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Who Reads in America?
While many educators bemoan the decline of literacy in America, one writer says you can still find plenty of readers in the private corners and cracks of society.
SAN FRANCISCO--Two years ago, while sitting in a café in Brooklyn on a cold winter night, I ran into "Chicago Mike." In the crook of his arm he held a thick and tattered book. I asked him what he was reading and he told me it was the "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," by Edward Gibbon. I asked him if it was the abridged edition.
"No, it's one volume of the un-abridged text. Who needs to read the edited version?"
After ordering a cup of coffee, and with a smile on his face, he got on his bike and rode off into the snow. Mike delivered weed for a living.
The other day I read in a local paper that the department of education had released a report describing the eroding literacy skills of college students in America. One wonders if this is a bellwether for the country as a whole. What does it mean when high-achieving college students are reading less proficiently than their counterparts a generation ago? Are we slowly becoming a nation of non-readers?
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"No, it's one volume of the un-abridged text. Who needs to read the edited version?"
After ordering a cup of coffee, and with a smile on his face, he got on his bike and rode off into the snow. Mike delivered weed for a living.
The other day I read in a local paper that the department of education had released a report describing the eroding literacy skills of college students in America. One wonders if this is a bellwether for the country as a whole. What does it mean when high-achieving college students are reading less proficiently than their counterparts a generation ago? Are we slowly becoming a nation of non-readers?
More
For more information:
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_...
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