Analysis Of `` Blue Collar Brilliance `` By Gerald Graff

In the United States, there has been, and always will be a debate on education.While some feel it is very important and crucial to success, others feel it is unessential to our happiness and well being. Many assume that education and success are directly associated with intellectualism. In this essay, I will review the current trend in research on intellectualism, which many feel is to enforce pursuing a higher education, due to a common belief among the American people that those who do not receive a higher education are seemingly less intelligent. Research on this topic increasingly suggests that those who receive a higher education, tend to make more money, rating them as more successful in the eyes of

In conclusion, I agree with Mike Roses' Essay “Blue Collar Brilliance” because in my own personal life experiences I have seen first hand that you do not have to be well educated to be intelligent. My spouse works as a garbage man and at first glance you would never know how intelligent he is just by his profession, but he is very skilled from everything to troubleshooting mechanical equipment to carrying on philosophical conversations and religious

Blue Collar workers as the fundamental that makes up America. One such man, author Mike Rose a professor at UCLA, who wrote "Blue-Collar Brilliance," published in a reputable magazine in 2009 in the American Scholar, what Rose argues, is that blue-collar workers often overlooked. In effect, that the establishment of where you work acts as an institution of learning and those without a formal education have valuable types of "brilliance." Rose argues his claim by using pathos, logos through personal stories, credentials, and comprehensive counterarguments.

There is an expectation for this generation to attend college after graduating high school. There is also a stigma held by those higher on the social ladder, one that the less educated blue-collar workforce is inferior to others. In Mike Rose’s essay “Blue Collar Brilliance” he compares the level of education to the experience gained through challenges, and contends that blue collar employees are of equal intelligence to higher educated employees. This article is written to challenge the misconceptions that other classes hold about the amount of education that a person receives, and how It affects their work ethic. Through the use of pathos, ethos, and logos Mike Rose forges a connection with the audience to convey this message.

Over many centuries, society tends to frame the obscene differences to antagonize and alienate each other whether it's about a political or religious view, social reasons, or financial situations. In “Blue Collar Brilliance”, Mike Rose provides an invigorating story to persuade his audience to understand that having a blue collar job compared to a white-collar job does not determine how smart someone is. Rose uses anecdotes, rhetorical question, and logos to show that blue-collar workers learn just as much without a formal education.

What does it mean to be well educated? To be well educated it is a balance between academics and practical knowledge. Throughout this paper I will show that one does not necessarily need a college degree to be deemed as well educated. I will explore both aspects of academics and practical knowledge and how it affects individuals.

In his essay “Hidden Intellectualism”, Gerald Graff argues that street smarts are much more important as school smart. Graff explains how many people are street smart, but do not perform well in school. The street smarts are the ones who are focused on sports or entertainment and the school smarts are the ones who love books and are into their academic lives. He believes students who are in school need to read literature to become more intellectual. Graff believes schools should encourage the street smarts and make them have more focus on their academic work.

From this week’s reading an interesting essay by Gerald Graff “Hidden Intellectualism” resembled a story from a family member. This essay spoke about people who are “street smart,” people that are extremely smart in many things but cannot apply towards school. Graff says that schools are not considering the intellectual potential of street smart people because they only weight academic knowledge as smart. This reminded me of my family, my cousin comes from a low income family in El Salvador; when he arrived he was not doing well in school because of the language barrier. Even though his academics did not show his intelligence he was extremely “street smart.” He was really good in sports especially soccer, but he was

In my observation mentally with Mr. Roses essay on blue collar brilliance, Mr Rose tries to tell the reader on the different levelsof work there is for high educated people opposed to the non educated. Furthermore he tries express through his family experiences in the work environment how a person with a manual labor is not so different than a person with a high level of education, they are equal in job to job views but not in society.

Well according to society to be considered intelligent you must have received some sort of high education. To be deemed intelligent you don’t have to be highly educated because intelligence is not determined by your level of success, school is not the only way to gain knowledge and skills, and your income doesn’t portray your level of knowledge. First and foremost, intelligence is not determined by your level of success. It is often seen that when someone sees a teacher or

Intelligence has a limit, geniuses have a threshold, and divergent thinkers are our future. Malcolm Gladwell addresses these issues in the chapter “The Trouble with Geniuses, Part 1” and I have to agree with his reasoning. In the chapter, the Termites are a group of highly intelligent kids that Lewis Terman (hence the name Termites) keeps tabs on as they go through life. He believes that because these students have such high IQs that they will be boundlessly successful. However, it turns out that some are successful and some are not, and I believe the success of the Termites was partially based on personality.

Yes, i was surprised by the task that are involved in blue collar work. I do acknowledge Rose’s viewpoints in “Blue-Collar Brilliance” and that it is under estimated. However, in my opinion, it is not that these blue-collar workers are not capable of achieving higher education; it is because some choose not to. I believe that every individual has the potential to accomplish some degree of education. It is up to the individual to have motivation and follow through with what it takes to receive this. Although, it is a sadness that these blue-collared workers do not get the credit they deserve, in a sense, they are receiving credit comparable to the effort they put into education.

Martin Luther King Junior said, “Intelligence plus character-that is the goal of true education.” Higher education does not exist for the sole purpose of preparing students for future jobs; it’s there in order to prepare individuals for life where they are expected to participate in their community, their government, and the lives of those around them. Liberal arts, in particular, exist for the broadening of students’ minds in order for them to be successful not only in their chosen career but also in their lives outside of it. Liberal arts lost their past popularity during the last few decades, but they shouldn’t be disregarded in favor of technical and professional degrees because they still provide students with skills that are perhaps less tangible, but no less necessary for life in modern world.

“Book Smart vs. Street Smart”, a phrase that can describe two kind of people in this world that perfectly fits the present and the past. This statement perfectly describes two great founding members George Washington and Thomas Jefferson there are considered to be as fire and water. There are those who are “Street Smarts” like George Washington who adepts to any situation, and any environment using their experience as a guide post to light their way to survive. Then there is “Book Smarts” is someone who is intelligent and very well educated academically that expects to achieve something great. The first president and great general was considered to be a leader who had a great presence’s to lead a formally new government and country. The same

In his book, Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ, David Goleman talks about a young man who tried to kill his professor in med school for giving him a B on one of his assignments. Goleman explains that even though the student was incredibly smart, as measured by his grades, his academic intelligence, “tells you nothing about how [he will] react to the vicissitudes of life.” He goes on to explain, “And that is the problem: academic intelligence offers virtually no preparation for the turmoil—or opportunity—life’s vicissitudes bring” (36). In other words, some of the smartest people make the dumbest choices. Other examples include the masterminds behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks. These terrorists had to be intelligent to plot and carry out such elaborate plans. However, the result was catastrophic for both the terrorists and the