I choose to respond to the article “Hidden Intellectualism”, located in chapter 17 of “They say, I say”. The author of the article; Gerald Graff relates to the reader by using language to express similarities between what he is thinking and a certain situation the reader may have encountered. Gerald believes that certain intellectualisms have more potential than what most colleges want to teach or focus on. For example, the following quote: "What doesn't occur to us, however, is that schools and colleges might be wrong to miss the opportunity to harness this street knowledge and channel it towards good academic work” (Graff 369). Gerald expresses his opinion on what he considers to be really important to build one academically and give him a chance to show his knowledge and talent without all the useless books that you may read or have read. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay. Gerald connects with the reader by stating his own real-world experiences of what his teenage life was like before college. So the reader may be more intrigued to listen to his opinion and thoughts on the subject. “Until I entered college, I hated books and was only interested in sports...I have recently come to think, however, that my preference for sports over school work was not was not so much anti-intellectualism as intellectualism by other means” (Graff 370). Gerald betrays how his views on intellectualism have changed and explains how he now believes that different thoughts or things might actually have more intellect and importance than others. His main point of view developed from his own personal experiences and what he learned about education and the world throughout his childhood and up to the present day. In an article I read by Scott Burkun, he discusses the differences between being book smart and street smart. I agree with what Scott had to say when he weighed the benefits of being street smart versus book smart. In his article he states: “Being street smart comes from experience. This means that you have learned to take what happened to you, good or bad, think about it and improve yourself… In the street, it's you. In a book, you're trying to absorb someone else's worldview, and no matter how amazing the writer is, you're at best one degree removed from the actual experience. I believe Gerald and Scott have a similar view of intellectualism. They both agree that you can be just as smart and/or have just as much intellect as someone else who might just be better overall in the school. I disagree that being reading smart and capable of high-level learning abilities isn't as important. However, I agree that by being street smart rather than book smart, you would have greater opportunities and insight into real life situations and problems. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get Custom Essay In my opinion, Gerald's article is a major problem we face with today's education systems and the way we are viewed and judged. Nowadays, all schools are based on passing an end-of-year test that most kids cheat on. Be "..