Analysis Of They Say I Say Gerald Graff

This excerpt from They Say/I Say: The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing focused on the opinion of Gerald Graff regarding the application of street smart intellect in schools. Graff referenced the common theme of schools overlooking the intellectual potential of street smarts due to the association with anti-intellectual topics. He goes on to mention that schools and colleges consider educational sources to be in the form of subjects and texts instead of in social matters like cars, dating and sports. He feels that there is no connection between the discussion a subject can create and the weight of intellect it offers. For example, it is not proven that an individual will be able to have a more intellectual discussion after reading Shakespeare instead of a sports article.
His argument lies with schools and colleges that do not cater for students with anti-intellectual interests. He argues that students will be more interested in the subjects and texts required of them if they could also reflect on subjects that interest them. He recommends this method of teaching in order to engage the students who are bored with …show more content…
I personally know many students who hate history class simply because it is boring. They do not see the importance of learning why Columbus went on his expeditions or why the civil war began. They may, on the other hand, see the purpose of why a certain basketball player should sign with a certain team and will in turn be more passionate on their analysis. Though Graff is confident these students will move on to classic texts once their interest is addressed, he states that even if they do not, the magazine reading will still improve their literacy and reflective analysis rates. I also agree with this statement because many of my previous English teachers, for the most part, do not care what you read. They simply want to see you reading something that can be used to create a meaningful response if