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In the United States, “nerds are ostracized while athletes are idolized.” To provide an example: the intellectually gifted are called derogatory names by society, yet fans would not be able to watch their favorite athletes if it wasn’t for the invention of the television by a “nerd.” As the author establishes, “enough is enough.” Writer, Leonid Fridman, in his argumentative essay, “America Needs Its Nerds,” asserts that Americans must eliminate the anti-intellectual values in order to prosper as a country. Fridman utilizes rhetorical strategies including exemplification, contrast, and rhetorical questions to defend the purpose of his article: it is crucial for society to idolize nerds, rather than athletes, for the U.S. to maintain power. The author adopts a frustrated and indignant tone in order to convince America that anti-intellectual values must end. …show more content…
Leonid Fridman begins his argument by acknowledging that anti-intellectualism is prevalent everywhere in the United States, as well as idolizing athletes.
He conveys this message further by including Harvard-- a prestigious academic institution-- as a prominent example. He references a renowned college and addresses that at Harvard, “anti-intellectualism is rampant,” that “students are ashamed to admit how much they study,” and that there is a minority of students who emphasized that knowledge is not their top priority. This demonstrates how even the smartest students are afraid to be labeled as “nerds” because of how society will reject them. Also, Fridman provides an astonishing example that even at an institution at the forefront of education, the athlete is still viewed above than the academic in society. The prominent example Fridman addresses demonstrates a striking tone, shocking the reader, that in universities across America, anti-intellectual values are a significant
issue. Fridman shifts from a specific example, Harvard University, to a broader spectrum by contrasting where other countries invest value. The author implies that “in many parts of the world, university professors are the most prestigious and materially rewarding profession.” Then, Fridman contrasts by establishing that in America, professional ballplayers have extremely higher pay, as well as much more respect, than professors. By illustrating a difference in where Americans place values, Leonid Fridman utilizes an informative tone in order to convince his audience that it is urgent for society to rethink their values. Fridman concludes this article with several questions, enticing the reader to wonder about the future of America if intellectuals continue to be rejected from society. For example, Fridman asks, “How can America remain a world-class power if we constantly emphasize social skills and physical prowess over academic achievement and intellectual ability?” The rhetorical question concludes his main argument: people who are considered nerds are essential for this country to maintain power. America focuses too much on sports, which will serve no benefit to the country. The rhetorical question also leaves an open thought to the audience. This affects the readers because it’s their responsibility to uphold America. How will America function without its nerds? By utilizing exemplification, contrast, and rhetorical questions, Leonid Fridman describes why athletes should not be idolized, but “nerds.” The anti-intellectualism value in society must end for America to maintain power.
Rick Reilly, in his ESPN column (2007), contends that sports competitions are more than simple games, instead, they are events capable of bringing people together in unique ways. He reinforces his contention by integrating inspirational anecdotal evidence, bold syntax, and unvarnished diction. Reilly’s purpose is to point out the importance and humanity of sports in order to convince a college professor and readers of sports magazines that sports writing is indeed an advanced and valuable profession. He assumes a humorous tone (“...most important- sports is the place where beer tastes best”) for an audience of sports magazine readers, but more specifically, a professor that told him that he was “better than sports.”
Author and Harvard graduate, Leonid Fridman, in an excerpt of his article, America Needs Its Nerds, points out America’s anti-intellectualism. Fridman’s purpose is to inform the reader of the contempt held for the intellectually curious and call for a change in the country’s attitude. He adopts a condemning tone to make the reader aware of the issue and encourage them to change their mindset.
Graff takes a logical approach to defending his opinion on the age old battle of “street smarts versus book smarts” in the article “Hidden Intellectualism”. Through several historical and personal examples, he strongly delivers an argument that schools have been discounting students who may not think academically. In reality the students who can relate articles from sources like Vouge and Sports Illustrated to life may be the ones who will truly be successful. Throughout his writing, he uses many devices to sway the audience’s opinions in the direction of his. Through Graff’s rhetorical writing strategies, he opens reader’s eyes to the fact that any subject can be intellectual when observed “through academic eyes”.
Penrod says that intellectuals have a negative name associated with them that can also give them a bad reputation. The name “geek” or “nerd” is not a positive one for the intellectuals and makes them feel devalued. An online venter describes what he hears “A+ this and…got a 1600 on my SAT and got all AP classes next year woohoo. That’s all these people care about don’t they have lives damn nerds” (Penrod). Even though the venter seems to be angry towards the end his anger shows something bigger. He is somewhat envious of the grades, SAT scores, and classes these kids get because they’re intellectuals. All of those factors together that he
In “Hidden Intellectualism” by Gerald Graff, the author speaks about how schools should use students’ interests to develop their rhetorical and analytical skills. He spends a majority of his essay on telling his own experience of being sport loving and relating it to his anti-intellectual youth. He explains that through his love for sports, he developed rhetoric and began to analyze like an intellectual. Once he finishes his own story, he calls the schools to action advising them to not only allow students to use their interest as writing topics, but instead to teach the students on how to implement those compelling interests and present them in a scholarly way. In perspective, Graff’s argument becomes weak with his poor use of ethos, in which he solely focuses on his own anecdote but, through the same means he is able to build his pathos and in the last few paragraphs, with his use of logic he prevents his argument from becoming dismissible.
