'' Hidden Intellectualism ''

In ''Hidden Intellecualism'', Gerald Graff brings a fresh new perspective of being street smart vs. being book smart. He argues that society has a constructed and narrow view of intellect that hinders ones confidence in themselves. Gerald Graff states ''Not everyone is good at math or science and some people excel in nonacademic work.'' Graff argues that a student shouldn't be known as anti-intellectual just because they don't excel in school. Instead he states “schools and colleges might be at fault for missing the opportunity to tap into such street smarts and channel them into good academic work.” Graff argues that there is another form of intelligence, not just school smarts, but street smarts and schools should be more open minded to incorporating other ideas into school work.

Graff argues his point that not all intelligence is found through schooling through sharing his personal experiences. When he was growing up, he always thought of himself as ''anti-intellectual'' because he was bad in school. He never enjoyed reading anything, except for anything sport related. He read sport autobiographies, sport magazines, etc. It wasn't until he was older than he realized he wasn't stupid, he was just smart in a different way. He was able to socialize with others and bring up discussions over anything sport related where as he couldn't start any discussion with the things he learned in school. His street smarts bridged a relationship to everyone else who enjoyed sports. 

I completely agree with Graff that being street smart is another form of intellect and that schools need to find a better way to incorporate outside events and issues into their academic curriculum. Personally speaking I find myself bored in school often time learning about issues that I'm not interested in. It makes me not want to pay attention, and since I don't have an interest in that issue, it's hard to understand readings and other works. However, if there were more of a variety of topics, students will probably be more active in discussions.