...In “Hidden Intellectualism”, Gerald Graff tries to argue that intellectualism is not only existing in the academic world but usually hided in the street, the latter is what we call the “street smart”. According to his own experiences from his childhood, Graff tells how his disinterest in the academic research limited his gift of intellect until he once tried to discuss sport with his friend by means of academic research methods and strategies. Then, Graff tells his experience when he was in Chicago. He found that the phenomenon of anti-intellectualism which had troubled his childhood still existed. Then Graff tells the readers that, in his childhood, he is afraid to show his gift of intellect because it would make him be target of in-class...
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...In the short passage, “Hidden Intellectualism,” by Gerald Graff, the author emphasizes that students will do well in an intellectual talk if the students can relate more to the topic.Graff gives examples of this by referring to sports and his childhood encounters. The passage guides us through the author’s thinking and way of how he became this hidden intellect without even knowing it and how sports prepared him. Graff suggests that the world of sports is more captivating than school, “because it was more intellectual” (267,Graff) When it comes to sports or what people like, there is a higher probability that, that person will succeed in an intellectual debate. “There’s no necessary relation between the degree of interest a student shows in a text or subject and the quality of thought or expression such a student manifests in writing or talking about it.” (269, Graff) Graff acknowledges this by...
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...Kelsey Helmer English 131 Amber Carver 29 September 2015 Hidden Intellectualism Analysis In his eight page essay, Gerald Graff argues that street smarts can very well be more intellectual than street smarts. Street smarts should be encouraged to learn in a way that interests them so they have the same equal opportunity to be just as or more intelligent to book smarts who benefit from school in a different way. Back in the 1950’s, you had to choose whether you were a “hood” or a “clean cut” boy. The culture the students grew up in forced them to pick whether they wanted to be book smart and be made fun of, or impress the hoods by being physically and verbally tough. Graff did not agree with this. Graff Believes that schools should want all students to learn efficiently on something that interests them. He argues that street smarts could be equally smart if schools would allow them to learn off of something in their interest. Graff benefited more from playing on the streets and magazines because he was interested in what he was doing. Book smarts enjoy reading schools books, so it is beneficial to them. Gerald Graff’s essay “Hidden Intellectualism” is a critique on how schools are missing out on the opportunity to encourage street smarts to learn in a more effective way. To inform schools and universities, Graff was driven into the writing of his essay from the frustration of street smarts not being able to receive a beneficial education at school like the other students...
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...In the story “Hidden Intellectualism” written by; Gerald Graff, is about how schools and college’s make mistakes by not valuing street smarts, but academic skills. The reason street smarts are undervalued is because, they aren’t associated with academic skills. Since in the story Gerald Graff explained his interest in sports illustrated books, which he thought wasn’t intellectual to him or others. However, the author; Gerald Graff also mentioned “that one major reason why schools and colleges overlook the intellectual potential of street smarts; is the fact that we associate those street smarts with anti-intellectual concerns”(p.244). Students need to be exposed to intellectual writing, but need to write about what interest them. In the story; Gerald Graff discussed that “the educational life, and the life of the mind, is too narrowly and...
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...An Intellectual False Dichotomy Hidden Intellectualism by Gerald Graff, addresses the educational issue in the problem of unlocking a student’s unique intellectual interest and abilities. He believes that the main issue in the approach of education is the false dichotomy between “street-smarts” and academic intelligence. It is demonstrated through his tonal writing, which is littered with criticism of the educational system, yet is fully supportive of education in terms of intellectual growth. Staying true to his stance, Graff constructs his hidden intellectual argument that sticks to an everyday, relatable tone associated with banter without compromising his ideas. Graff begins the text using familiar colloquial terms, such as “street-smart”...
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...Hit the books! Is it better to be book smart or street smart? This question of what we consider to be intellectualism; Gerald Graff goes on to explains this through his the Chapter “Hidden Intellectualism” in his book Clueless in Academic: How Schooling Obscures the Life of the Mind. I agree with Graff’s point about how teachers should try to get students more engaged in schoolwork using subjects students find interesting. Graff clarifies how being intelligent is not only about being academically smart, but also being “street smart”, using his own experiences. At the beginning of his chapter, Hidden Intellectualism Graff says, “We assume that it’s possible to wax intellectual about Plato, Shakespeare, the French Revolution, and nuclear fission, but not about cars, dating, fashion, sports, TV, or video games.” (245). What I believe Graff is trying to convey is, how it is viewed more important to know what started the French Revolution, than it is to know how to keep a conversation going, even when the two people have nothing in common. Although keeping up conversation would not be viewed as non-academic, but could very well be used to give presentations or speeches in class or in a debate. Graff goes on to offer his own experience of his youth. He describes himself as a typical anti-intellectual teenager that preferred sports to schoolwork. He explains how intellectualism was treated very hostile in the 1950’s and because of that he tried avoiding seeming book smart. He explains...
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...and what is intelligence anyway? These are questions often sought by struggling students who feel their schools are academically challenging due to uninteresting subjects. In the essay “Hidden Intellectualism” written by Gerald Graff, he believes that there is knowledge and intelligence beyond what can be tested through formal schooling. He exposes in his writing that knowledge can also take the form within what he considers “street smarts.” Graff ultimately makes an excellent point. He argues that schools ought to encourage learners to read, think critically and write about their fields of personal interests such as sports, fashion or cars. Those unfamiliar with this school of thought may be interested to know that it basically boils down to the student’s interest. By integrating students’ interest, they would be able to learn more about the subjects linked to their social lives in the real world, in addition to attaining the benefits of classroom knowledge, and further developing intellectual growth. The author makes a great point about the student’s interest like sports and how it has a better grasp on what society is like outside of the academia world. “The real intellectual world, the one that existed in the big world beyond school is organized very much like the world of team sports,” Graff explains, “with rival texts, rival interpretations and evaluations of texts, rival theories of why they should be read and taught, and elaborate team competitions in which ‘fans’ of writers...
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...Beginning theory An introduction to literary and cultural theory Second edition Peter Barry © Peter Barry 1995, 2002 ISBN: 0719062683 Contents Acknowledgements - page x Preface to the second edition - xii Introduction - 1 About this book - 1 Approaching theory - 6 Slop and think: reviewing your study of literature to date - 8 My own 'stock-taking' - 9 1 Theory before 'theory' - liberal humanism - 11 The history of English studies - 11 Stop and think - 11 Ten tenets of liberal humanism - 16 Literary theorising from Aristotle to Leavis some key moments - 21 Liberal humanism in practice - 31 The transition to 'theory' - 32 Some recurrent ideas in critical theory - 34 Selected reading - 36 2 Structuralism - 39 Structuralist chickens and liberal humanist eggs Signs of the fathers - Saussure - 41 Stop and think - 45 The scope of structuralism - 46 What structuralist critics do - 49 Structuralist criticism: examples - 50 Stop and think - 53 Stop and think - 55 39 Stop and think - 57 Selected reading - 60 3 Post-structuralism and deconstruction - 61 Some theoretical differences between structuralism and post-structuralism - 61 Post-structuralism - life on a decentred planet - 65 Stop and think - 68 Structuralism and post-structuralism - some practical differences - 70 What post-structuralist critics do - 73 Deconstruction: an example - 73 Selected reading - 79 4 Postmodernism - 81 What is postmodernism? What was modernism? -...
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