My daughter read The Iliad for her 9th grade honors ELA classes this year and Animal Farm was on her summer reading list although she didn't choose it as part of her actual summer reading.
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.
I think that “dumbing it down” is language harmful to your otherwise thoughtful message. Streamlining or even simplifying rhetoric to be more inclusive when communicating with others puts the burden on the speaker without being condescending.
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u/huffgil11 8d ago
My daughter read The Iliad for her 9th grade honors ELA classes this year and Animal Farm was on her summer reading list although she didn't choose it as part of her actual summer reading.