graff

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymsHLkB8u3s

school smart v street smart
blaming schools for "missing the opportunity to tap into street smarts and channel them into academic work"

street smarts equated with anti-intellectual concerns

life of the mind associated with weighty and academic subjects

cars, fashion, video games, dating, sports: not intellectual topics

can generate a lot of discussion!

don't need to read a lot of intellectually challenging stuff to become an intellectual

should take on subjects that interest them, not us (p. 298)

1.      So what? Who cares? Graff does not answer these questions explicitly. Do it for him: write a brief paragraph saying why his argument matters, and for whom.

Possible paragraph: Graff’s argument matters because entering college students often find it difficult to become a part of the intellectual life that matters if one is truly to benefit from formal education. Such students start off either bored or intimidated by academic texts, but at the same time they deserve to be given a chance to develop the intellectual skills that they will need in college and later in their careers. Instructors need to find ways of doing this, and Graff believes his model is one such possibility.