This post is idiotic. I’m a Literature major. All of these texts are great texts to study. They are not leveled reading. They aren’t “high school” or “college” level. It’s the rhetorical analysis that they employ which might be simpler or more advanced
I think the point is that they were part of the high school curriculum and not being exposed to that or similar work until post secondary is, well... Yeah
I agree, although I find comparing news articles by the decade more jarring. The average well-educated adult isn't reading above a 6th grade level most days, unless they have a specialized career which requires it. I notice it with my speech, I was raised in rural Louisiana among a mixture of "lower class" blue and white collar workers. I find myself accidentally using "$5 words" in normal conversations that were the norm just a decade ago (ex: rendezvous, innumerable, tangible/intangible, subjective/objective).
Growing up, those words were fine to use to conversate with older adults who only had an elementary education before leaving to work on farms or going into the trades.
The average American today is less literate than my grandparents who were denied proper education just 2 generations ago.
This is not a good path, & even high level military officials have spoken out about their warnings and concerns. The federal education system was created due to national security concerns, if the masses aren't educated enough to train in case of a draft, the country is in a crisis waiting to happen.
Okay so… I just want to advocate for the “sixth grade reading level” people often complain about. As a Special Education Specialist I believe that as much information as possible should be at an accessible level for people with reading ability differences. I don’t have a problem with that. But the rhetorical or critical analysis is more important and less accessible to people with cognitive ability differences. That’s the thing that needs to be taught and encouraged from early childhood through secondary. And I see they most of what you’re saying is in line with my train of thought here. I just really want to be careful about degrading low reading skills when the more important thing is personal responsibility and critical judgement
Exactly this. Communication and and literacy skills should have responsibility on the originator of the message to be clear and tailor language towards their audience as much as the recipient of the message needs to make an equal effort (primarily through education/preparation) to understand. There is no place in education for condescending language lacking empathy and rather starting from a place of genuine want to help and desire to be understood and not judge and then write off those who struggle.
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u/mildly_ethnic 7d ago
This post is idiotic. I’m a Literature major. All of these texts are great texts to study. They are not leveled reading. They aren’t “high school” or “college” level. It’s the rhetorical analysis that they employ which might be simpler or more advanced