ipl-logo

Summary Of Hidden Intellectualism By Gerald Graff

469 Words2 Pages

In Gerald Graff’s Hidden Intellectualism, the former professor of English and Education discusses the many fallacies associated with the ideas of intellectualism amongst today’s society. Graff argues that there is an alternative form of intellectualism aside from the traditional academic definition. This form of intellectualism remains hidden under the usual discussions that concern fashion, sports, dating, and many other typical aspects of everyday life. Although it is not usually recognized, there is great value in intellectualism of all sorts; unfortunately, society only deems the “great minds” textbooks and classroom materials as valuable lessons for students to learn. Graff hopes to incorporate hidden intellectualism topics into the classroom through “progressivism educational methods” that in return will help students think and debate argumentatively. …show more content…

He dedicates his epiphany to the seemingly unimportant sports conversations with his friends. This typical boy talk contributed to Graff’s realization that he was an intellectual, just a different type. The discussions that he engaged in as an adolescent actually trained him on how to create an argument, to consider different types of evidence, to advance beyond generalizations, to compile the views of others, and to involve himself in conversations that concerned different ideas (pg 267). However, many adolescents feel discouraged to bring their “street smarts” to the typical school setting. Graff believes that we, as a society, associate “street smarts” with being an anti-intellectual. As stated in the text, “We associate the educated life too narrowly and exclusively with subjects and texts that we consider weighty and academic,” (pg

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

  • Gerald Graff's Hidden Intellectualism

    910 Words  | 4 Pages

    In Gerald Graff 's essay “Hidden Intellectualism” starts of by talking about the stereotype of being so called “street smart” and and being “book smart” and how in school when you see someone who is street smart but doesn’t do go in school get a bad wrap. People look at them as a waste because they can’t apply there intelligences that they have and use it towards school, so people view them as not the right kind of smart because they are not a A student in school. Graff then goes on to say that maybe it is not the students that are the problem with how they do in school but maybe it is the school that have missed or overlooked the intellectual potential that kids with street smarts have. Graff also says that we only view the educated minds through schooling as the right way and schools and colleges look at kids who do not like school and don’t do well as anti-intellectual people.

    Read More

  • Intellectual And Democracy Mark Kingwell Ethos Pathos Logos

    133 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the article Intellectuals and Democracy, written by Mark Kingwell and published by Unruly Voices: Essays on Democracy, Civility and the Human Imagination in 2012, Kingwell suggests that education should not be pursued for financial benefits and usefulness, but rather it should be pursued to create involved and intellectual humans. The audience for the article is intellectuals and adults who have an interest in humanity. This is based on the title of the book and the numerous reviews written online about the book. I argue that Kingwell uses pathos throughout his article because he is a highly-touted philosopher with a substantial amount of credibility among his peers and interested readers. Kingwell uses pathos because it allows the reader

    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

  • Blue Collar Brilliance Mark Rose Analysis

    776 Words  | 4 Pages

    Mike Rose disagrees with the assumption that “Intelligence is closely associated with formal education” (Mike, 247). Formal education does not always measure the level of intelligence of a person. Education as something people can gain not only in school, but every day of their lives. We should be learning from our experiences, and apply this knowledge to our everyday lives. Wisdom should not be looked at as just

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of America Needs Its Nerds

    973 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Rhetorical Analysis of the “America Needs its Nerds” The mental capacity is treated as a disadvantage in the America, despite the fact it already helped the country many times. This long-term problem became the main topic of the Leonid Fridman’s essay “America Needs its Nerds”. The work first appeared on January 11, 1990 in the New York Times as a part of the series “Voices of the New Generation”. The author spoke about the negative attitude the American society has to smart people and demonstrates it with the usage of words like “nerd” or “geek”.

    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

  • Summary Of Leonid Fridman America Needs Its Nerds

    284 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the article “America Needs its Nerds” by Leonid Friedman; Fridman argues that “intellectually curious and academic serious people” are not as respected as they should be. Instead of the more intellectual people being praised for their intelligence, they are ignored by society. Fridman builds this argument by using logic and facts, creative word choice, and comparisons. Leonid Fridman uses interesting facts to develop his argument "nerds ".in the American society.

    Read More

  • Blue Collar Brilliance Summary

    1095 Words  | 5 Pages

    In "Blue-Collar Brilliance" Mike Rose Shares his perspective on how education is not Intelligence. He lets us know how growing up he was around a bunch of Blue-Collar workers himself, and how intelligence is not based on the education you have but what you can Develop on your own from just being open minded. He explains to use how blue-collar jobs take a toll on both body and mind. He believes that you don't need to be taught things to develop intelligence that your intelligence comes from within. He shared the different stories of blue-collar workers life that he experience such as his mother and his uncle to help us see that even if you don't have a high education and a college degree you can still become a successful.

    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

  • Anti Intellectualism Why We Hate The Smart Kids Summary

    923 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the reading, “Anti-Intellectualism: Why We Hate the Smart Kids,” Grant Penrod recommends that there should be a different way to socialize amongst other individuals. This entire description explains the personal burdens that the intelligent scholars undergo. The ideas are as follows: author 's guilt celebrates, ideas held as standard when communicating, and on the bandwagon to get smart people worn down by the individuals that are against smart people. The author is afraid that people would not take the time out of their day to read or study for their classes. Claiming that bad influence towards education makes it resistant.

    Read More

  • Gerald Graff Hidden Intellectualism Essay

    1501 Words  | 7 Pages

    Final Draft We all have stories and memories tied to songs that have become a part of who are. Remember the violins playing in the background while watching a sad movie or the song that helped you through difficult times or the song you and your friends sang while attending a concert? Whether it’s on the television, the radio, in a movie, in the car, or at a sporting event, music is everywhere. Feeling the rhythm of music brings us so much joy and excitement but playing musical instrument is even more fulfilling because it has many benefits.

    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

  • 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 in the United States is not as strong as it once was. Williams says, “After leading the world for decades in 24-34 year olds with university degrees, the U.S. is now in 12th place. The World Economic Forum ranked the U.S. at 52nd among 139 nations

    Read More

More about Summary Of Hidden Intellectualism By Gerald Graff

Open Document