Anti-intellectualism Essays

  • Anti-Intellectualism In American Life

    1286 Words  | 6 Pages

    In his first chapter, he defined anti-intellectualism as bitterness and doubt of life of the mind and those who are believed to denote it; and a character regularly to diminish the worth of that life. as he defines anti-intellectualism as "resentment and suspicion of the life of the mind and of those who are considered to represent it; and a character regularly to diminish the worth

  • Analysis Of Grant Penrod Anti-Intellectualism Why We Hate The Smart Kids

    491 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Grant Penrod’s, “Anti-Intellectualism: Why We Hate the Smart Kids” he describes to the reader why the majority of people hate the “nerds” and “geeks” in school. Penrod begins his argument by using high school as an example. The idea of anti-intellectualism is most commonly introduced in high school when the classifications of “geek” and “nerd” are used for the people who take academics seriously, and unfortunately get excluded from social activities. At the Mountain View High School the students

  • Summary Of Gerald Graff Hidden Intellectualism

    1069 Words  | 5 Pages

    subject in his article “Hidden Intellectualism.” He is professor at the University of Illinois and the former president of the Modern Language Association. He talks about how schools fail to gain students attention by making them write essays on the classics, like Shakespeare, instead of starting out with topics the students would enjoy, such as sports, video games, and fashion. He makes valid arguments about how the schools fail to tap into that hidden intellectualism of the students, and he uses

  • Hidden Intellectualism Gerald Graff Summary

    1258 Words  | 6 Pages

    Hidden Intellectualism,” by Gerald Graff, is an essay in which the former English professor discusses the misconceptions of the ideas of intellectualism amongst society. He primarily focuses on the way adolescents view intellectualism as a negative trait that only “nerds” strive for. He also elaborates on his experiences in revealing his own hidden intellectualism, while in college in a literature class, after growing up in the “anti-intellectual” 1950s. However, through a method that Graff and an

  • Anti-Intellectualism

    309 Words  | 2 Pages

    blis day an article “ Anti-Intellectualism and the “ Dumb Down” of America” by Ray William appeared to be the highlight of my day. Not only does Ray William present great arguments on why the uprising generation - in context “Dumb” but the new generation has be constructed to do one thing only, Jump over hoops. Which has eliminated all acts and process of showing true intellectualness. Making Ray William completely making well-founded thoughts in the article “Anti-Intellectualism and the “ Dumb Down”

  • Summary Of Hidden Intellectualism By Gerald Graff

    1653 Words  | 7 Pages

    In Gerald Graff’s article “Hidden Intellectualism,” from the 2003 copy of They Say I Say, the author explores the idea of what true intellectualism is by recalling pieces of his childhood. The way schools and society view intellectualism comes in to questions as being one sided or false altogether . There remain several sides to the argument regarding education and include anything regarding what should be taught, how it should be taught, and what marks the mastering of a subject. With true education

  • Summary Of Hidden Intellectualism By Gerald Graff

    435 Words  | 2 Pages

    While reading Gerald Graffs, “Hidden Intellectualism,” I have come to appreciate his ideals and views between both,” book smarts,” and,” street smarts.” In this article he puts into perspective the relevance of intellectualism among less traditional academic views by considering a student’s environment and common interests. By walking through his adolescent experiences, he explains his personal development of skills and intelligence to bring light of a new conceptual way of teaching and engaging

  • Hidden Intellectualism Gerald Graff Summary

    663 Words  | 3 Pages

    Hidden Intellectualism In the essay “Hidden Intellectualism” by Gerald Graff, Graff describes how he believes that students should have the ability to take their nonacademic interests and turn them into subjects of academic study. He believes by integrating some of these nonacademic subjects it will improve the academic skills of students. I’m of two minds about Graff’s claim that students should pick their own nonacademic topics as objects of academic study. On one hand, I agree that by giving students

  • Summary Of Why We Hate The Smart Kids By Grant Penrod

    767 Words  | 4 Pages

    In Grant Penrod's "Anti-Intellectualism: Why We Hate the Smart Kids", he talks about how smart people are always degraded and hidden in the shadows of the popular people. He goes on to explain how intellectuals are stereotyped, beginning at a young age in school. He mentions how some public examples do not have to be smart to become rich and successful. Of course, if celebrities are well-off, they will have plenty of money to sustain in life and will believe that they do not need an education to

  • Summary Of Hidden Intellectualism By Gerald Graff

    831 Words  | 4 Pages

    Paradigm Shift in Intellectualism Gerald Graff highlights the laxity of institutions to nurture supposedly non-intellectuals in his disquisition “Hidden Intellectualism”. Graff believes the predominant reason to be our association of these individuals with anti-intellectualism. Furthermore, he believes society’s notion of intellectualism lies in evaluating weighty and arduous topics such as Plato and Shakespeare, and real intellectualism constitutes enlivening the dullest of subjects. Essentially

