ipl-logo

Leonid Fridman's Essay America Needs Its Nerds

553 Words3 Pages

“America Needs Its Nerds” an article created by Leonid Fridman, puts forth a pertinent issue in today’s society: intellectually adept students are ostracized. Fridman argues that smart, curious students need to stop feeling ashamed for being smart and curious. Society needs to change because their current philosophy towards intellect is one of pessimism. Fridman develops these arguments in his essay by utilizing the rhetorical strategy of parallelism, drawing conclusions, and through his use of diction. In his essay Leonid Fridman uses parallelism two ways: through sentence structure and in the progression of the essay. Parallelism in sentence structure is precisely shown in lines 3-4 when Fridman says, “Intellectually curious and academically serious.” The words are grammatically similar, with similar sounding pronunciations and identical suffixes. Parallelism appears again in lines 17-18 when the author says, “Nerds are ostracized while athletes are idolized.” “Ostracized” and “idolized” exemplify parallelism in sentence structure because of their pronunciation and endings. Each enhances their …show more content…

In lines 35-40, Fridman compares the anti-intellectualism in America to East Asian countries’ pro-intellectualism. Then later, In lines 41-46, Fridman provides another international comparison, but this time is he was comparing the amount of money earned by professors in other countries and the earnings of professional athletes in the US. Fridman suggests in these comparative examples that America is behind the pro-intelligence movement. He uses these examples to enhance his argument of why America should be more accepting to smart and curious students and also give the reader a sense of patriotism so that they will take pride in their country to solve the problem at hand. These connections to international situations help the reader understand and agree with his position. They add to the persuasiveness of the

Show More
Related

  • A Response To Gerald Graff's Hidden Intellectualism

    1433 Words  | 6 Pages

    Having never taken a college writing course before, I did not know what to expect and therefore assumed that I would choose my own topic to write about; of course, this isn’t the case. However, if I had the choice, I would not have chosen to write a response to Gerald Graff’s “Hidden Intellectualism”. After going through his essay with a fine-tooth comb, I have found a few flaws in his reasoning. Gerald Graff believes that schools and colleges are not taking advantage of “street smarts” by not using them in an intellectual setting when in fact, schools are providing students with a large assortment of other knowledge and skills. In Graff’s essay “Hidden Intellectualism”, he argues for the importance of changing school curriculums in order to better reflect the interests

    Read More

  • Leonid Cordman Ethos Pathos Logos

    238 Words  | 1 Pages

    The author claims that there is something wrong with the system of values in a society that’s uses derogatory terms to describe intellectuals. The author uses ethos, logos, and pathos to support his claim that society’s view of nerds and geeks are all wrong. He uses various different examples and ways of each to get his point across. Leonid Firdman first uses ethos to get his point across. He uses an appeal to ethics or facts when saying “Webster’s new world dictionary defines a geek as a street performer who shocks the public by bitting the heads off chickens.”

    Read More

  • Hidden Intellectualism Analysis

    1045 Words  | 5 Pages

    A Summary of Gerald Graff’s “Hidden Intellectualism” Gerald Graff’s “Hidden Intellectualism” goes through many reasons why not being book smart could be a good thing. The sports world is a way of people connecting through the competitive sports that always lead to some sort of debate (268). Graff grew up always liking sports and being “street smart” living in Chicago. He always read sports magazines growing up and realized that reading magazines was a good tactic for schools to teach street smart kids how to write good essays based on their hobbies of reading magazines (265). “What doesn’t occur to us, is that schools and colleges might be at fault for missing the opportunity to tap into such street smarts and channel them into good academic work”(264).

    Read More

  • Billy Commencement Speech: The Rhetorical Analysis Of Billy Joel

    884 Words  | 4 Pages

    Billy Joel is a musician and he is giving the commencement speech at Berklee College of Music in 1993. Berklee College of Music is the largest contemporary music college in the world. Billy Joel is an amazing singer and songwriter so even though he did not attend this college, it is still an honor to be able to speak there. His commencement speech has plenty of rhetorical literary devices such as ethos, logos, pathos, parallelism, antithesis, as well allusions. There are other literary devices such as metaphors, rhetorical questions, and similes.

    Read More

  • David Brooks's Rhetorical Analysis Of The Other Education

    1340 Words  | 6 Pages

    The Other Education Rhetorical Analysis David Brooks is a well-refined journalist for the New York Times News Paper Company. He writes many different controversial articles, that tends to focus around arguments of education. Within Brooks’ arguments he uses effective techniques to persuade the audience. In this specific column, he addresses society as a whole, but with special emphasis on students. David Brooks successfully persuades his audience through his presentation of his claim, his persuasive writing style, and his usage of emotional appeals.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Blue Collar Brilliance

    698 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Intelligence is closely associated with formal education- the type of schooling a person has, how much and how long- and most people seem to move comfortably from that notion to a belief that work requiring less schooling requires less intelligence” (Rose). What Rose is trying to infer is that just because you are labeled blue collar: meaning you have to earn your income from manual labor, and have lack of educational knowledge, does not mean you cannot earn the knowledge in your work career. There are many opportunities to learn from your job even if you are less experienced. “...One who is so intelligent about so many things in life seems unable to apply that intelligence to academic work.

