Being “Street-Smart” means being able to develop confidence in one’s abilities to observe and interpret, analyze and discuss a subject or topic through learning and past experiences. I also firmly believe that a person becomes street-smart if he puts an effort researching on activities and experiences that helps him dribble past obstacles, easily with the right amount of determination towards the goal that he might have set for himself. The thirst for knowledge and the curious mind for a topic develops in that person due to interesting topics that creates a unique vibe while gaining insights or conversing about the subject matter. For this reason, the person genuinely enjoys mastering his art and skills to become more affluent, and constantly influences himself to strive for the better, so that he too can share an intellectual opinion on the topic of interest. Gerald Graff, a professor of English and education at the University of Illinois at Chicago in his essay “Hidden Intellectualism” blatantly describes how college destroys the intellectual …show more content…
Most of his adolescent life was spent absorbing and analyzing details about football, baseball, basketball, and all its glory. Additionally, not being accepted by the “eggheads”, and the intricate debates with close friends about the toughest guy in the school collectively pushed Graff closer towards an intellectual life. It was only later when he realized that the sports life was much more educating than school life. Graff claims that college made him chose an intellectual identity by directly taking subjects that interested him rather than taking the ones that were recommended by the college. This could lead students to make even the most astounding subject seem pale and dull. Just being a street-smart couldn’t pave the way for Graff to pursue a career in the sporting industry, because he failed to look at sports through “academic
Wes didn’t start off on the right path initially, due to the friends he surrounded himself with such as shea, a young drug runner, and the low standards he set for himself academically, which Author Wes mentions that he was “disappointed with D’s, pleasantly satisfied with C’s and celebratory about a B I allowed my standards at school to become pathetic” (Moore 54). He allowed a fixed mindset of mediocrity along with his environment to almost determine his life path. Without social capital, Author Wes Moore would’ve been doomed for failure but the intervention by his mother, a few of her friends and his grandparents, he was able to attend Valley Forge Military Academy where he was able to benefit from the effects of social capital from his superiors and peers in the form discipline, comradery and leadership. From there, he totally changed his perspective as he developed a growth mindset which was fairly evident when he realized that basketball wasn’t in his long term plans; Wes states “When you step on the court with players like Kobe Bryant or six foot eight point guards who can dunk from the free throw line, your mind begins to concentrate on other options” (Moore 130), that moment of clarity showed the benefits of social capital and a strong growth mindset. Another instance of social capital being beneficial in Author Wes Moore’s life is when he was granted a scholarship to attend John Hopkins University.
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
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.
A Rhetorical Analysis of “The Education of Dasmine Cathey” Writer, Brad Wolverton, in his article “The Education of Dasmine Cathey” first appearing in The Chronicle of Higher Education, conveys the journey of a former University of Memphis football player who was poorly educated and how he struggled to be academically eligible. Wolverton’s purpose is to illustrate the widespread of educational shortcomings of NCAA athletes and the complicated ways athletes struggles gets brushed under the proverbial carpet. (Wolverton) In this article Wolverton utilizes a straightforward tone by using pathos to appeal to the readers with Mr. Cathey’s difficult situation also utilizing logos and ethos etc. to help make a presentable argument to which I will be analyzing.
“Blue-Collar Brilliance” is about Mike Rose challenging the view that perspicacity can be quantified by the amount of schooling a person has consummated. He suggests that blue-collar and regular jobs require
To conclude this analyzation of Mike Rose’s essay “Blue Collar Brilliance” and Gerald Graff’s essay “Hidden Intellectualism”, Mike Rose’s essay was more effective. He gave readers examples of real life scenarios to validate his point. He used rhetorical tools that would help the more academic successful audience. He also connected with the audience labeled as “Blue Collars”, with stories from his mother and uncle
The main argument is that perceived throughout the reading is that the schools itself is failing students. They see a student who may not have the greatest test scores or the best grades, and degrade them from the idea of being intellectual. Graff states, “We associate the educated life, the life of the mind, too narrowly and exclusively with subjects and texts that we consider inherently weighty and academic” (Graff 244). Schools need to channel the minds of street smart students and turn their work into something academic.
He argues that there is perhaps some sort of hidden intelligence being masked behind the traditional coursework taught in schools and colleges. In addition, he refers to his past experience of using sports to inspire him to succeed in his academic life. Through this argument Graff informs the reader that when he talked about sports with his friends, he was able to create ideas and form arguments when discussing sports. Graff simply argues that when one uses his/her topic of choice to study, read, or write, they will excel academically. Though I somewhat agree with his arguments, I do not agree with them all; in my opinion, I believe that talking about your favorite topics and subjects are not enough to excel
The delusion of sports being more important than academics is refuted and pitied by the audience members who have not grown to believe these fundamentals of Odessa. He reaches out to the readers by allowing them to comprehend that these students cannot become contributing members of society, because they attend a fractured school system, that does not motivate them to achieve greatness beyond high school football. The community’s need to having a victorious season affects people who are not on the team by denying them opposites in areas other than football, when most
Murray’s response to societal expectations shows his self-determination as he challenged fully living up to what he was forecasted to do as an athlete. He argues,
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.
Graff explains that in the educated lifestyle our minds stay inside this neat little box, which some may consider to be extremely important. This also supports the idea of how being a well-rounded person can get you a wide variety of opportunities and advances in things such as your: extracurriculars, schooling, and careers. The future of our kids relies in
Graff says street smarts offer more life skills than the education provided in school. In other words, you can be smart without being highly educated because knowledge goes beyond academics. He grew up thinking he was anti-intellectual because his writing skills were not great about the topics he’s expected to write in school. Graff describes how sports helped him excel in academics and discover his hidden intellectualism. He believes ‘’Making students’ nonacademic interests of an object study is useful, the, for getting students’ attention and overcoming their boredom and alienation, but this tactic won’t in itself necessarily move them close to an rigorous treatment of those interests.’’
Intro: Imagine waking up and getting ready for your day in a car that picked you up with no driver. I support self driving cars because i feel it will improve the future of driving. Self driving cars will save cost on insurance and healthcare facilities. Also self driving cars will help disabled and elderly individuals and will take the danger of driving out of the equation.
Student 's Name Professor 's Name Cause and Effect Essay 23 03 2018 The popularity of Sports in the United States Sport is an integral and inseparable part of the American history and culture. Millions of people are either active participants or passive spectators of sports events. Americans worship sportsmen and sportswomen being ready to watch their celebrities at any cost. The popularity of sports is growing from year to year.