Approximately 25 million adults are currently reading below the fifth-grade level, and another 35 to 40 million adults read between the fifth- and eighth-grade levels. This is particularly significant for the American press inasmuch as the average daily newspaper is written at a minimum of a ninth-grade reading level. A number of unexamined…

Describes Cuba's successful adult literacy campaign and suggests the necessity for a similar undertaking in the United States. Advocates (1) the use of college and secondary students as literacy workers, and (2) the adoption of the concept of "the generative word" (Paulo Freire) as tools for carrying out such a campaign. (GC)

Describes utilizing secondary students and college undergraduates of the United States to teach illiterate adults to read by returning their stories (oral history) to them in writing allowing literacy lessons on subjects known to the adult. (ERB)