On E.D. Hirsch's "Cultural Literacy"

When reading ED Hirsch's paper, I really had to take a look from his perspective of literacy. Noting the multiple divergences of people that exist makes pinpointing literacy as a cultural practice of passing standardized information from generation to generation very difficult. When looking at how many approaches to literacy and the multiple ways literacy can be received and taught, the simple transmission of information seems fairly basic in its approach. 

There are certain elements of Hirsch's argument, such as needing to know important cultural dates (like Independence Day) and influences that have brought the United States to where we are today, but there are many different conversations that are occurring today that may differ from that of 30 years ago. As Hirsch acknowledged towards the and of the excerpt that we read, each generation has its own important facts that provide a certain meaning to that generation that may not take precedence in the lives of other generations. Does this mean that it isn't important to know what the conflict was (for instance, the Vietnam War)? Of course not! But it does stand to say that I believe that the date that something occured is always as important as knowing the reasons that it occurred, how it affected us as a nation and culture, and how to prevent that same conflict from happening.

I do agree that timing does make a difference. For instance, importance of knowing when the terrorist attacks against the WTC towers occurred leads one to then view that continuum of elements that led up to the attacks and the resulting war that was a focus of most of the last decade. But once again, for the next generation (and the one following that one) the date may fade more from our memory, but the social bonds that unite us to that day will not. 

Many people know the importance of WWII, although they may not know all of the dates (or the super powers). There is a social stress in understanding the conflict. I have personally concluded that Hirsch was not wrong in emphasizing the need to know cultural history, but the elements of critical thinking, analysis, and the ability to synthesize information may need to be stressed more.