In a world where high school dropout stories are prevalent, the public is beginning to shun intellectualism on a greater degree than ever before. Although top-performing athletes in high school get showered with recognition by their peers, students who equally flourish in the field of academics rarely get acknowledged as much as their athletic counterparts. In his essay, “Anti-Intellectualism: Why We Hate the Smart Kids,” Grant Penrod proves this assertion.
Wishing to capture the audience, Penrod displays the hatred that many people have towards the intelligent. He supports his claims by displaying the thoughts and comments of internet users who avidly display their contempt for brilliant students. Then, Penrod shows that intellectuals are subjected to social
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isolation due to popular stereotypes portrayed in the media.
In order to show how the media influences teenagers, he outlines various articles and websites extolling a small amount of celebrities who have dropped out of high school. Penrod claims these articles cause students to decry the importance of education. To contrast these beliefs, he uses a statistic that shows the positive correlation between education and earnings, despite the public’s belief of a negative one. To end his essay, he recites a poignant poem that reflects the bitter feelings of intellectuals worldwide.
I chose this article because it spoke to my heart and made me reflect on the way the majority treats the intelligent as opposed to the way I am treated. As I read the introduction, I felt that he spoke the truth when he points out the amount of recognition athletes receive versus the amount that academically gifted students receive. However, I felt that this was not true in my own life since, ironically, athletes praise me for my ACT
score, and always ask me to help them obtain the score that I achieved. Despite this, I still feel that Penrod’s evidence was accurate for the general population. Furthermore, the comments from people that he provided made me feel angry because of their blind hatred and contempt for the nerds on the sole basis of elevated intelligence. When I read the examples of celebrities who dropped out that many use to justify “anti-intellectualism,” I remembered how I have seen similar articles circulating around the internet that many people also use to oppose higher education. As I read about the cycle of social isolation of nerds, I felt a strong sense of sympathy towards them since I realized that they are not ostracized because of others’ personal beliefs, but rather due to the narrative that the media has forced on them, such as the portrayal of intellectuals as nerds who have no life, also exemplified in the quote by Dan6erous. Then, as the author juxtaposes the public’s disregard for intellectualism with the Census statistic proving the opposite, I chuckled to myself as I realized the ignorance of the masses. However, what struck me the most was the poem at the end of the essay that characterizes intellectuals as victims. The fact that they feel that nobody cares about them made me upset and grieved to know that future leaders feel this way.
Gerald Graff expresses his concern in “Hidden Intellectualism” about how the education system does not accurately measure true intelligence. If the education system used each individual’s interests, Graff argues, the individual would be much more intrigued in the subject matter; therefore, increasing his or her knowledge. Throughout the article, Graff also draws on his love of sports to support his argument, saying that it includes elements of grammar, methodologies, and debate. He believes this proves that interests can replace traditional teaching. Graff contends one’s interest will create a community with others throughout the nation who share the same interests. While it is important to pursue your interests, there
The next piece of data used is from Harvard. Harvard is known as a home of scholars and highly intelligent individuals. Fridman challenges this connotation by citing the “rampant anti-intellectualism” within the college. This data and the backing that follows has a profound effect on the reader. If even the highest point in America’s intellectual scene has been poisoned by this stigma then the implication is that nowhere is safe for those seeking unbridles
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
The authors both making sweeping statements about the political nature of the United States, but Ames addresses a more concentrated demographic of American society than Hedges. The latter points the finger at the venal egotism of celebrity culture for entrancing the public into complacency, and at America’s political leaders for orchestrating the fact, but he also places substantial blame on the people at-large for allowing themselves to be captivated by the entertainment industry. Ames discusses an issue in which the Millennial generation stands as the focal point, but she speaks directly to the teachers of these adolescents due to their position of influence. Although today’s youth are proven to possess a spark of political energy through their own volition—displayed through their generation-wide interest in dystopian literature—an environment of learning and in-depth analysis provides the best opportunity for the novels’ underlying calls-to-action to strike a chord with their young
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
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.
