Speaker
It is clear that once the reader reads the prologue, as well the summary at the beginning of the book, she has already proved her passion for this subject. Robbins’ credibility is achieved from her excessive use of information supporting her quirk theory. Readers are convinced that there is “something special about [outcasts]” (45) and that they “would accomplish interesting, creative, and perhaps great things as adults” (45). Robbins even goes as far as to “[follow] seven… real people for a year and [interview] hundreds of other students, teachers, and counselors” (8) about their personal experiences to show the reader how their individuality will allow them to prosper in their adult lives. However, every argument Robbins made supporting
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her theory lacked a counterargument, leading me to wonder if her credibility should be waived due to bias. This led me to assume that she hadn’t heavily researched both sides of her quirk theory1 and saw the value in one, but rather heavily researched one side to persuade readers of her opinion that every outcast will inevitably become successful after high school. She had even dedicated a few pages for an “abridged list of celebrities who told the media they were excluded in school” (173), but not once was there an example of a celebrity who had prospered in their adult life due to the same characteristics that allowed them to achieve popularity in high school. Not once was there any acknowledgement towards an argument slightly contrasting from her own. All that was present were heading titles based on “outcast success” (158) and Robbins’ very clear opinion on how “popularity in school is not a key to success and satisfaction in adulthood” (8). Her tone conveys the importance of this subject, and stays consistent throughout the book. Occasion Just like her tone, Alexandra Robbins’ motivation was to reveal the importance of explaining why “being ‘different’ will pay off sometime after graduation” (1). She felt it was important to let students know that it was okay to be an outsider, to be different, to not have to “conform to the popular crowd’s arbitrary standards [and] hide their true selves” (1). Robbins had good intentions in telling readers that it all gets better after high school. We live in a world where not being able to fit in can lead students to feel dejected and alone, and sometimes even to suicide. Someone had to speak out for all these students while the “schools struggle to come up with solutions” (1). Someone felt that it was important to explain why there is a reason to be optimistic for their futures. Robbins wrote this book for all the people in the world who felt—or their kids felt—that they had “to conform to a narrowing in-crowd image” (7). She wrote this book because: Too many students are losing hope because of exclusion or bullying that they believe they’re doomed to experience for the rest of their lives [and] it is unacceptable that the system we rely on to develop children into well-adjusted, learned, cultured adults allows drones to dominate and increasingly devalues freethinkers. (7) This is the twenty-first century, where innovators are expected but not encouraged. People view themselves as individuals but with standardized opinions. It’s impossible for people to be freethinkers if they are in a constant state of submission towards the norm. It’s even harder when standing up for core values result in “im not trying to be racist” (123) followed by a racial slur, or “that’s gay [being used] as an insult” (92). Stereotypes are thrown around like ragdolls and ignorance gets the better of people, yet they don’t stop to realize that the problem in society is not the stifled innovators, but in fact, themselves. Audience These stifled innovators are exactly the intended readers of The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth. Alexandra Robbins created this book as a means of hope for the nonconformist students who have lost that hope, or even for the “parents that treat these nonconformists like second-class citizens, squelching that hope” (7). Robbins even provides tips and “recommendations for students, parents, and school personnel to set things right and reclaim their schools” (379). She was able to draw in and relate to the reader through the use of seven main characters, confronting the uncertainties of the high school social hierarchy. Alternating seven relatable narratives with engaging details supporting quirk theory, Robbins was able to appeal to the reader’s emotions. She included anecdotes about “Suzanne, the artsy indie… Laney, the creepy girl… Allie, the freak… [and] Flor, the Mexican slacker” (109-110) who had a lot of potential and “more to offer than is evident during a forty-minute class or a quick lunchtime glimpse” (107). She also made sure that her fact-filled chapters had colloquial language and was easily relatable to readers. Robbins allowed her writing to persuade readers that “the cafeteria fringe2 [is] vital to America’s culture and progress” (396), and welcoming any hope made available to them, the readers believe her. Purpose Robbins was equally effective in persuading her readers as she was informing them. As indicated in the aforementioned paragraph, there were numerous concrete details to support her claim. Alexandra Robbins wrote to raise awareness to “early 2011 [where] bullying in school [had] driven several teenagers to suicide” (1). It was also written in hopes that she could prove that the people being picked on, these outsiders “are the individuals who will turn out to be the kinds of interesting, admired, and aspiring adults who ear respect and attention for their impact on their community or the world” (7). Not only was each interview, each part of her research, information to share with her audience, but they were also a means of persuasion. Every time she mentioned “an experiment on group polarization” (134) or “students [taking part] in [an] experiment conformed to group opinion” (151), it wasn’t just to inform readers that these experiments were conducted or that this research existed. It was also used as supporting details for her main theory of “conformity [being] dangerous, leading to unhealthy behaviors [as well as going] against a teenager’s innate desire to form a unique identity” (150). Although the audience’s lack of confidence in their futures drew them to the book, the author’s use of reasoning makes the reader believe in her purpose, her opinions, her theory. With her use of inductive logic, she was able to take countless examples, experiments, and research and apply it to her one proposition of quirk theory. Subject Quirk theory is the focal point of The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth.
