Summary Of Hidden Intellectualism By Gerald Graff

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

substantial than the cogitations of many professors on Shakespeare or globalization” (Gerald Graff 245). We also need to inspire students to go deep into whatever they are reading or learning in order to help them activate their brain, create their opinions, argue their points quickly and confidently. This is a foundation that will cause students naturally attracted to more intellectual reading because students enjoy discussing about things that are interesting and attractive.
In Gerald Graff’s writing, he believe sports normally belong to entertainment and are usually thought of less intellectual as school.

In reality, sports still contain completely of knowledge, arguments, debates, problems, complex statistics, and pictures that make it to be more attractive and intellectual than school. Graff insists that street smarts are more necessary than school smarts because it comes from real life, our real experiences, and for sure it can be used in real world. However, Graff also attests “ To say that students need to see their interests “ through academic eyes” is to say that street smarts are not enough. Making students’ nonacademic interests a subject of academic study is useful, then, for getting students’ attention and overcoming their boredom and alienation, but this tactic won’t in itself necessarily move them closer to an academically rigorous treatment of those interests” (Gerald Graff, 250). School smarts are superfluous because everything we have learned would become worthless if it is not practiced in live, therefore, street smarts and school smarts need to be combined together to work

well.
In my point of view, I agree with Gerald Graff in some points, but I do not support all of his ideas. He begins explaining how people notice someone who was being street smarts compared to another person who was being school smarts. He refers to his past experience that he hated books and was not interested in reading academic, but he forgot he was built towards an academic life. Graff describes he excelled at sport in academic because he had a fervent love about sports, and always was able to have in profundity conversations with friends. I agree talking about something that you are enthusiastic about with others is an excellent manner to develop your writing abilities. However, I do not consider talking about your desire subjects are enough though if you do not engage in what the other people want to express. In addition, all knowledge that we have learned from everything even from school or from your own experience need to be trained, practiced and balanced, so at least I believe all students also need some form of direction, especially at a young age. Graff also emphasizes that people are isolated when they have to do academic work, but if they are able discuss about sports during a conversation, they will be able to interact with the community. This argument does not make sense because it is not a 100 percent people are interested in sport and not everyone can relate to sports. Also, there are many different subtopics in academic books that allow students discuss and share their opinion on different issues.