Graff and Rose Quotation Sandwiches
In Hidden Intellectualism by Gerald Graff, it is argued that intellectualism should be handled differently from the general ways people understand it. The author argues that people do not correctly understand intellectualism, as most people think that intellectuals are those who have great educational achievements. However, educational results do not necessarily prove that one is an intellectual. According to the author, it takes more than knowledge of education and books to become an intellectual. Graff writes, “I believe that street smarts beat out book smarts in our culture not because street smarts are non-intellectual, as we generally suppose, but because they satisfy an intellectual thirst more thoroughly than school culture seems pale and unreal. (373)” According to this claim, it is evident that for one to become an intellectual, there exist several aspects that need to be fulfilled. Academic achievement only cannot be used as a measure of intellectualism. Hence, more needs to be done for one to achieve the title of an intellectual adequately. For instance, as Graff states, street smarts could have more intellectual traits than book smarts, since they use their interests, to argue, analyze, organize, interpret, and perform various issues like sports to conclude.
Promoting a student’s interests and abilities alone cannot provide an affirmative that they will become intellectuals. It is the role of teachers and the society, in general, to make sure that they educate the students to be able to understand that they can be able to “…take their non-academic interests as objects of academic study.” This means that information has to be provided to students on how they can transform their interests, such as sports reading and writing, to achieve more in their educational studies.
In “Blue-Collar Brilliance” by Mike Rose, the author argues that educational attainment cannot necessarily measure intelligence, but rather on how critically and intellectually an individual can think in a given circumstance. Most people have adopted a means of classifying others depending on their occupations and other social factors like social class. This aspect has led to many people underestimating themselves, and their potential in undertaking various activities. Intellectualism is an aspect also that most people have categorized according to the level of education one has attained or the type of work that they undertake. Blue-Collar is a category of jobs where the worker does manual labor, with skills or unskilled. Most people have always categorized these workers as non-intellectual and with a lack of intelligence. Rose writes, “More than once, I’ve heard a manager label his workers as “a bunch of dummies.” Generalizations about intelligence, work, and social class deeply affect our assumptions about ourselves and each other, guiding the ways we use our minds to learn, build knowledge, solve problems, and make our way through the world. (381)”
According to the author’s words, it can be argued that most people still do not judge others depending on the thoughts needed in their work, but rather on their values and achievements. This aspect led to many being considered non-intellectuals just because they perform manual jobs or have a low social class. It is the role of every person to make sure that they appreciate the work and inputs of others and not to judge them based on physical, social, or economic factors as this is the primary reason behind increased social separations and a disturbing cultural relation.
Works Cited
Rose, Mike. “Blue-Collar Brilliance” “They Say/I Say”: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing: With Readings. New York: W.W. Norton, 2012. 190-96. Print.
Graff, Gerald. “Hidden Intellectualism” “They Say/I Say”: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing: With Readings. New York: W.W. Norton, 2012. 190-96. Print.