    Read More

  • Hidden Intellectualism Gerald Graff Analysis

    745 Words  | 3 Pages

    “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.

    Read More

  • Abigail Adams Letter To Her Son Analysis

    664 Words  | 3 Pages

    A parallel triad has the effect of making ideas more clear “...Attention, diligence, and steady application”(Line 25). This particular triad has the effect of rephrasing the words to create a more concise statement. “...but add justice, fortitude, and every manly virtue…” (Line 59). This instance of parallel triad, it strengthens the mood and creates a more powerful and encouraging.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of America Needs Its Nerds

    973 Words  | 4 Pages

    The goal of the usage of this fact is to show readers this common term does not reflect real traits of smart people and can be treated as an insult because of that. It is one of the few examples of Fridman’s appeals to readers’ logic. The essay is based on general data; the author mentioned schools and universities promote negative attitude to smart students: “Nerds are ostracized while athletes are idolized” (Fridman). But he did not use any statistical or science data to support his position. For example, Fridman could provide data about scholarships and other types of funding for sports and other activities.

    Read More

  • Hidden Intellectualism Gerald Graff Summary

    932 Words  | 4 Pages

    The reading "Hidden Intellectualism" by Gerald Graff reflects views on being "street smart" and "book smart." He explains that society tends to associate people who are intelligent on solely being "book smart" and performing well in academics, rather than being street smart. He goes on to further explain that students perhaps can be intelligent on topics that interest them. Graff opens up the reading by giving his own personal experience on feeling torn between trying to prove that he was smart yet fearing that he was overdoing it. He was trying to prove that he learned just as much about the real world by reading his sports books and magazines as he would have if he had read the classic works of literature like most students in school.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Essay 'America Needs Its Nerds'

    493 Words  | 2 Pages

    Leonid Fridman characterizes the typical American mindset this makes the text easily understood and relatable for the readers. Because the problem at hand is mainly geared toward Americans he brings up the fact that, “In most industrialized nations, not least of all of our economic rivals in East Asia, a kid who studies hard is lauded and held up as an example to other students.” He is showing the reader that in other countries they praise the children for their academic efforts unlike the US that use derogatory language like “nerd” and “geek” when referring to the academically achieving people. He also compares the jobs of individuals from other countries to show the divide between the American mindset and the mindset around the world. Fridman states “In many parts of the world university professorships are the most prestigious and materially rewarding positions but not in America…” Friedman says this so the readers are aware of the rift between America and other countries of the world especially their view of intellectual

    Read More

  • Summary Of Mike Rose's Essay Blue Collar Brilliance

    592 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the essay “Blue-Collar Brilliance” it begins with a fairly detailed description of Mike Rose’s mother at her work as a waitress in Los Angeles during the 1950’s, when he was a child. Mike Rose is a professor at the UCLA graduate school of education and information studies. This article originally appeared in 2009 in the American Scholar, a magazine published by the Phi Beta Kappa Society. Rose’s intended audience for this article is white collar workers, who usually hold a negative perspective towards their colleagues who aren’t as well educated as them. Mike Rose uses his mother and uncle as examples of his argument that those without formal education have important kinds of intelligence as well just in different ways.

    Read More

  • Gerald Graff Hidden Intellectualism

    1238 Words  | 5 Pages

    Intellectualism is the factor of being intellect or intelligent. The idea of what it means to be educated can be interpreted many different ways by different people. Some think it’s having a 4.0 and going to Harvard, while others believe in the idea of having common sense. In the essay, “Hidden Intellectualism,” Gerald Graff reflects how lack of education is viewed negatively in society. On top of that, a question also lies what it means to educated.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Street Smarts By Gerald Graff

    261 Words  | 2 Pages

    Gerald Graff’s argument on how educational systems are missing a great opportunity to tap into “street smarts” and focus them into a path of academic work is indeed convincing (Graff, 198). After all, anyone who’s been through the American educational system knows odds are often stacked against the “street smarts.” This is especially true in english classes, where one is often required to read boring and somewhat heartless books like, 1984, Beowulf, and the majority of Shakespeare’s classics. This is not to say these books are bad or shouldn’t be read during one’s schooling years, instead, the problem is one of apathy. For instance, in my high school years I never even remotely liked to read books Othello, but I loved to read magazines and

    Read More

  • The War On Stupid People Analysis

    265 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the article, “The War on Stupid People”, Freedman depicted the emphasis the society has placed on determining or facilitating human capacity has failed the less intelligent people. Freedman detailed his argument by providing evidence on how intelligence played a huge role in employment opportunities and academic performance. Moreover, he illustrated the issue of the economically disadvantaged/less intelligent, the current approach is flawed in the favoring the intelligent. He asserted with the evolution of the view of intelligence to the point as becoming a detrimental measure for human worth. He developed his main message by first established a neutral tone by providing statistical evidence of what a significant role intelligence has played,

    Read More

More about Leonid Fridman's Essay America Needs Its Nerds

Open Document