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Hidden Intellectualism By Gerald Graff

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The Art in Education In first grade we had to draw a picture of what we would be doing 20 years from then. We had to draw what job we would have, what our hair would look like, what we would be wearing, and I chose to draw a picture of me drawing a picture. As a first grader I knew that my future would mirror what I was doing in that exact moment; I would still have curly hair, and I would still be an artist. Loudly proclaiming that I was going to be an artist when I grew up was ok in elementary school, but at the end of middle school it was often challenged with “but what are you really going to be?” The simple thought that I really couldn’t want to just be an artist confused me more than it embarrassed me, but it embarrassed me enough to …show more content…

They’re not taken seriously or listened to because they’re not academically educated. Street smarts is overlooked by teachers and undervalued by parents. Graff’s argument is that these street-smart kids are just as valuable as those who are academically gifted because within the “street-smarts” can be found “book-smarts”. There are different types of intelligence but they are not unequal in importance. I strongly agree with Graffs argument since I can relate on a personal level. Wanting to study art guaranteed me hearing variations of Graff’s statement labeling a kid as a “lost cause” throughout the …show more content…

When I was young I wasn’t necessarily interested in art, but what I was truly interested in was color. The way color was associated with an emotion: yellow is happy, blue is sad, red is angry. I wanted to know why these colors felt these things. I would paint over my dull uniform to try and feel the same thing the color felt, and would be sent to the office all covered in paint for disrupting the class or mocking the assignment. When you’re young no one listens. At least no one listened to me. My teachers saw my lack of interest in pre-algebra to be a sign of disinterest in school as a whole. Parent-teacher conferences, taking away recess, and not even detention could fix the laziness inside of me for things like pre-algebra. All they saw was lost potential; to them I was a bright little girl with no motivation. But little did they know that I would be studying neuropsychology and doing research to develop a new form of art therapy in a few short

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Hidden Intellectualism,” by Gerald Graff, is an essay in which the former English professor discusses the misconceptions of the ideas of intellectualism amongst society. He primarily focuses on the way adolescents view intellectualism as a negative trait that only “nerds” strive for. He also elaborates on his experiences in revealing his own hidden intellectualism, while in college in a literature class, after growing up in the “anti-intellectual” 1950s. However, through a method that Graff and an eleventh grade high school teacher are developing, they hope to make students think and debate argumentatively as intellectuals would. They do this in an attempt to have the students see their true potentials as intellectuals themselves.

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And furthermore, comprehension goes far beyond academic learning and extends into the day-to-day world. It goes without saying that a lot of people know someone who is “street smart” but doesn't exceed in school, yet “street smarts” are just

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In the short story "Hidden Intellectualism" by Gerald Graff, the main idea is to bring acknowledgment to the idea that educators of schools and colleges should incorporate students interest into their teaching. In other words, Graff believes schools and colleges are at fault for not taking the opportunity to use "street smarts" for good academic work (Graff,2010). If Gerald Graff is right about educators needing to incorporate "street smarts" into scholarly works, as I agree, then educators should reevaluate their teaching methods. Students are becoming negligent of gaining knowledge of social interest because it is not encouraged by instructors. Therefore, the only topics students can converse with are related to school work (Graff,2010).

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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.

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Intellectualism is the factor of being intellect or intelligent. The idea of what it means to be educated can be interpreted many different ways by different people. Some think it’s having a 4.0 and going to Harvard, while others believe in the idea of having common sense. In the essay, “Hidden Intellectualism,” Gerald Graff reflects how lack of education is viewed negatively in society. On top of that, a question also lies what it means to educated.

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Gerald Graff’s essay “Hidden Intellectualism” contemplates the age-old idea that street smarts are anti-intellectual. However, as Graff points out, “schools and colleges are at fault for missing the opportunity to tap into such street smarts and channel them into academic smarts.” (244). What Graff means by this is that being street smart does not mean a person lacks intelligence. Rather, educational institutions need to find a way to effectively ‘tap into’ this different format of intellectualism to produce academic intelligence.

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Some see me as an outspoken, passionate person. I am told, that I am not afraid to speak up for the matters that I value. My values are set around social justices. I’m an artist, who doesn’t recognize my true value. The few times i’ve shared my art with others, I am told extremely kind complaints, and even offers to buy my art, however I often doubt my beautiful talent.

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The reading "Hidden Intellectualism" by Gerald Graff reflects views on being "street smart" and "book smart." He explains that society tends to associate people who are intelligent on solely being "book smart" and performing well in academics, rather than being street smart. He goes on to further explain that students perhaps can be intelligent on topics that interest them. Graff opens up the reading by giving his own personal experience on feeling torn between trying to prove that he was smart yet fearing that he was overdoing it. He was trying to prove that he learned just as much about the real world by reading his sports books and magazines as he would have if he had read the classic works of literature like most students in school.

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“Hidden Intellectualism,” by Gerald Graff starts off with an older argument between being book smart and street smart. Throughout the reading, Graff uses his own life experiences to critique the education system today. Points made focus on the idea of overlooking the intellectual potential of those who come across as being, “street smart”. Different authors cited in the reading to show how to accept another’s different intellectual. However, we realize that people who come across as being intellectual weren’t always labeled as that.

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It is a problem I have been working to fix. I feel most successful in my art, mostly outside the classroom where I can improve on the tidbits I prefer. Artwork is something personal I do better when working

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