¶ … Challenging Cultural Myths" is an introductory preface to the seventh edition textbook Rereading America, published in 2007 by Bedford/St. Martin's Press and edited by Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen, and Bonnie Lisle The authors believes that becoming a college student is one of the most challenging experiences of your lifetime. For most students, it is the first time you have been independent, which can be exciting but scary. If you are living in a dorm setting, you are dealing with totally different people that you have never met before and they have completely different backgrounds, some are from other areas of the country and some are from foreign countries. Also there are increased expectations, you will have to read more and do more coursework than you have done before and most of them are all due on the same day. Another thing is that you are practically required to question your very beliefs and value systems that you grew up with.

The authors questions what makes up a critical thinker. He believes that they are someone who actively uses knowledge, not just reading and regurgitating facts and figures but...

To become a critical thinker you have to step outside of your comfort zone and see the world from other's perspectives. The best way to do this is to try and put your self in another person's shoes and see how things look from their point-of-view.
Culture shapes our lives and based on our culture it colors our perceptions on what makes sense. To become a critical thinker, we have to look beyond these myths.

Most people associate the word myth with ancient Greeks. We talk about Greek myths about gods and heroes. These myths are considered to be true not in a literal sense but because they reflect cultural beliefs. American myths are just as strong. America has the "American dream" which states that everyone can attain their dreams when they get to or live in America. Cultural myths become powerful because they insinuate themselves into our psyche.

Cultural myths can even change the complexity of our thinking and academic mores. The authors gives an example of a poem that was read to the class about a child's love for his working-class father who had dirt on his hands…