Hidden Intellectualism : Beyond The Books

Society believes there are two types of people, when it comes to dexterity.There are those who have the knowledge and skills necessary for academics. And then there are those who seem to be full of information about life itself, but do not appear to have perception, when it comes to school. I define “Book smart” as someone who is intelligent and well educated academically. For example a straight A student, or a person who can in a heart beat, give you an answer about history, english, math, or science. On the other hand, a person who is considered “street smart” is one who is dull in school, but has a very bright mentality about life itself and common sense. In Hidden Intellectualism, from They Say I Say, Gerald Graff tells us about how he considered himself “street smart,” but unintentionally became quite an intellectual over time. Using a topic that interests a student is a better way of persuading them to learn, and help them discover they are intelligent in their own way. We should not classify things into different judgmental groups, there is hidden intellectualism amongst every person although we all experience it differently based on past exposures.

In an excerpt from his essay “they say I say” titled “Hidden Intellectualism”, Gerald Graff gives a compelling argument on how schools should capitalize off student’s street smarts to engage them intellectually. He believes that students are being fed a narrative that is inefficient to its purpose. To counter this inefficiency there should be an integration of things that interest the students with their academics.

The issue being debated in the article “Hidden Intellectualism” by Gerald Graff is street smarts versus book smarts. Gerald Graff is an English professor at the University of Illinois and has written many books. The author claims that people are better off if they are more street smart than book smart. The authors is very persuasive using real life examples. I although disagree with this claim. I think that you need an equal mix of both street and book smarts.

In Gerald Graff’s essay Hidden Intellectualism he aims his writing towards schools, universities, teachers and the academic community. He responds to the situation of; teachers, schools and colleges overlooking intellectual potential of “street smarts”. His purpose in this essay is to acknowledge the readers that that there are different types of intellectualism and to point out flaws in the academia. The message Graff is trying to convey is that schools and teachers need to approach education in a different and more engaging way. In this paper, I will explain Graff’s point of view by showing you how he uses sports, personal experiences, students non-academic interest and rhetorical appeals. To give you a better understanding of Graff’s

Everyone knows some young person who is impressively street smart but does poorly in school. What a waste, we think, that one who is so intelligent about so many things in life seems unable to apply that intelligence to academic work. This is how Gerald Graff’s essay titled “Hidden Intellectualism" begins. Although this is not Graff's personal belief, he is approaching us with a common stereotype. After reading Graff's article I would say that I agree with him from beginning to end. Gerald Graff begins with differentiating between “book smarts” and “street smarts". Book smart is defined as a person who is intelligent and very well educated academically. People that are book smart can write and discuss subjects taught in school. On the

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

When it comes to the topic of hidden intellectualism, most of us will readily agree that a lot of students are seen to have an issue with it. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of is it the students fault. Whereas some are convinced it is, others maintain it is at the fault of the teachers or professors. Gerald Graff has his argument that in many cases book smarts can be hidden in street smarts. I believe that kids that struggle with their talents being hidden behind “street smarts” need a certain amount of attention and focus to help them acquire their abilities and strengths.

Co-author of “They Say/I Say” handbook, Gerald Graff, analyzes in his essay “Hidden Intellectualism” that “street smarts” can be used for more efficient learning and can be a valuable tool to train students to “get hooked on reading and writing” (Graff 204). Graff’s purpose is to portray to his audience that knowing more about cars, TV, fashion, and etc. than “academic work” is not the detriment to the learning process that colleges and schools can see it to be (198). This knowledge can be an important teaching assistant and can facilitate the grasping of new concepts and help to prepare students to expand their interests and write with better quality in the future. Graff clarifies his reasoning by indicating, “Give me the student anytime

In the reading written “Hidden Intellectualism “ by Gerald Graff, he states how society is being related to “street smart” and intellectualism. Graff states that understanding can be part of “ street smart “, Graff argues with life experience as text and subjects that show no interest in learning cause there some students would rather learn about subject that actually interest them more which is very encouraging to rather not doing the one which don’t interest us. Street smart has made life a bit difficult as when there are boundaries that separate smart with the hood, when Graff states that in Chicago there were boundaries of “clean-cut “ and “hoods” like be smart or get beaten. Graff has proven that “street smart “ can overcome the society

