think the goal was to de-emphasize graphics and emphasize facts because if the publisher spent a lot of money on high-quality, full-color pictures, then the book would have to be priced much higher and perhaps even be priced out of most people's budget. But on the other hand, having dull pictures makes the subjects seem less interesting, and since making a wide variety of subjects interesting to children so they want to learn more about them is the whole purpose of this book, it seems like the publisher should have just bit the bullet and spent more money on the illustrations. As it is, I will return the copy I read to the library, and I will keep my eye out for an updated dictionary (after all, this one was written in the 80's) with full-color pictures. If such a creature does appear, I'll be the first one in line to buy it. :-)