Write an essay about an article
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GRADED-QiaoweiLiu-098-Paper3.pdf
Qiaowei Liu
Professor Stanton
Communication Skills 098
April 8
Agreeing with intellectuals follow the passion, yet refuting only book smart are
intellectual and schools need to change
Do you know what is intellectualism? Intellectualism is the use, development,
and exercise of the rationalism, and it can reflect in both individuals’ lives and schools.
People usually define those who are knowledgeable as those who do well in school,
but in “Hidden Intellectualism” and “Remarks by the First Lady at Bowie State
University Commencement Ceremony”, Gerald Graff and Michelle Obama addresses
different views on intellectualism; Graff proposes that intellectuals pursue interests, as
well as he believes that society is misguided about who is intellectual and schools are
responsible for changes. Based on his viewpoints, Michelle Obama shows her
agreements and objections. She agrees that intellectuals follow the passion, yet she
also believes that those who are book smart are intellectual and she even considers
that students need to change rather than the schools.
Graff claims that intellectuals pursue interests and Obama agrees with this idea.
Graff states, “they would be more prone to take on intellectual identities if we
encouraged them to do so at first on subjects that interest them rather than ones that
interest us” (265). Graff emphasizes the importance of intellectualism since he
mentions that after students learn the basic subjects first, they will find what they like
and then try to pursue their interests. People need to learn fundamental knowledge
first in order to open different options so that they can make a decision based on their
preferences. Obama agrees with his idea and she thinks the foundation of pursuing
interests is education. Obama claims, ‘“Education means emancipation...It means
light and liberty. It means the uplifting of the soul of man into the glorious light of
truth, the only light by which man can be free’” (291). Obama quotes Frederick
Douglass’s sayings and indicates that education is not only about reading and writing
but also about passion and interests. Education can liberate people by having chances
and passions to pursue their interests. Passion and interests are fundamental
requirements expressed by people. In short, Graff underlines that intellectuals pursue
interests and Obama depicted the importance of that in her presidency. They both
agree with the effects of intellectualism on the personal level, but when facing the
social problems, they illustrate the opposite points.
Graff believes the society’s view of street smart people is wrong, and he
disapproves that book smart equates to intellectualism, whereas Obama agrees people
who gain knowledge at schools are much smarter than those who gather experience
from real life. Graff states, “Everyone knows some young person who is impressively
‘street smart’ but does poorly in school” (264), and he continues saying that “What a
waste, we think, that one who is so intelligent about so many things in life seems
unable to apply that intelligence to academic work” (264). Society thinks people who
are successful in life cannot do well in school, but those who do well in school can
use their knowledge in life. Regarding the social view, Graff uses the words “What a
waste” to show his helplessness. He feels sorry for people who define intellectualism
that way because due to the fact that writing about “Plato, Shakespeare, the French
Revolution, and nuclear fission” (264) does not mean people are smart. If they can
master in “cars, dating, fashion, sports, TV, or video games” (264), they are also smart.
Intellectualism has no limits, and society should not give people who are street smart
a label that they are not smart since there are so many people who perform well in
both life and school. However, in “Bowie State University Commencement Speech”,
Obama gives an opposite statement against Graff, and she states “People who earn a
bachelor’s degree or higher make nearly three times more money than high school
dropouts, and they’re far less likely to be unemployed”. She also gives the audiences
another example in the following statement, “African American women with a college
degree live an average of six and a half years longer than those without. And for men,
it’s nearly 10 years longer” (291). Obama is stating that in comparison to people who
drop out of school and learn from life, students who receive education can earn more
money to raise their family and even live longer. These show how school smart
people are more intelligent because they do much better than those who do not study
in school. In short, Graff and Obama hold controversial points on what kind of people
are intelligent. Graff does not think book smart people are smarter than street smart
people, but Obama considers book smart people as more intelligent. Not only they do
disagree about this issue, but they also disagree about how to fix it.
Graff points out that school should be responsible for changes, but Obama has a
different angle and considers that students need to make the changes. Graff explains,
“School competition, in short, reproduced the less attractive features of sports culture
without those that create close bonds and community” (268). He points out the defects
of schools. He thinks the competitions at school are like the matches of sports, but the
tests in schools are more tedious and are more like shackles. The tests at school can
attract students, unlike sports games. Graff also claims, “If I am right, then schools
and colleges are missing an opportunity when they do not encourage students to take
their nonacademic interests as objects of academic study” (270). He also shows the
shortcomings of schools. If schools let their students develop their nonacademic
interests, they will probably do well in writing arguments about sports, cars, fashions
and so on. Graff points out two of schools’ flaws and tells audiences that schools need
to make changes. However, compared with Graff, Obama has a different angle on this
problem. She states, “We need to start feeling that hunger again” (291). In the
following quotation, she points out more and more students are slacking, just like
“instead of walking miles every day to school, they’re sitting on couches for hours
playing video games, watching TV” (291). Students are losing their drive to study, but
they need it to be intellectual. So, students need to make changes to find their hunger
for education and knowledge. She also reminds people, “if you have friends or
cousins or siblings who are not taking their education seriously, shake them up. Go
talk some sense into them. Get them back on track” (293). People need to wake up to
seek their hunger for intellectualism. In short, Graff and Obama have different views
on who needs to take the responsibilities for changes. Graff thinks schools need to
change, but Obama considers the perspective that students need to change.
In conclusion, in “Hidden Intellectualism”, Gerald Graff indicates that book
smart does not equate to intellectualism. Intellectualism helps people pursue interests
and passion and schools need to change based on their defects. In “Remarks by the
First Lady at Bowie State University Commencement Ceremony”, Obama approves
that education pursues interests, but she states those who are book smart are more
intelligent than those who are street smart and the changes need to start from within
the students. Though Graff and Obama have different ideas on intellectualism, in
individual’s lives, book smart and street smart are both needed. Students cannot only
do well in school, but they also need to know how to use their knowledge in real lives;
Students cannot only be smart in lives, but they also need academic learning to
support and rich themselves. Intellectualism can help students to find their interests
and passions. Students need to keep passions to push them up instead of being
slacking. Schools need to pay attention to students’ nonacademic interests because
they are also good for students’school works.
Qiaowei Liu: On my honor, I have neither received nor given any unauthorized
assistance on this assignment.