Robbins spends the majority of the book discussing and proving this theory. Due to all her evidence and extensive research, Robbins is able to prove why this theory is important. Not only is the book a safe haven for the “kids who are typically not considered part of the in crowd, the ones who are excluded” (6), but it serves as a guide to stop people from taking “mental shortcuts by clustering people together, making assumptions, and forming stereotypes to shrink our social world into a grid that’s easier to process” (42). She acknowledges these issues, and takes everything two steps further, delving into the minds of these young people, analyzing their problems, living through their issues. A big issue that Robbins discovered is that “young people are trying frantically to force themselves into an unbending mold of expectations, convinced that they live in a two-tiered system in which they are either a resounding success or they have already failed” (6). What they fail to realize, and Robbins is determined to share, is that it is possible for them to be successful, even if they feel like failures at school. Robbins chose her target audience wisely, knowing that something in the book would apply to them. However, this theory can be applied on an even bigger scale as well. Young people are the future of the nation, of this world, and hold the ability the create a better tomorrow. Their innovation and individuality allow them to speak out from the majority, to invent new things, to conjure up new concepts and theories. This theory was meant to be essential to not only young people but to the world, “which is why we must celebrate [the cafeteria fringe]”
(396).
The Geeks Shall Inherit The Earth is a book by Alexandra Robbins which summarizes the story of seven different teenagers that have many different problems, which many of todays teenagers also have. I found myself having many similarities to the teenagers in the story, for example, when with her group Whitney, the popular bitch, thinks “You didn't day that when we were alone, but now that you're in front of a group you do” (Robbins 21). I can relate to this because I feel as though many people are pressured to say or do things they normally wouldn't whenever they are with their group or ‘clique’. Robbins has this idea that the freaks and geeks, or “cafeteria fringe” will someday grow up and use what they are criticized for to become more successful than the other peopler people. She calls this the ‘Quirk Theory’ (Robbins page 11). This helped me to learn that right now, in high school, not being ‘popular’ may seem like the end of the world, but the reality of it is that after these four years, it wont even matter, but what will be important is how you learned to grow as a person and the true friendships that were made. This makes me want to focus more on my education and learning to grow as a person instead of focusing on how many friends I have or who I sit with at lunch, because truthfully it wont matter once high school is over.
The Kelvey family’s low income and less fortunate lives made them experience different treatments from many people. For example, “Even the teacher had a special voice for them, and a special smile for the other children when Lil Kelvey came up to her desk with a bunch of dreadfully common-looking flowers.” In their lives, people treated the Kelveys differently from others just because of their financial situation. This helps further make it evident that many different things factor into the experience of being an outsider. For the Kelveys, it was social status and how they were seen because of their lifestyle. As seen from the 3 different texts, the universal feeling of being an outsider stands as something to be learned from. Although everyone may be an outsider in the regards of someone else, it is not hard to treat a fellow human as if they were not an outsider. Anyone can be an outsider, but everyone can be an insider if enough effort is
He seems to force what he says, rather than having a natural tone, causing the reader of the article to be left with a feeling of discontent. Although he only focuses on the negatives that those of the past have done, his argument is direct. No matter what generation you are from, it seems one always suspects the other of either ignorance or reckless abandon. It is easy for someone of the younger generation to point fingers at those who raised them, while taking no responsibility to take control of their lives. He does leave the reader with more awareness of a problem students face upon leaving school. This article is a persuasive piece due to the usage of Brooks principle message and literary
The theory explains how people could be labeled a certain way which would follow them and encourage them to act within the confines of said label or be unable to be perceived as anything but that label. These apparent role models participated in deviant behavior almost equal to that of the Roughnecks and yet they went on to be remembered as good kids. They were allowed to act like delinquents but were never perceived as such because they maintained appearances (good grades, healthy interactions, and lots of participation). The Roughnecks on the other hand took no steps to help with their reputation (they skipped school, made their actions public and attracted a lot of negative attention) thus insuring their label. Regardless of each student’s involvement with certain activities they obtained their labels and kept them through
Often today, people see themselves as much more lofty and better than everyone else or feel as though they are much worse than other people around them, both of which are exaggeration. Human’s ideology can go either way, from “Wow my life is so boring and I am so poor!” to “Oh, I can associate with these people, I am almost, if not, as good as they are.” The 1998 film Rushmore, directed by Wes Anderson, shows the influences one can go under to see a different ideology rather than their potential/actual class position. In the opening scene, main character Max Fischer is shown as the poster child kid that every person in American strives to be: intelligent, looked up on by his peers, and popular. The problem is that it is all a dream. Ideology, one concept from Peter McLaren’s “Critical Pedagogy: A Look at the Major Concepts”, the viewer can see the dream scene in a different way. Using ideology, the scene explains once such a poor child can now be see himself as just as good as the rest. Even though this scene may seem as just a dream, it is about the struggle Max has with a new identity and ideology at Rushmore Academy.
