Rhetorical Analysis Of America Needs Its Nerds

In “America Needs Its Nerds” by Leonid Fridman, Fridman addresses the American society values and lack of respect towards the “intellectually curious” and “academically serious”. Using strong diction along with the rhetorical appeals of ethos, connotations and comparisons, Fridman addresses the audience of Americans who do not appreciate “nerds”. When building up ethos to establish trust between the audience and himself, Fridman uses a definition of the word “geek” from the Webster’s New World Dictionary. In the dictionary a “geek” is a “street performer that bites heads off of live chickens in public” (2). After all, in his opinion, the real world’s definition of the word “geek” (someone who thoroughly enjoys academics) is derogatory and

With the use of stronger verbs or adjectives other than the normal word, the message becomes much clearer to the audience the way that Fridman feels towards the subject. A shift occurs when he Fridman says “enough is enough” (5). This switch points out the transition that he is not talking about how nerds are in the background of society anymore, he is now talking about how they should come out and be themselves. In the last few paragraphs of his essay, Fridman compares the U.S. to other countries in world about the amount of anti-intellectualism that occurs in those countries. “There are few countries in the world where anti-intellectualism runs as high in population as it does in the U.S.”(7). this quote shows that no matter how “prestigious” the U.S. schooling is, the U.S. will have the most anti-intellectualism than any other country. In the U.S., even the most intellectually advanced students are not even closely compared to the best athletes. Unlike other countries, the U.S. will never intellectually advance if things do not change. Fridman ends his essay with an open question towards the audience, “How long can America remain a world-class power if we constantly emphasize social skills and physical prowess over academic achievement and intellectual ability” (9). By opening an open ended question, the answers could be in any range. But in Fridman’s perspective, he wants America to change and soon,