Specify Books In Pursuance Of The Language Police: How Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn
| Original Title: | The Language Police: How Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn |
| ISBN: | 0375414827 (ISBN13: 9780375414824) |
| Edition Language: | English |
Diane Ravitch
Hardcover | Pages: 272 pages Rating: 3.72 | 648 Users | 76 Reviews
Narration As Books The Language Police: How Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn
If you’re an actress or a coed just trying to do a man-size job, a yes-man who turns a deaf ear to some sob sister, an heiress aboard her yacht, or a bookworm enjoying a boy’s night out, Diane Ravitch’s internationally acclaimed The Language Police has bad news for you: Erase those words from your vocabulary!Textbook publishers and state education agencies have sought to root out racist, sexist, and elitist language in classroom and library materials. But according to Diane Ravitch, a leading historian of education, what began with the best of intentions has veered toward bizarre extremes. At a time when we celebrate and encourage diversity, young readers are fed bowdlerized texts, devoid of the references that give these works their meaning and vitality. With forceful arguments and sensible solutions for rescuing American education from the pressure groups that have made classrooms bland and uninspiring, The Language Police offers a powerful corrective to a cultural scandal.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
Identify Out Of Books The Language Police: How Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn
| Title | : | The Language Police: How Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn |
| Author | : | Diane Ravitch |
| Book Format | : | Hardcover |
| Book Edition | : | Deluxe Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 272 pages |
| Published | : | December 18th 2007 by Knopf Publishing Group (first published 2003) |
| Categories | : | Nonfiction. Education. Politics. Humanities. Language. Sociology. History |
Rating Out Of Books The Language Police: How Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn
Ratings: 3.72 From 648 Users | 76 ReviewsCrit Out Of Books The Language Police: How Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn
My Amazon review: While Ms. Ravitch's topic and discussion of textbook and testing censorship is a stunning revelation and a fascinating topic, her book does not do justice to all of the issues. Ms. Ravitch could probably have benefited from a good editor, and some organization to condense much of the information of the first six chapters into one or two. Many of her points about the influence of gender specific groups, nationality specific groups, religious organizations, and others, as well asTL;DR version: If you're interested in the subject matter, pick up Joan DelFattore's What Johnny Shouldn't Read instead.I'm actually upset that I didn't like this book, but it just isn't good. False equivalencies abound. Ravitch spends six pages complaining that high schoolers don't read enough of the canon (read: dead white guys) then says she isn't saying we should canonize. She implies that students aren't as influenced by textbooks as people think, then later says students will be confused
Awesome, frightening book about censorship in education, coincidentally one of the few things that both sides in the 'culture war' manage to agree on--they both favor it, although for different reasons. The appendices alone made it a must buy, and I've worked through several of the works she cited since then. Quote: "The goal of the language police is not just to stop us from using objectionable words but to stop us from having objectionable thoughts. The language police believe that reality
"I sit with Shakespeare, and he winces not. Across the color line I move arm and arm with Balsac and Dumas, where smiling men and welcoming women glide in gilded halls. From out of the caves of evening that swing between the strong-limbed earth and the tracery of the stars, I summon Aristotle and Aurelius and what soul I will, and they come all graciously with no scorn nor condescension. So, wed with Truth, I dwell above the Veil" -W.E.B. DuBois(great quote)While I read this book, I wasn't sure
Disturbing, discouraging, and thought-provoking book about the culture of censorship in American textbooks and educational materials. The revising of literature, and nationwide lack of standards related to any classic literature at all was particularly troubling to me. I liked this book, but the author can be repetitive in hammering her points, as well as a bit boring in her delivery. That said, she did make this reader get my hackles up and pissed off at some of the things I was completely
It's scary how we are controlled so much in school. I liked this book but I'm considering that ignorance is bliss.This book discusses how the American government and pressure groups changes things or deletes stuff in our history curriculum to make things more likable and politically correct. What ever happened to learn from the past? Many more topics are covered in the book that make me want to get up and go fight the whole messy process.
Ravitch looks at one aspect of the American Public School Crisis: the lousy curricula. Because apparently EVERYONE has felt the need to tweak it. Maddening stuff.
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