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Analysis Of Grant Penrod Anti-Intellectualism Why We Hate The Smart Kids

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In Grant Penrod’s, “Anti-Intellectualism: Why We Hate the Smart Kids” he describes to the reader why the majority of people hate the “nerds” and “geeks” in school. Penrod begins his argument by using high school as an example. The idea of anti-intellectualism is most commonly introduced in high school when the classifications of “geek” and “nerd” are used for the people who take academics seriously, and unfortunately get excluded from social activities. At the Mountain View High School the students and workers only recognized the football team for making it to state. Even though the school’s academic decathlon, science bowl team, and speech and debate team made it to state as well. They received only ten minutes of recognition, while the football team were commemorated with banners and assemblies.
With my own observation, I can say that it is noticeable that the football team receives more recognition than what other sports, and the “nerds” get. Very few people in school would actually pay attention or attend any of the debates, competitions, and other sports. I would both agree and disagree with Penrod in his argument. I can see eye to eye with Penrod …show more content…

The list of celebrity high school dropouts are surprising, because there are many people in today's society who probably have no idea that their favorite celebrity never received their diploma. This controversy aids Penrod’s belief that others look at celebrities just like everyone else and not as part of the outstanding academic scholars. Along with celebrities some professional athletes make more income than some third world countries do. Along with this idea, he explains that in order to become rich and famous you are not required to finish high school. But those who do have doctorate degrees will earn almost twice as much as those who graduated high school, and dropouts will on average make even

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Throughout Leonid Fridman’s essay “American Needs its Nerds” , the author displays how knowledge is extremely important and anti-values needs to be stop. First the author introduces his argument by starting a definition of the term “Geek”,then he exemplifies that people discriminate toward geeks and nerds for their intellectuals and passion for academics. He continues his argument by stating “ Even at a prestigious academic institution like Harvard, anti-intellectualism is rampant: Many students are ashamed to admit, even though their friends, how they study”(Fridman 10-14). Fridman perfectly shows a great source of irony by visualizing how people treat nerds differently from other and how they are a social outcast, even though students at

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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.

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Anti-Intellectualism: Why We Hate the Smart Kids is written in first-person point-of-view that gives the reader insight on why the majority of the population “Hate the Smart Kids”. This argumentative essay talks about why the majority of the population makes fun of the intelligent students in school and turn their backs on them. The tone that Grant Penrod gives off is his sympathy towards the intelligent students who are basically being bullied. This bulling of intellectuals is mainly receiving verbal abuse. As Penrod said, “Unfortunately, it represents just one statement along countless similar sites and positing, a veritable cornucopia of evidence attesting to society’s distaste for intellectuals” (755).

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