The author, S. E. Hinton, wrote that book to convey her feeling toward the gangs in her high school, and the story spread like wildfire. That book is one of the most used books that show social injustice as well as persecution. That shows the impact of a high school writer that can be used as an example for the rest of the world. This impact literally changed the world, and made it take a step in the right direction. The Outsiders is a work that personifies the cruelty and malice, as well as the love and friendship in everlasting bonds. Basically, The Outsiders is a book that has been used for over 50 years as an example to social inequality, and it still in use for that same reason
article tells the reader, "The book was written for adults, not teenagers"(5 reasons to teach To
Social “outcasts” often believe that they are too different to fit in with society. However, they fail to realize that they posses a gift-- the ability to see the world in an entirely new perspective. Mehmet Murat Ildan’s assertion is correct since different viewpoints and actions are likely to become noticed by society, thus blessing the individual.
He starts off with explaining his opinion about how pop culture, although increasingly becoming more complex, it is making people more intelligent. The book is divided into two sections. The first part argues how television, video games, and movies have become more elaborate and complicated, meanwhile the second part summarizes how media connects with becoming more intelligent. He starts off by giving us a little bit of background information about the sleeper curve. The sleeper curve is about how pop culture is becoming more intellectually demanding. Johnson says, “Today’s popular culture may not be showing us the righteous path. But it is making us smarter” (14). He shows us in some examples how students manage to
In Susan Cain’s book Quiet, The Power Of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking, she writes about extroverts and introverts and their roles in our society. She gives real world stories of how introverted and extroverted individuals become successful. In Chapter one, “How Extroversion Became The Cultural Ideal”, Cain states how being an extrovert increased throughout the 20th century. For example, extroversion started showing up in schools, such as extracurricular activities, which favor kids who are extroverts. While writing this chapter, she did well adding emotional appeal through the story stories she told. Cain also did well using logical appeal, ethical appeal, stakeholders, and her values. Susan Cain explains to her audience that although introversion gained a negative stigma with people, anyone has the ability to achieve the same amount of success.
As middle schoolers, or incoming freshman, we didn’t realize how we were acting. We saw ourselves as acting normal, or as a typical middle schooler. Which we would be correct because the majority of underclassmen do act this way, but that does not mean this is a proper way to act. In middle school, everything is simpler, and we acted how we wanted. We did not care if what we said came across as rude, or as disrespectful. Many were disrespectful to teachers, or to their fellow classmates. As we
In “Revenge of the Geeks”, by Alexandra Robbins, many of the examples given explained how people have been outcasts before but have been able conquer those fears, intimidations, and adversities by their strengths. For example, “Taylor
It is safe to say that the way a person spends their teenage years is the way they begin to define themselves. People are always talking about how teenagers now are so different from the way teenagers were in the 1940s. Their interactions, methods of entertainment, even the way their brains are wired is different. Perhaps teenagers are not the ones changing. It is possible they can remain authentic, despite the fact that society is completely different than it was back then. The Catcher in the Rye is a book written to take place in New York, during the 1940s. The author, J.D. Salinger, writes about a troubled teen attending Pencey Prep, or rather, formerly attending Pencey Prep. He has gotten kicked out of the school and, rather than staying
Outcasts have very influential roles in the development on children’s thoughts and values. For example in Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, Scout’s current and former neighbours give her valuable insight into the lives of others from the perspective of an outcast by showing her how they see the world. In particular, Dolphus Raymond and Arthur Radley demonstrate the importance of treating others as equals. Dolphus Raymond, a white Negro-lover, explains to Scout that Maycomb County’s prejudice forces him to constantly fake being drunk so others do not challenge him on his non-racist views. In addition, Arthur Radley’s contrasting lifestyle teaches Scout that rumours do nothing but harm.
I understand that there is a great deal of opposition to this position, and the opposing viewpoint makes some valid arguments. One concern is that society is coddling today’s youth, and that they are not learning to take responsibility for their own actions enough. (Bradley)