Reply to the Atlantic: The Elite College Students Who Can't Read Books

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Reply to "the Atlantic: The Elite College Students Who Can't Read Books"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]This is 100% a public school problem. Private schools still require reading full books. [/quote]

Yes, but many privates have dropped classic literature, which means the students arrive in college without the essential cultural background to understand allusions made in the college-level readings.[/quote]

Allusions are always culturally bound and they do go obsolete.  There was a great article in the New Yorker a few years ago about generational change and what people understand about the key cultural reference points of earlier generations.  It's always discomfiting to discover that your cultural reference touchpoints are not known to younger people.

With the modern understanding that more types of peoples' experiences are worthy of study, kids are not receiving as common a literary foundation as in years past.  I don't feel this is undermining our shared culture in any way as much as the changes in information flow (Internet, social media, mainstream vs. narrowcasted news).

In other words, the battles between the Murdoch heirs probably have more impact on our society than making sure everyone has read the Iliad, Great Expectations, and 1984.[/quote]
You also don’t need to read every classic under the sun. It makes more sense to have relatable modern lot that kids can analyze with their contemporary frameworks. James Joyce isn’t going to teach your kid much without a reader and dictionary attached to their hip.[/quote]

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