The Yellow Badge Of Other Priorities Did Not Make The List

The National Endowment for the Humanities has announced a reading list as part of its effort to promote classic works of American fiction and non-fiction to school children. And, from this Washington Post article, it looks like Lynne Cheney tried to horn in on the announcement. The NEH's list is as follows:

Kindergarten through grade 3: "The Cabin Faced West" by Jean Fritz, "Anansi the Spider" by Gerald McDermott and "Sylvester and the Magic Pebble" by William Steig.

Grades 4-6: "The Matchlock Gun" by Walter D. Edmonds, "The Dream Keeper and Other Poems" by Langston Hughes, "My Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George and "Little House on the Prairie" by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Grades 7-8: "Johnny Tremain" by Esther Forbes, "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass" by Frederick Douglass and "The Hobbitt" [sicby J.R.R. Tolkein.

Grades 9-12: "The Red Badge of Courage" by Stephen Crane, "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison, "Profiles in Courage" by John F. Kennedy, "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain and "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee.

One can picture Lynne's facial muscles twitching uncontrollably as she read the 9th to 12th grade list. And one would be hard pressed to select books more at odds with the politics of Cheney, her husband and her party. I think I'd add Maggie, A Girl of the Streets as a companion to The Red Badge of Courage.

The Subliterate Post

While the NEH promotes cultural literacy, the Washington Post practices grammatical illiteracy.

Read the article and see if you can determine who put together the reading list. Hint: The answer is buried in the sixth paragraph.

And how about these paragraphs:

Poet Langston Hughes, novelist Stephen Crane and humorist and social commentator Mark Twain grace the recommended reading proposed Tuesday to help American youngsters learn more about their history and culture.

The recommended books feature themes of courage, with various titles proposed for readers from kindergarten through 12th grade.

It's part of a $100 million program sought by President Bush to teach youngsters more about their country.

"Grace the recommended reading proposed...." Huh? And to what does the "it" in the third paragraph refer? Did Bush seek the program or did he get the program?

How about a remedial writing program for Washington Post writers?