Synecdoche In America Needs Its Nerds By Leonidman

We have all heard a million times about nerds and geeks but do we actually know the meaning of those words? Leonid Fridman evokes his thoughts about America’s wrong ideology when referring to people who are fervent in achieving academic success. The author utilizes definition, comparison and contrast, and synecdoche in America Needs Its Nerds as rhetorical devices to rectify society’s view of nerds and geeks. Fridman includes the real definition of the word geek to make understandable how America is being ignorant by calling a person names just because it was heard somewhere else. He alludes to the Webster’s New World Dictionary definition of geek, which is “… a street performer who shocks the public by biting off heads of live chickens.” This definition is used to prove how society is putting down someone while at the same time making a fool out of themselves, because it is a fact that mostly everyone who has called someone a geek did not know the actual meaning of this word. …show more content…
He mentions Harvard where even in one of the most prestigious academic institutions, “… anti-intellectualism is rampant…” It is such chagrin that students are embarrassed to confess how much time they spend studying, or how important academic achievement is to them, or sometimes share their well-earned high grades with their classmates. It should be correct for students to gloat over their success instead feeling judged. Fridman similarly gives an example of students who spend their weekends reading a book, or building airplanes rather than playing football, or getting wasted with their acquaintances. A lot of these students who refuse to conform to people’s anti-intellectual ideals are social outcasts, and may even get bullied, which is also a very wrong and significant