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Introduction for the topic STEREOTYPE
Stereotype in society
Stereotyping and the influence it has on how we react to one another
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Recommended: Introduction for the topic STEREOTYPE
In “Anti-Intellectualism: Why We Hate the Smart Kids”, Penrod states that anti-intellectualism is one the rise and tells us why intellectuals are looked down upon by society. In his essay, he says that he believes social stereotypes, public examples, and monetary obsession are several factors that contribute to anti-intellectualism. In his essay, he claims that people who excel in school are typically associated with the terms “geek” or “nerd” and that they tend to get excluded from social activities because of those labels. Penrod incorporates a quote from an online venter that says, “A+ﰃ this and . . . got a 1600 on my SAT and got all AP class[es] next year woohoo. That’s all these people care about don’t they have lives damn nerds” (Penrod
755). This example alone shows readers that the image of intellectualism is looked at as intellectuals being antisocial and not having a life outside of their studies. Penrod also says that he believes anti-intellectual feelings could possibly stem from public examples since intellectualism isn't always tied to success and social status when it comes to public figures and celebrities. When teenagers and kids see public figures such as Sammy Sosa earning “an intimidating eighteen million dollars” (756), they began to wonder whether intellectualism is really necessary or even important anymore. I found Penrod’s argument persuasive because he provides a great amount of examples and overall evidence to support his claims.
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.
According to “Hidden Intellectualism”, Gerald Graff says that “ Everyone knows some young person who is impressively “street smart” but does poor in school” ( Gerald Graff 244). He explains that to many people believe that one who is so intelligent in life cannot do well in academic work, and he or she needs spend extra time on his or her school works than things in sports. However, Graff used his own anti-intellectual experience to verify his opinion that street smarts are simply as important as school smarts, and he recommends school should take all these street smarts and apply them into good academic environment. Graff also believes we should allow students read literature or any things they first feel interested, for example “George Orwell, which is a writing on the cultural meanings of penny postcards is infinitely more
They also relatably talk of the way that they affect students in their higher education. In Gerald Graff’s essay about hidden intellectualism it is implied that we all have intellect within us. It just may be show in different ways among different people. He offers the example that a love for learning about anything can later be converted into a love for learning about academic subjects. Where in the second essay we talk more about people who have feelings of anti-intellectualism which we learn is a negative feeling towards intellect or learning itself. You could say that those who feel anti-intellectualism tend to have dwindling desires to continue in school and gaining this so called intellect, leading them to complacency in their education. Whereas those who have increased desire to further their intellects will tend to stay on a path of fulfillment and
Then, for the bulk of the passage, Fridman offers various examples of nerds being looked down upon to convey the issue’s pervasiveness. This is seen when Fridman refers to Harvard when he describes “anti-intellectualism is rampant”(paragraph 3). By citing an esteemed school that prides itself on academic achievement and rigor, Fridman shows how far reaching intellectual devaluation is. In other words, even places that claim to have academically driven
School is a frightening place. It is broken down into multiple social ranks, and many children find themselves at the bottom. With children trying to work their way to the top of the food chain, the actual learning portion is either set aside or forgotten altogether. In Grant Penrod’s essay, Anti-Intellectualism: Why We Hate the Smart Kids, he explains how modern children are growing to dislike intellectual children. The varying social ranks teach children to ignore low grades and try to be popular in school. Anti-Intellectualism is a trend which is becoming increasingly popular throughout the world. People who only strive to be popular tend to tease intellectuals, but this is not half of the story. If the only goal children have in school
However, such accusations such as laziness and entitlement, although common, have been prevalent amongst those of college age as proven in “A’s for Everyone.” Shepard had investigated the cause behind this and had put the blame on grade inflation in the years prior to entering college, the pressure to get superb grades due to high tuition costs, and most importantly the belief that “effort” constitutes a grade bonus. However, if one has entered the school system in America, one could see the relative ease in which one could improve their grades through inordinate amounts of extra credit. Multiple students have heard and even seen fellow students ask their parents to even come in for meetings of which equate to blaming their child’s poor grades on the teacher and harassing said teacher to allow their child, soon to be a hardworking, productive citizen of society, to get the “grade they
In “Cultural Illiteracy,” a preface to the novel The Dumbest Generation, Mark Bauerlein critically evaluates how technological distractions affect the younger generation. Bauerlein states that “digital diversions” are cutting the younger generation off from culturally enhancing mediums and is in turn making the younger generation less intelligent. Though Bauerlein is correct about the increase of peer pressure due to technology, he is mistaken about how technology is making the younger generation unintelligent.
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.
