Hidden Intellectualism Graff Analysis

In Gerald Graff’s “Hidden Intellectualism” he emphasizes his own personal opinion and thoughts on street smarts vs. intellect or book smarts. He then goes into saying how students do not need to read intellectually challenging writing to become intellectuals. While talking through this he figures out what category he would put himself in. He really notices this about himself when he stopped and listened to himself and realize how much he argued and how he reasoned with particular subjects. Graff then goes in telling a story about Michael Warner who also, like Graff, found out where he would put himself, and it would for the same reason Graff did, by arguing.

In “Hidden Intellectualism”, by Gerald Graff he makes a stunning point that compares street smarts to book smarts. He brought up the idea that if teachers incorporated things that students are passionate about, and topics that they can relate to they would get more passion and effort in their work, rather than assigning topics that the students have nothing in common with. I agree with this author's opinion one hundred percent. Just recently my high school teacher let us write an essay on our favorite band so she could evaluate our writing, and I felt like writing the essay was a piece of cake. In another class we had to write about the Bill of Rights and court cases from hundreds of years ago.

After a while, my reading comprehension improved tremendously and so did my grades. I was still pretty lazy and preferred not doing my homework, but I could read an entire quarter worth of material just a few days before the exams so I was always at the top of my class. Those results really show how broken the school system was even back then. Improving my grades meant I no longer needed a tutor so

We couldn 't believe we actually did that so I said, “I dare you to take off two”. By the time we thought we should be heading down to gym the words “W” through “Z” were off the wall. After PE we had recess but Mrs. Conaway found out that someone ripped words off the word wall. Angel, Keri and I were looking back at each other, faces all red. We did not want to speak up and say it was us.

When the author is telling faulty stories or using unreliable stories, it can cause the audience to lose trust in the author of the story. It is very important for the author to make sure that person has the trust of all their readers. A Logical fallacy can also make an essay very confusing to the reader. An essay with many fallacies can make an essay very hard to read and very confusing to the reader. It is very important for authors to look over fallacies when writing an essay.

“Hidden Intellectualism,” by Gerald Graff starts off with an older argument between being book smart and street smart. Throughout the reading, Graff uses his own life experiences to critique the education system today. Points made focus on the idea of overlooking the intellectual potential of those who come across as being, “street smart”. Different authors cited in the reading to show how to accept another’s different intellectual. However, we realize that people who come across as being intellectual weren’t always labeled as that.

Hidden Intellectualism In Hidden Intellectualism, Gerald Graff begins with the age-old argument of difference between “book smart” and “street smarts.” He explains that in many cases, these book smarts, are “hidden” intellectualism. He states that current society is still focused on textbook, and classroom intellectualism. Moreover, the form of intellectualism is concealed under the mask of usual discussion about fashion, sport, co-star and many more. And it is also true that some young generation are not good on classroom but extra ordinary on other aspects of extra-curricular activities. Graff argues that school should take these street smarts and make them work on academic work.

A higher education pushes individuals to think, question and explore new and valuable ideas. An excellent education teaches students how to credibly think and prioritise when learning. David Wallace, who gave the Kenyon commencement speech, quoted, “[Learning how to think] means being conscious and aware enough to choose what you pay attention to and to choose how you construct meaning from experience”. In his speech, Wallace is endorsing the idea that a higher education doesn't just throw knowledge at students, but it teaches them how to selectively compose their thoughts and construct a meaning from knowledge. Wallace also makes the point that individuals need to learn to adjust their “natural default setting” to become less self-centered.

Learning my abc’s and 123’s had been fun, but that was for preschoolers. Kindergarteners learned how to use those abc’s to read and write sentences. Reading became my new favorite pastime, along with building castles with blocks. When it was time for recess, however, playing tag, swinging, and going down the slide were at the top of my list. I must have been a little troublemaker in Kindergarten, because one day I blocked the bathroom door, and did not let any of the girls out without a password.

I remember waking up that morning, feeling paralyzed, as well as a rush of emotions. Feeling uneasy but ambitious, demoralized but delighted, timid but fearless; it was the day. Not just any day but the most anticipated day for all the second graders: Bake Sale day. As I was told by my teacher, Ms. Ash, this Bake Sale was at the utmost importance, because it would be funding our field trip later that year. I had always been a soft- spoken individual so the thought of talking to another individual; nevertheless, trying to sell an item to another individual on whether our cookies were better than the third graders was daunting and the burden of the field trip only added to the pressure.