  • Summary Of Why We Hate The Smart Kids By Grant Penrod

    668 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Grant Penrod’s “Anti-Intellectualism: Why We Hate the Smart Kids,” the reader is presented with a piece concerning the attitude of society towards the academically gifted and intellectually advanced. Throughout the piece, Penrod brings forth the general claim that intellectual growth has been forced to take a backseat to the growing mindset that heightened intelligence is now a faux pas. Society as a whole has become less supportive of expanding our knowledge, and has moved from nurturing those

  • Examples Of Intellect In Fahrenheit 451

    780 Words  | 4 Pages

    rather than doers. In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury however, the main character, Guy Montag, a working “fireman,” sits in a nation dying from anti-intellectualism. As his job entails, Montag works with fire, but rather than putting it out, he’s the one creating it. Symbolizing the epitome of his nation. Depicting a culture bread through anti-intellectualism, Bradbury portrays how an overwhelming ignorance can set limitations on knowledge through collaborative censorship and lack of individuals. Censorship

  • Summary Of Hidden Intellectualism By Gerald Graff

    738 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Gerald Graff’s “Hidden Intellectualism”, Graff argues that there exist common misconceptions about being “street-smart”, or having a versed background in dealing with situations of life outside of the school environment. He states that people too often view street smarts and the knowledge gained at schools as being unrelated but, in actuality, they are two sides of the same coin. What is learned at school, which are “too narrowly and exclusively” categorized into subjects and texts, is considered

  • Summary Of Hidden Intellectualism By Gerald Graff

    1696 Words  | 7 Pages

    In the essay “Hidden Intellectualism” by Gerald Graff he discusses the difference between “book smarts” and “street smarts” as they pertain to intellectualism (Tannen & Graff:2010 p.198). We are taught that being street smart means to have the knowledge to handle difficult or dangerous situations in life, and that being book smart means that you are well educated academically. Graff explains how schools and colleges may be at fault for not channeling such street smarts into academic work. We do

  • Summary Of Hidden Intellectualism By Gerald Graff

    1614 Words  | 7 Pages

    Response to “Hidden Intellectualism” A teenage adolescent’s lifestyle can typically be categorized into two distinct, mutually exclusive modes: one inside and one outside of school. That’s at least what Gerald Graff presumes. In Gerald Graff’s “Hidden Intellectualism”, Graff argues that existing assumptions about being “street smart”, or having developed a versed background in dealing with situations of life outside of the school environment, has led to a misstep by schools in creating model students

  • Summary Of Hidden Intellectualism By Gerald Graff

    1126 Words  | 5 Pages

    Critiquing Gerald Graff’s “Hidden Intellectualism: The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing” In his essay “Hidden Intellectualism: The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing” Gerald Graff discusses the different uses of intellectualism and how they don’t only correspond to just high level thinking pieces of work such as Shakespeare. His work examines the inner working of higher level of thinking on many things that would be normally described as “street smart” or every day knowledge such as football

  • Summary Of America Needs Its Nerds

    880 Words  | 4 Pages

    thehis passage, students who dedicate more of their time to studying rather than participating in sports or social activities are made to feel less than and not wanted. The U.S., as Fridman mentions, is one of the few countries where antianit-intellectualism is very high. Also, in more industrialized nations “a kid who studies hard is lauded and held up as an example to other students.” Using the effect of comparing our nation to that of others gives the audience the reality check that they need to

  • Summary Of Street Smart And The Sports World

    763 Words  | 4 Pages

    are street smarts considered inferior to book smarts? And why are sports considered non-intellectual? These are just two major questions Gerald Graff, University of Illinois at Chicago English Professor asks his readers in his essay, “Hidden Intellectualism”. Graff uses personal anecdotes and his own personal opinion to skillfully assess the similarities between the sports world and the intellectual world, Graff highlights the sense of community the sports world contributes to society, and proves

  • Anti-Intellectualism In America

    289 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the article, “Anti-Intellectualism and the “Dumbing Down” of America” Ray Williams discusses the increasing trend of anti-intellectualism in American culture. There is an anti-intellectualism that exists in American culture that is the result of the unpopularity of being smart in High School, the lack of the importance of teachers in the U.S. compared to Japan and the effect of reality TV and pop culture. Williams indicates that one of the reasons that anti-intellectualism exists is that education

  • Leonid Fridman America Needs Its Nerds

    783 Words  | 4 Pages

    only severely mistreated here. He also uses instances in school, not just the social environment, to prove that nerds are always looked down on. He suggests that an academic institution like Harvard even has discrimination against nerds with “anti-intellectualism rampant.” The atmosphere leads the readers to his argument that America will not survive if nerds are not seen positively and in his opinion the U.S. is the only country with this sole