Leonid Fridman’s article,”America Need Its Nerds”, published in the New York Times, conveys American society’s unpleasant perception towards intellectuals. Fridman asserts the issues of American society's evaluation of people in order to convince readers of the New York Times to acknowledge educated individuals. He employs logos, ethos, and pathos to contribute to his goal if the readers of the New York Times recognizing the value of intellectuals.
The journey begins at the heart of the matter, with a street smart kid failing in school. This is done to establish some common ground with his intended audience, educators. Since Graff is an educator himself, an English professor at the University of Illinois in Chicago, he understands the frustrations of having a student “who is so intelligent about so many things in life [and yet] seems unable to apply that intelligence to academic work” (380). Furthermore, Graff blames schools for not utilizing street smarts as a tool to help improve academics; mainly due to an assumption that some subjects are more inherently intellectual than others. Graff then logically points out a lack of connection “between any text or subject and the educational depth and weight of the discussion it can generate” (381). He exemplifies this point by suggesting that any real intellectual could provoke thoughtful questions from any subject, while a buffoon can render the most robust subjects bland. Thus, he is effectively using logic and emotion to imply that educators should be able to approach any subject critically, even non-traditional subjects, lest they risk being labeled a buffoon.
The average human would think that going to school and getting an education are the two key items needed to make it in life. Another common belief is, the higher someone goes with their education, the more successful they ought to be. Some may even question if school really makes anyone smarter or not. In order to analyze it, there needs to be recognition of ethos, which is the writer 's appeal to their own credibility, followed by pathos that appeals to the writer’s mind and emotions, and lastly, logos that is a writer’s appeal to logical reasoning. While using the three appeals, I will be analyzing “Against School” an essay written by John Taylor Gatto that gives a glimpse of what modern day schooling is like, and if it actually help kids
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.
To continue, it is very rare that one reads or hears about the good teens do for society. Rather, journalists and publicists seem to enjoy highlighting the acts that hurt teens' images. For example, in an article of last year's (1998) "Teen People Magazine", an article told about the recent high-school shootings. One of these incidents occurred when a young boy brought his father's rifle to school and started shooting people. As a result, the boy shot and killed four schoolmates and a 32-year-old teacher. This and other incidents of the sort give teenagers a very bad image. The article shows that some teens are irresponsible and not very smart.
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.
Co-author of “They Say/I Say” handbook, Gerald Graff, analyzes in his essay “Hidden Intellectualism” that “street smarts” can be used for more efficient learning and can be a valuable tool to train students to “get hooked on reading and writing” (Graff 204). Graff’s purpose is to portray to his audience that knowing more about cars, TV, fashion, and etc. than “academic work” is not the detriment to the learning process that colleges and schools can see it to be (198). This knowledge can be an important teaching assistant and can facilitate the grasping of new concepts and help to prepare students to expand their interests and write with better quality in the future. Graff clarifies his reasoning by indicating, “Give me the student anytime who writes a sharply argued, sociologically acute analysis of an issue in Source over the student who writes a life-less explication of Hamlet or Socrates’ Apology” (205). Graff adopts a jovial tone to lure in his readers and describe how this overlooked intelligence can spark a passion in students to become interested in formal and academic topics. He uses ethos, pathos, and logos to establish his credibility, appeal emotionally to his readers, and appeal to logic by makes claims, providing evidence, and backing his statements up with reasoning.
There are terms like geeks and nerds which students use in high schools usually to disgrace the person who works hard, study so that he can contribute towards the establishment and progress of his country. Anti-intellectualism exists only in America, and if we compare ourselves to other countries, a big difference can be seen that other countries promote intellectualism by promoting the kid who is called nerds in American society. Unlike other countries, American society believes that being an athlete is far more appealing than being an intellect. This is the reason that American kids prefer staying outside and playing with their friends rather than staying at home, doing homework and playing video games. This characteristic makes nerdy kids different from the others and being called abnormal. The problem arises when people show their typical reaction towards people with high intelligence. They believe that it is