According to E.D. Hirsch, to be culturally literate is to possess the basic information to thrive in the modern world. It is the "grasp on the background information that writers and speakers assume their audience already has." In his book, Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know, Hirsch sets forth 5,000 essential words and phrases of which each person should be knowledgeable. The list ranges from idioms to mythology, from science to fairy tales. …showed first 75 words of 926 total…

…showed last 75 words of 926 total…attending Colgate University, a liberal arts school. It is the mission of a liberal arts school to educate each student in several different areas and for each student to become knowledgeable of a core curriculum. In a sense, this is what Hirsch wants for every school in the United States. From my experience, Hirsch's perspective does have validity, but he has a tendency to underestimate the importance of a student's interest in the learning process