Hidden Intellectualism Gerald Graff
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.
As I read "Hidden Intellectualism" I could not help but empathize with Graff instantly. I was transported back to middle school and high school and he reminded me of, well, me. I too am from a middle-class neighborhood, with a typical educated middle-class family, that also lived close to a working class area. My interests were slightly different then Graff …show more content…
I could not agree with his views more. It was not until later in life while reading and writing about topics that were considered literarily unconventional, that I discovered how intellectual the topics were. It seems it's common knowledge taught by teachers that one must only be taught with traditional class literature and subjects. I compare the idea of using more real world "street" topics to the difference of learning something from a textbook versus learning something from the hands-on experience. There is simply more interest in everyday topics like sports, cars, video games, etcetera to simply discount these topics and being unintellectual.
Hidden Intellectualism discusses how past and modern English education discounts everyday subjects as "street smarts", and focuses primarily on traditional classic literature to engage students. I personally believe that the classics should be the main focus in the English curriculum, but I also see the need to look beyond our literary past when it comes to education. As Graff points out, "If a student cannot get interested in Mill's On Liberty but will read Sports Illustrated or Vogue or the hip-hop magazine Source with absorption, this is a strong argument for assigning magazines over the classic"(270).
It is in my opinion that it is better to get students interested in something literary as opposed to having them totally uninterested and stay completely like I
As I read "Hidden Intellectualism" I could not help but empathize with Graff instantly. I was transported back to middle school and high school and he reminded me of, well, me. I too am from a middle-class neighborhood, with a typical educated middle-class family, that also lived close to a working class area. My interests were slightly different then Graff …show more content…
I could not agree with his views more. It was not until later in life while reading and writing about topics that were considered literarily unconventional, that I discovered how intellectual the topics were. It seems it's common knowledge taught by teachers that one must only be taught with traditional class literature and subjects. I compare the idea of using more real world "street" topics to the difference of learning something from a textbook versus learning something from the hands-on experience. There is simply more interest in everyday topics like sports, cars, video games, etcetera to simply discount these topics and being unintellectual.
Hidden Intellectualism discusses how past and modern English education discounts everyday subjects as "street smarts", and focuses primarily on traditional classic literature to engage students. I personally believe that the classics should be the main focus in the English curriculum, but I also see the need to look beyond our literary past when it comes to education. As Graff points out, "If a student cannot get interested in Mill's On Liberty but will read Sports Illustrated or Vogue or the hip-hop magazine Source with absorption, this is a strong argument for assigning magazines over the classic"(270).
It is in my opinion that it is better to get students interested in something literary as opposed to having them totally uninterested and stay completely like I