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Summary Of Hidden Intellectualism By Gerald Graff

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In Gerald Graff's Hidden Intellectualism, he begins with a long lasting discussion about the the difference between “book smarts” and “streets smart”. Street smarts are frequently called “hoods” as they are the tough types and book smarts as the name suggests are typically referred to as “nerds or geeks”. Graff gives us insight on many cases of how these books smarts can take various forms, and hide in what people call street smarts, hence the “hidden Intellectualism”. He does this by sharing his story with us, growing up in his community where being “street smart” was more acceptable than being “book smart”. He would be bullied if he tried to pronounce words better than the others or spoke too intelligently around them, and as a result he …show more content…

This made him realized that in years of hiding his intellectual side was unnecessary, it was always within him but only possessed passing when talking about something he liked. Graff knew that the more he talked sports(he cool stuff or the norm of his community),the more his intellectual arsenal grew. In his community knowing about sports and being tough earned you respect and being “nerdy” got you bullied, so for him to be “nerdy” and not get bullied his hidden intellect came out when talking about sports. Graff later goes on to talk about the educational system, and how how they are missing out on capturing the “modern” teenagers mind. Kids who are not “book smart” aren't dumb, but are more passionate about modern experiences in their day to day life as Graff was and also a way to fit into the community. He states that if you find the “hidden intellectualism” within them and find a way to channel it into classical work in schools, it would provide a stronger foundation for intellectuals to shine and become “book smart”. If you can find a way to get their Interests to align with the subject matter at

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