Hirsch Argument Atlas
1987

Cultural Literacy

892 claims
262 evidence
132 counter-args
142 arg chains
6 chapters
Chapters
Chapter 1
Hirsch argues that national literacy is not merely a formal skill but requires a shared network of specific information called 'cultural literacy.' He contends that American literacy levels are fai...
215 claims 52 conclusions 57 evidence All claims →
Chapter 2
Chapter II explores the cognitive mechanisms behind reading, moving away from a linear model of decoding toward a model where the reader's mind actively supplies unwritten information. This process...
188 claims 49 conclusions 60 evidence All claims →
Chapter 3
Modern national languages and cultures are not natural occurrences but consciously constructed artifices created by central governments to foster linguistic homogeneity. These standardized language...
157 claims 38 conclusions 60 evidence All claims →
Chapter 4
Hirsch argues that while restoring literacy requires a policy of common information, this must be achieved within the American traditions of pluralism and local control. He contends that historic A...
122 claims 29 conclusions 31 evidence All claims →
Chapter 5
Hirsch argues that the fragmentation of the American school curriculum and the decline in literacy are primarily caused by the dominance of 'romantic formalism' in educational theory. He contends t...
171 claims 43 conclusions 47 evidence All claims →
Preface
The author introduces cultural literacy as the broad range of shared information necessary for modern citizens to thrive and achieve social mobility. He argues that the failure of American schools ...
39 claims 11 conclusions 7 evidence All claims →
Cross-Book Arguments (164)

Arguments from this book that also appear in other books:

77879606101620222324 Refined
There is no such thing as a general reading skill that exists independently of specific topic knowledge shared between a
77879606101620222324 Broadened
The disparity in reading test scores between children with equal skills but different knowledge levels is a result of di
77879606101620222324 New Evidence
The decline in American SAT verbal scores between 1952 and 2012 is caused by a decrease in shared knowledge required for
77879606101620222324 Repeated
Proficient reading and critical thinking are completely dependent on broad factual knowledge rather than being the resul
77879606101620222324 Evolved
Commonly shared background knowledge is essential to understanding the written and spoken words of a national language.
77879606101620222324 Repeated
What young children lack in reading comprehension is not strategy, but knowledge of formal language conventions and know
77879606101620222324 New Evidence
Mean verbal SAT scores in the United States saw a significant decline between the late 1950s and the early 1980s.
77879606101620222324 Refined
Bi-ethnicity, defined as the combination of home culture and the culture of the national grapholect, is an inherent and
77879606101620222324 Repeated
The capacity of human short-term memory during language processing is limited to approximately five unitary items.
77879606101620222324 Evolved
A chief aim of early education in the United States is to impart the shared knowledge and values of American literate cu

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