For a majority of children, their role model is their favorite celebrity. These celebrities tend to be athletes, or musicians. Several gifted children admire people who are not as famous, such as famous scientists, authors, or artists. While an intellectual child may be a fan of a celebrity, they may not look up to them in the same way other students would. “Certainly the image presented by modern celebrities suggests that intellectualism has no ties to success and social legitimacy,” which explains how celebrities are practically promoting anti-intellectualism (Penrod, 755). Other students will likely find intellectuals’ role models strange and will tease both the role models and the intellectual children, which decreases their reputation with the intellectuals. Nobody wants to be friends with someone who mocks their role model. When everybody is making fun of an intellectual’s role model, the chances of an intellectual socializing are slim for his ir her feelings are hurt. If the people setting examples were intellectuals, the anti-intellectual movement would probably be different, but as of now, the only way for gifted people to be popular is to change the world with whatever they do best. Changing the world sounds much harder when an intellectual student does not have
In reasoning with his readers, Hartenstine provides statistics that correct Marx’ argument on student-athlete graduation rate. He states, “82 percent of Division I freshmen scholarship student-athletes who entered college in 2004 earned a degree. In Division II, 73 percent of freshmen student-athletes who entered college in 2004 graduated” (Hartenstine, 476). He wants readers to feel that it isn’t the college that is failing the students. The students can do fine coping with school and sports with the aid of tutoring and assistance programs in place at colleges. I found it easier to accept that players don’t need to be paid because the school is investing more into their education than just
Why does our society praise braun over brain? When did athletic talent and beauty begin to reign over intellect? In past cultures intellect was cherished, praised and honored. However, in present time our most honored members of society are our athletes and entertainers. Why do we no longer honor our philosophers, scientists, and innovators? Intellects keep the world turning. Due to this lack of admiration for intelligence, our children are no longer inspired to learn. Their dreams co...
It is no secret that college has absurd tuition prices. If colleges were to lower the prices of tuition, everyone would be universally happier. Brooks uses the following quote to address the obvious “it is the outrageous sticker price of a college education, and its steep upward climb in seeming defiance of the rest of the economy, that has fueled a demand to know why American families should sacrifice so much to a possibly dubious product.” (Brooks 59). Although I agree that college may be too inflated compared to off campus, I came to the realization that the price of college is mostly worth it. Umass Amherst has the best Sports Management program and is worth the money because they have the largest alumni in this field. They have alumni in all the major sports leagues in America and even in the other continents. They have a strong connection to Umass and tend to hire other Umass Amherst graduates from the McCormack Department of Sport Management. Brooks believes that instrumental learning, teaching students to pass the course, rather to understand the central questions of humanity hinders the value of college (Brooks 65). Yet this could not be further from the truth. The first time reading the essay I supported his arguments, but the more times I read the essay the more I began to disagree. At first, I questioned if a year’s tuition for
American culture has evolved, and Society tends to ostracize people for their intelligence, and our culture has been giving these intellectuals derogatory names like nerd and geek. Leonid Fridman believes that these anti- intellectual values that pervade our society must be fought and should stop for the sake of America. The author supports this position in the passage “America Needs It’s Nerds” through the use of rhetoric by giving definitions of terms such as geek, offering comparisons through juxtaposition, adding a tone shift, and posing rhetorical questions to the reader.
Thelin, John R., and Lawrence L. Wiseman. The old college try: balancing academics and athletics in higher education. Washington, D.C.: School of Education and Human Development, the George Washington University, 1989.
Pappano, Laura. “How Big-Time Sports Ate College Life” Norton Sampler: Short Essays for Composition, 8th ed. Pages 591-600. 2013.
Friday, William C. "Athletics vs. academics. (both sides)." Matrix: The Magazine for Leaders in Higher Education 2.6 (2001): 30+. Expanded Academic ASAP. Web. 27 July 2011.
College is a time for young people to develop and grow not only in their education, but social aspects as well. One of the biggest social scenes found around college campuses are athletic events, but where would these college sports be without their dedicated athletes? Student athletes get a lot of praise for their achievements on the field, but tend to disregard the work they accomplish in the classroom. Living in a college environment as a student athlete has a great deal of advantages as well as disadvantages that affect education and anti-intellectualism.
For decades there has been a debate on student athletes and their drive to succeed in the classroom. From the very beginning of organized college level athletics, the goal to want to succeed in athletics has forced students to put academics to the back burner. In spite of the goal to want to succeed over a hundred years of attempts to check limits of intercollegiate athletic programs on colleges' academic standards still seems to struggle to this day. This brings to surface one of the most asked questions in sports, “What effect does college sports have on academics and economics?” Herbert D. Simons, Derek Van Rheenen, and Martin V. Covington, authors of “Academic Motivation and the Student Athlete” researched the topic on whether athletics and academics benefit each other. Bryan Flynn, the author of “College Sports vs. Academics” poses the question “Should institutions of higher learning continue to involve themselves in athletic programs that often turn out to be virtual arms races for recruiting talented players who bring big money and prestige, but put academics to the back burner?” Although both authors agree that sports have an impact on an athlete’s academics, the focus of their argument differs.