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 thinks and a certain situation the reader may have faced. Gerald is convincing that certain intellectualisms have more potential than most universities care to let students learn or focus on. For example, the quote: “What doesn't occur to us, though, is that schools and universities might be guilty of missing the opportunity to draw on such street smarts and channel them into good academic work” (Graff 369 ). Gerald is stating his opinion on what he believes is really important to build one academically and give someone a chance to showcase their knowledge and talent without all the useless books you may read or have read. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Gerald connects to the reader by stating his real-world experiences of what his life was like as a teenager before college, so the reader may be more intrigued to hear his opinion and thoughts on the topic. “Until college, I hated books and was only interested in sports… I have recently come to think, however, that my preference for sports over schoolwork was not so much anti-intellectualism as intellectualism by other means” (Graff 370). Gerald reveals 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 came from his personal experiences and what he learned about education and the world while growing up and so far. In an article I read, Scott Burkun discusses the differences between being book smart and being street smart. I agree with what Scott said when weighing the benefits of being book smart. In his article he stated: “Being street smart comes from experience. It means you've learned to take what happened to you, good or bad, think about it and learn to make it better... On the street, it's you. In a book it's you trying to absorb someone else's point of view on the world, and no matter how amazing the writer, you are at best a degree removed from the actual experience. I believe that Gerald and Scott have a similar view of intellectualism. They both agree that you can be just as smart and/or have the same intellect as another person who might just be better at the whole school thing. I disagree that being book smart and capable of high level learning skills isn't that important. However, I agree that by being street smart instead of book smart, you would have more opportunities and broader insight into real life situations and issues. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get Custom EssayIn my opinion, Gerald's article is a big problem we face today with education systems and how we are looked at and judged. Nowadays, all schools rely on passing a test at the end of the year that most kids cheat on. Being “intellectual” shouldn't be based solely on whether or not you do well in school or on certain tests. You could have so much knowledge and skill in both..