Graff begins by talking about the educational system, and why it flawed in many ways, but in particular, one: Todays schools overlook the intellectual potential of street smart students, and how shaping lessons to work more readily with how people actually learn, we could develop into something capable of competing with the world. In schools, students are forced to recite and remember dull and subject heavy works in order to prepare them for the future, and for higher education. “We associate the educated life, the life of the mind, too narrowly and exclusively with subjects and texts that we consider inherently weighty and academic. We assume that it’s possible to wax intellectual about Plato, Shakespeare, the French Revolution, and nuclear fission, but not about cars, dating, fashion, sports, TV, or video games.” (Graff, 198-199) In everyday life, students are able to learn and teach themselves something new everyday. It is those students, the “young person who is impressively “street smart” but does poorly in school” (Graff, 198), that we are sweeping away from education and forcing to seek life in places that are generally less successful than those who attend a college or university.
“Hidden Intellectualism” written by Gerald Graff, is a compelling essay that presents the contradicting sides of “book smarts” and “street smarts” and how these terms tied in to Graff’s life growing up. Graff felt like the school was at fault that the children with more “street smarts” were marked with the reputation of being inadequate in the classroom. Instead of promoting the knowledge of dating, cars, or social cues, the educational system deemed them unnecessary. Gerald Graff thought that “street smarts” could help people with academics. In his essay, Graff confessed that despite his success as an “intellect” now, he was the exact opposite until college. Where he grew up in Chicago, Illinois, intelligence was looked down upon around peers
Leonid Fridman in his article “America Needs Its Nerds” (1990) proposes that “For America’s sake the anti-intellectual values that pervade our society must be fought.” Fridman accomplishes the by first spelling out how the meaning of the terms geek and nerd are derogatory, secondly, he explains how at prestigious colleges “nerds are ostracized while athletes are idolized.” Third, Fridman describes how other countries treat the intellectually serious: hold them and teacher above athletes. Through his utilization definition, rhetorical question, and contrast, Fridman attempts to convince America of why nerds are important to our society and to provide evidence as to why they should not be ridiculed. Throughout the article, Fridman employs a serious tone that is not overly scholarly with the purpose of trying to connect with the audience and causes the nerd’s importance resonates with the audience and does not go understated.
A select few individuals in society are abnormally intelligent, making them to be frequently outcasted and rarely recognized for their true importance to the world. In an article from The New York Times entitled, “America Needs its Nerds”, by Leonid Fridman, the author delves deep into the ideas of the constant cruelty displayed towards nerds and geeks. Throughout the article, Fridman utilizes rhetorical questions, colloquialisms and even anecdotes in order to directly respond to the fact that nerds and geeks should be celebrated for their contributions to the advancements in the world instead of criticized for not fitting into society’s expectations.
Why street smart students are considered anti intellectual in academic area? In the article “Hidden Intellectualism” by Gerald Graff, he accounts the idea that street smart students are way more smarted than book smarts. He explains that street smart student will be able to solve an issue much faster than book smart because of his/her previous experience. According to author, the problems with considering street smarts as anti intellectual are they are actually much smarter that book smart students, they don’t equal opportunity , and schools along with colleges never challenge their mind get them to succeed in academic work.
Geek- a performer that bites off a live chicken head for entertainment. Nowadays that is what the “American” culture refers its intellectuals as . Leonid Fridman the author of “America Needs Its Nerds” explains why our culture should stop casting out the academically great people in our society using different methods to demonstrating the effect of our influences have caused these intellectuals to struggle in more social situations. Fridman argues that they should be able to think freely and not worry about their image in society by using situations that people would not expect would happen. Fridman also establishes rare it is for a country to idolize anti-intellectualism as much as the “american” culture
Elitism is the belief in “concept of superiority: the belief that some people or things are inherently superior to others and deserve preeminence, preferential treatment, or higher rewards because of their superiority.” Academic elitism refers to the idea that in highly competitive academic environments only those individuals who are involved in scholarship are regarded as having worthwhile actions and ideas. Academic elitism proposes that those individuals who do not engage in such acts of scholarship are unimportant. Although, it is possible to value academia and scholarship without being an elitist, the elitist ideal is becoming more and more prevalent in both academic and non-academic sectors. This tendency toward academic elitism is most pronounced in highly competitive and highly regarded environments ranging from the local elementary school to the CUNY school system. The tendency towards academic elitism is noticeable in education, particularly in the systems of developed countries. More attention, time and resources are allotted to students who are perceived to be more intelligent than their counterparts, at an early age. This inequality tends to further separate the elite from the remainder of society. Systems that channel include upper class institutions, advanced classes, and other elite student groups. Countries with extensive private school systems also exemplify this trend. Academic elitism is a form of discrimination and therefore should not be allowed to continue the separation and dissent based upon perceived scholastic intelligence.