Leonid Freidman the author of “America Needs Its Nerds” develops his argument by using strong evidence to back up his topic. Fridman believed that nerds get ostracized while athletes are idolized. Whats the world without and education? The world doesnt need athletes!…
When reading "Hidden Intellectualism" by Gerald Graff, I noticed that he used a lot of examples and illustrations. Throughout this article, he uses this rhetorical strategy as a way to create a mental image in the reader's head. One example of this is where he states "In the Chicago neighborhood I grew up in, which had become a melting pot after World War 2 our block was solidly middle class" (Graff 246). For me, it not only creates a mental image but it also sets up an interesting story which keeps the reader hooked.…
One would think that it is better to be all brains than all brawn, but contrary it is the exact opposite. In “ America Needs Its Nerds”, by Leonid Fridman, Fridman goes over the unfortunate reality of “nerds” being overshadowed by athletes or anyone with great physical capabilities. Fridman analyzes how the United States, a country who desire to be top in academics, would praise “jocks” and not give proper recognition to “geeks”. The author With rhetorical questions, the consistent use of metaphors, and appeals to ethos, Fridman manages to develop his argument by mentioning the ostracization of intellectuals instead of praising them.…
Who ever said being street smart but not book smart was a bad thing? In his short essay “Hidden Intellectualism” written in 2003 Gerald Graff talks about what people call book smart (Intellectualism) can hide into what one calls “Street Smart”(Hidden Intellectualism). Graff argues about how teachers are going the wrong way on how they should do their job, stating that they can use this to their advantage by using topics that such individuals are interested in whether it’s clothing, sports or even video games to educate them. The essay was illuminating and persuasive at convincing it’s readers because of the ethos, well written counterclaim and purpose. If topics such…
But do we ever feel guilty about it? Derogatory terms, such as nerd and geek, aid in displaying Friedman’s viewpoint on the discrimination against intellectuals. His comparisons and real-life examples put the decision in the audience’s hands. As USA Today wrote, "You can get a Nobel Prize at your university and you won't get anywhere near that attention. And so I think between the public and the media, they are telling us what they value." The public is involved, and often times addicted, to athletes and reject the academically motivated as outcasts from the ideal society. Unfortunately, this public is unaware of the capabilities of academic achievement and the progress it has brought us in our…
The football team from Mountain View High School won the Arizona State Championship last year. Again. Unbeknownst to the vast majority of the school’s student body, so did the Science Bowl Team, the Speech and Debate Team, and the Academic Decathlon team. The football players enjoyed the attentions of an enthralled school, complete with banners, assemblies, and even video announcements in their honor, a virtual barrage of praise and downright deification . As for the three champion academic teams, they received a combined total of around ten minutes of recognition, tacked onto the beginning of a sports assembly. Nearly all of the graduating seniors will remember the name and escapades of their star quarterback; nearly none of them will ever even realize that their class produced Arizona’s first national champion in Lincoln-Douglass Debate. After all, why should they? He and his teammates were “just the nerds.”…
In Hidden Intellectualism by Gerald Graff, he begins with the argument of “street-smarts” versus “school-smarts”. Graff explains that school-smarts can be hidden within street smarts and can be learnt through not just talking with friends, but also from the media and our surroundings, hence the “hidden” intellectualism. He goes onto explain that “schools and colleges overlook the intellectual potential of street-smarts” (198) because these types of intellectualism are actually considered anti-intellectualism. Graff then begins to discuss that intellectualism is often looked down upon within schools, and people that are considered “school-smart” are seen as nerdy, or boring. We learn that as a child, Graff was afraid of bullying and name-calling so he did not show his intellectual side out of fear. As he wanted to be accepted so badly, he decided to become an “inarticulate, carefully hiding telltale marks of literacy like correct grammar and pronunciation”. (201) Through this, he discovered that he was still able to show his intellectual side by using arguing and reasoning strategies while talking about subjects such as sports and toughness with his friends.…
Articles published as opinion-editorial pieces in the New York Times must meet a standard of validity as they express substantial judgments, but one article, published in 1990, has managed to erroneously place itself amongst the multitude of scholarly articles. The article “America Needs Its Nerds” lacks validity behind its central claim due to the fact that its supporting evidence is wrongly based on misconceptions, generalizations, assumptions, and unfair comparisons. Leonid Fridman, writer of “America Needs Its Nerds,” is correct in his message that Americans should treat intellectualism with greater respect, but presumptuous statements make his argument weak. As Mr. Fridman bashes the American mindset concerning intellectualism he states,…
There are several similarities between China’s one child law and Among the Hidden. China had to put the one child law on because they had limited food. China can now have 2 children but it used to be one. In the book Among the Hidden you can have 2 children. In China if you have more than 2 children you have to pay a fine or the extra child is euthanized. They way that some people avoid this in China is that they are rich and they can pay the fine. In Among the Hidden the Barons pay the fine or they get a fake I.D. In China the extra child doesn’t get an education or an I.D. If they don’t have an education they can’t get a job or have health care. In Among the Hidden they have to hide and they get no education, in conclusion I think that it…
Growing up where I was raised street smart was having the experience and knowledge necessary to deal with the potential difficulties or dangers of life in an urban environment. Like you know people actions and how to read body language and get the sense something isn’t right here. It even can be starting your own busy be and entrepreneur. If you were book smart you’ll get call a nerd and picked on in rough area of the city. I saw some of my peers try to dumb down the way they would talk when they come down to the park to play basketball because not too many people in the area had the vocabulary they had.…
In “Hidden Intellectualism” composed by Gerald Graff, Graff argues how sports play a big part in the intellectual world because they contain components ranging from debates to evaluations, to intellectual systems. He states how sports made him a more intellectual being, and how schools should consider sports intellectual. Gerald Graff’s arguments that sports build intellectualism are ineffective because he lacks outside arguments, and backup to make his argument more credible.…
In “Trouble with Geniuses”, Gladwell explains one important skill that one must have in order to become an outlier. The author states that readers often jump to a conclusion that success is determined by ones IQ or talent. However, those are not the factors that determine success. It is practical intelligence that one must have in order to be successful in life. Practical intelligence can be defined as one’s ability to adapt and learn everyday by the surrounding environments. Overall, practical environment is common sense. It is the ability to learn through completing an everyday task.…
In the essay titled "Hidden Intellectualism," Gerald Graff discusses the nonacceptance of nonintellectual street smarts vs academic book smarts. I agree with Graff's views on street smarts being a hidden intellectually from society and academics. Gerald Graff is correct in thinking that modern education strongly favors classic literary subjects over real world "street" subject matters.…
Graff effectively claims “I believe that street smarts beat out book smarts in our culture not because street smarts are nonintellectual, as we generally suppose, but because they satisfy an intellectual thirst more throughly than school culture, which seems pale and unreal” (Graff 790). One may think a person who spends all their time with their nose deep into their sports magazine or rereading the same Vogue issue over and over is wasting their time or…
The passage “America Needs Its Nerds” by Leonid Fridman compares athletes to nerds and geeks. Fridman made an analysis suggesting that society rewards the athletically apt for their skill while the “intellectually curious” as Fridaman puts it, are put down. Fridman’s passage was fluent and well written because of his range of writing techniques such as logos, tone, and his use of rhetorical questions to finish off the strong passage.…