Gerald Graff's Analysis

Books, pencils, pens, paper, and homework are tools necessary to foster a child’s learning. However these tools only play a part in a child’s education. In order to truly succeed in school a child must also have the aptitude to understand the information given to them from a myriad of teachers. But, what about the students who don’t have the ability to grasp what they’re learning? Author Gerald Graff touches upon this topic; he observes that every student that has the opportunity to excel in their academics. They can bring forth this “hidden intellect” within them through various means such as sports, video games and everyday interests. Graff states that “real intellectuals turn any subject, however lightweight it may seem,...whereas a dullard will find a way to drain the interest out of the richest subject.” (381). Graff ties the article with his own personal experience, he was a sports fanatic who enjoyed …show more content…
These genres deviated from the boring realities of our world. While I did take an interest in reading, the books that my teachers gave me to read were boring, non-fiction, books with no pictures. The lack of readings I did began to have an effect on the way I wrote. It wasn’t until then my teacher decided to introduce to us book reports. We could read any book we wanted and then write we liked and disliked about the book, however it had to be on a level that was suited for us. Instead of being rigid and stiff like our educational system, we had the opportunity to incorporate what we liked in our readings. Books like the “Lightning Thief” and the “Bluford Series” were books that captivated me. After we were done with the book reports assignments I had read over 26 books with the reports. The book reports began to help me with my writings and it even motivated me to write a book although I never got around to