- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
About this book
Literacy in America: A Cultural History of the Past Century is a history of literacy in the United States over the last one hundred years. Told chronologically and supported by hundreds of research studies done over the years as reported in scholarly journals, the work sheds new light on the important role that literacy and reading in general have played in this country since the 1920s. The subject is parsed through the voices of educators, intellectuals, and journalists who have weighed in on its many different dimensions. Literacy is a key site of race, gender, and class, offering insights related to the social and economic inequities that are embedded in our institutions.
The primary argument of Literacy in America is that literacy, as a major part of education, has functioned as a means of social control of children, with authority figures dictating which reading material is acceptable and which is not. Literacy has also operated as a vehicle of citizenship for Americans of all ages, and as a symbol of the responsibilities of democracy. With its ambitious scope, the strives to be a seminal guide to literacy in America and add to our understanding of everyday life in the United States.
Most interesting, perhaps, is the twisting, unpredictable journey of literacy since the end of World War I, when I argue that the subject's modern era began. Rather than follow a straight line, both the perception and reality of reading swerved over the years, offering a trajectory that makes for a compelling narrative for anyone interested in American cultural and social history. Controversy of some kind has often surrounded literacy in the United States, this alone making it a fascinating source of interest to explore in detail.
The primary argument of Literacy in America is that literacy, as a major part of education, has functioned as a means of social control of children, with authority figures dictating which reading material is acceptable and which is not. Literacy has also operated as a vehicle of citizenship for Americans of all ages, and as a symbol of the responsibilities of democracy. With its ambitious scope, the strives to be a seminal guide to literacy in America and add to our understanding of everyday life in the United States.
Most interesting, perhaps, is the twisting, unpredictable journey of literacy since the end of World War I, when I argue that the subject's modern era began. Rather than follow a straight line, both the perception and reality of reading swerved over the years, offering a trajectory that makes for a compelling narrative for anyone interested in American cultural and social history. Controversy of some kind has often surrounded literacy in the United States, this alone making it a fascinating source of interest to explore in detail.
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Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Yes, you can access Literacy in America by Lawrence R. Samuel in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & North American History. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Information
Table of contents
- Introduction
- Chapter One: Toward World Friendliness (1920–1939)
- Chapter Two: The Foundation of Education (1940–1959)
- Chapter Three: A System of Social Communication (1960–1979)
- Chapter Four: The Gutenberg Elegies (1980–1999)
- Chapter Five: Carpe Librum (2000–)
- Afterword
- Notes
- Bibliography
- About the Author