The main argument of essay Hidden Intellectualism by Gerald Graff begins with the difference between book smarts and street smarts. Graff explains that book smarts are in various forms and hide in people call street smarts, hence the hidden intellectualism. He also considered himself that in childhood he realized that he was intellectually gifted when he noticed that he was using reason and argumentative strategies while discussing sports with friends. Graff describes that through his arguing and reasoning, he was showing his intellectual side. He also gives another example of Michael Warner, a man who also realized his intellectual side through his arguing except instead of sports, he was arguing the Christian Pentecostal views of his parents.

In “Hidden Intellectualism” by Gerald Graff he explains that being intellect does not necessarily mean being academically smart, it can also mean being “street smart”. He says that many times people over look someone’s “intellectual potential” of those they consider street smart, because most people believe that “street smart” people are anti-intellectual. Graff suggests that teachers should start teaching subjects that students would actually enjoy learning, giving them a topic they can enjoy and making them look at it through ”intellectual eyes” When explaining Graff talks about his personal experiences, and uses examples. In the article Graff uses Rhetorical devices to support his claims. Gerald Graff supports most of his argument with Pathos, by using his personal experiences.

In this essay the author Gerald Graff, talks about how schools should try and make classes more interesting not just for academically smart students but also those who don’t relatively enjoy being in school and those who don’t succeed as much as the others. I’m talking about the street smart students. Those who have little to no interest in anything that is happening around them and would rather be out doing the things that they love. In essay, “Hidden Intellectualism” by Gerald Graff, it begins with the old argument that teachers have been arguing about for decades, should we teach more non-academic topics in our schools.

Then Griff realized throughout all his years of reading sports books and magazines he commenced the foundation's intellectualism. He claimed, “It was in reading and arguing about sports and toughness that I experienced what it felt like to propose a generalization restate and respond to a counterargument and perform other intellectualizing operations, including composing the kinds of the sentence I am writing now”. Griff discusses how “street smarts” have a craving for expressing their intellectualism more than “book smarts”. The topics they have a passion for were always satisfying to the public community, they were not limited, these topics were something you can talk to strangers about. The goal here is to encourage students to discuss their interested text or subject in an academical way. Rather than making them read and/or about a subject they can care less about. A student is going to put much more thought, effort, evidence and time into a writing of their own interest, than for them to write about

Senior year trying to puzzle together this geometry problem in my mind. I couldn’t figure it out, I felt like I hit a brick wall and couldn’t break through it to solve the problem. Maybe if I reworded the problem to a real world situation I could solve it. In the essay “Hidden Intellectualism” by Gerald Graff, his thesis is that intellectualism is more valuable than academic intelligence. Graff begins talking about how schools fail to reach into the minds of kids who are street smart and connect that into their academic school work.

What is Anti-Intellectualism? According to Dictionary.com, Anti-Intellectualism is defined as being hostile toward intellectuals and the modern academic, artistic, social, religious worlds as well as other theories that are associated with them. Although Richard Hofstadter’s Anti-Intellectualism in American Life won the 1964 Pulitzer Prize, it is now almost fifty-fives out of date. Not to mention the ideas within the book are seen as suggesting a type of self-defensive justification rather than an actual deep investigation. Hoftstader used the aftermath of McCarthyism and how there were wide range witch hunts among the academics and progressives and how that is influenced by the reform, socialists and communist movements between the World Wars. Applying McCarthyism, Hoftstader looks at the tension from four different perspectives: religion, politics, business, self-help culture, and education. Taking into consideration the year the book was written, each angle is explored from the colonial period up until the 1950s. Throughout the introduction, Hofstadter makes it clear that the purpose of the book is to shed a little light on our cultural problems. Focusing on the social and political phenomenon of “anti-intellectualism” Hofstadter applies broad abstractions to social issues. He explains how applications of the abstracts presented by intellectuals can ultimately pose a threat to the social and political ambitions of certain and specific individuals. Because of this,