There is no universally agreed-upon “fleet” of works that all educated people are expected to have studied. There are atomization and tranches of knowledge. In general, 18-year-old college first-years know very little about world history. I have to give a potted lecture about X at the beginning of every literature class. My students do not know anything about the Reformation or the Enlightenment or the Industrial Revolution or the Cultural Revolution (or even the Vietnam War or the summer of love). They are very, very ignorant. They do know, however, about all the latest debates about transgender rights or the legalization of marijuana.