In the weighty argumentative essay, “America Needs Its Nerds”, by Leonid Fridman, he points out a very important issue students who are academically gifted face: their intellectual advances often have them labeled as degrading terms such as geek or nerd. Throughout Fridman’s argument, he structures his agreement to attend to the appeal to logos and his belief that we do, in fact need our “nerds.” Fidman first exemplifies his assertive tone in the mere first few words of the text saying, “There is something very wrong with the system of values in a society that has only derogatory terms like nerd and geek for the intellectually curious and academically curious.” His anger towards the American system of values becomes evident early on, thus
"Anti-intellectualism is rampant. " This quote from the passage, " America Needs Its Nerds" by Leonid Fridman is portraying the author's main point that intellectual students are frowned upon by our society. He uses examples, strong vocabulary, and facts to develop his argument.
“America Needs Its Nerds” The average high school/elementary school student is looked down upon for wanting to be academically curious. Students who want to be our nation’s next great minds in any respective field. However, our society brings these students down and insists that they spend their academic career partying. Leonid Fridman objects this social norm in the book “America Needs Its Nerds” Through the use of logic, Fridman attempts to persuade his audience on seeing academic curiosity as a gateway for our nation’s future.
The article “America Needs its Nerds” by Leonid Fridman uses incredible literacy strategies to engage the reader of his arguments. Fridmans main argument was that we treat smart people terribly in these recent times while other countries that are advancing praise smarter kids instead of other abilities. He makes a tone and mood that are very felt throughout the reading from his passion. He uses amazing literacy strategies to show is point of view to the reader. He overall uses amazing strategies to prove his points and make his argument stronger
In chapter six, “Nerds vs. Nurdles”, Edward Humes asserts that humans are responsible for the pollution of the Earth’s oceans with plastic and its byproducts. Humes establishes support that his story is credible by presenting strong arguments supported by research, relying on documents that include reliable evidence, reports, and including emotional elements. Humes introduces a well-known researcher, Miriam Goldstein, first with a story about her childhood experience to the ocean that did not end well. Humes explains how Miriam became involved in the research of Nurdles and how they first appeared in the sea. Humes lists two projects, Miriam worked on, Project Kaisei with Scripps, NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), along
Every high school has two categories, and I bet as always, the jocks are popular and the intellectual or “nerds” are at the bottom of the social ranks. What would happen if the social categories were flipped? In the article, “America Needs its Nerds”, Leonid Fridman uses emotionally charged diction, an honest atmosphere, and syntax in order to argue that if America is going to thrive, then the negative outlook on nerds must be flipped to a positive view. Similarly, the author expresses his argument using precise, and emotionally charged diction.
We live in a society in which conformity is not only encouraged but often rewarded. As my grandfather used to always say, “It’s the [penguin] who is different that gets left out in the cold.” Sure, many try to push the narrative that we ought to lead, and that being divergent is what makes one “special.” But while this may be true in a purely academic sense, socially, those who do not abide by unspoken norms are typically outcast as pariahs; they are considered the “undesirables.” As such, many teenagers change their personality by emulating others in attempt to gain acceptance into certain social cliques.
Greg Graffin’s Anarchy in the Tenth Grade represents the in-group theory presented by Gordon Allport. The in-group theory proposes that people belong to cliques, some by choice and others by chance, and society affects or has influences on these in-groups through equal out-groups. Mr. Graffin explains how it feels to be a new kid in a new school and how he became a punker. Mr. Graffin explains his endeavours through the in-group “punk” and also expounds on how different out-groups react to his in-group.
Adolescents often have the urge to be popular. When the narrator is talking about the popular
In general, people do not consider the commonly used words “nerd and geek” to be that deprecatory. Referring to them as “derogatory” develops his argument that intellectuals receive undeserved criticism. To make an additional point, Fridman uses the words nerd and geek throughout the remainder of his essay, further drawing the reader's attention to his view on the words and their disparaging
A respected author John Green questions, "Why is being a nerd bad? Saying I notice you 're a nerd is like saying, ‘Hey I knows that you 'd rather be intelligent than be stupid, that you 'd rather be thoughtful of them be vapid, that you believe that there things that matter more than the arrest record of Lindsay Lohan and why is that?” Many people who are passionate about their studies question the same thing. Leonid Fridman wrote a passage “America Needs its Nerds” in order to raise concern that our society does not value intelligence. Fridman uses compare and contrast to get his point across to the readers.
Before this remark, the narrator only would put one to two words maximum in all capital letters. This remark has the total of four words which if a big jump from one
He uses the rhetorical technique of repetition and manipulates the meaning of his words to show the extent of the narrator’s madness. “You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded-- with what caution-- with what foresight-- with what dissimulation I went to work!”
Mark Bauerlein, author of ‘The Dumbest Generation’, argues that today’s youth has had a decline in academics due to new technology in today’s economy. In retrospect, we’re growing up in a different time than the generation before us; the world and it’s products are different as to be expected, and with them we must learn new materials than they did. Today’s generation isn’t ‘dumb’, instead we’re adjusting to the times and retaining different knowledge than the generations before us. Many older generations always thinks that the generation after theirs is ‘dumber’, and think themselves to be the superior one.
Pop Culture in Academia One may ask, is studying pop culture in academia worthwhile? In the 21st century, people are completely immersed in pop culture. According to Dictionary.com, popular culture is defined as “cultural activities or commercial products reflecting, suited to, or aimed at the tastes of the general masses of people” and it has become a norm in daily life (Popular culture, 2018). Due to pop culture’s massive influence, most of what we do is shaped by pop culture in some way; therefore, studying pop culture with all the same importance of any other subject would be beneficial in many ways. Studying pop culture may allow us to understand trends in culture that can aid in other careers, as well as study societal and power constructs with greater precision.
