“Nerds” and “Jocks”…how society perceives these “groups” and their stereotypes.

Connor: “Penrod explains how “Nearly all of the graduating seniors will remember the name and escapades of their star quarterback; nearly none of them will ever even realize that their class produced Arizona’s first national champion in Lincoln-Douglass Debate” (754). Football players are typically what jumps to someones mind when they think “cool high school kids”. They’re the ones who get all the recognition from the school, wins all the awards, and goes to the homecoming dance with the hottest girl in the school. The “nerds” are the ones who don’t have many friends and only care about studying.”

Liz M: “”He states, “The football players enjoyed the attention of an enthralled school, complete with banners, assemblies, and even video announcements in their honor, a virtual barrage of praise and downright deification”(754). Which appears true upon entering most high schools; the football, basketball, baseball, etc., stars are put on pedestals but that doesn’t necessarily mean the “nerds” are not too…And many of my schools’ star athletes were also the ones pulling all nighters for practice, APs and studying.”

Spencer: To go as far and say “Regardless of the causes of anti-intellectualism, the effects are clear and devastating; society looks down on those individuals who help it to progress, ostracizes its best and brightest.” is where I find his claim to be false. While I did come from a school where athletic achievements receive more notoriety than the academic, I also came from a school where a fair number of the athletes were highly intelligent, managing to balance varsity team status and advance placement classes. In my school, the student normally received praise for both their achievements among their peers.

Connecting personal experiences to the essay and how it influences our thoughts about the essay.

Mike: “For example, He states “…most high school students could readily name a few intelligent people with at least a degree of popularity. The point though, is that the image of intellectualism is disliked as anti-social…”(755)… I strongly agree with his statement because as a kid that plays a sport, I do not look upon kids that are smart any differently then I look at a jock. Many of my good friends do not play sports but are just very bright when it comes to school. I believe that the smart kids are not necessarily hated for being smart, but they are judged upon how social the individual is. And that is why I think the most anti-social smart people are looked upon as “nerds”.”

Liz B: “There is a stereotype surrounding those who vie for the top grades in class or spend their weekends studying rather than attending parties. I saw it in my own high school and will admit that I participated in the ostracization of those deemed “nerds.” I saw them as people who had no lives outside the hallways of school and branded them as outcasts. This kind of ridicule takes place all across America and sadly does not stop after high school.”

Ariana: “Penrod says: “the trend to dislike intellectuals stems at least in part from an inescapable perception that concern for grades…excludes the coexistence of normal social activity” (Penrod 755). What this essentially means is that among the many misconceptions of intellectuals is the idea that they are so completely absorbed in getting perfect grades, test scores, etc., that they are just nerds who have no social lives. Penrod goes on to say that this misconception leads to an “unbreakable cycle”, because many of these intellectuals are not actually able to make leaps and bounds socially due to the fact that they are often outcast from society. I personally think this is a shame. In my high school, there was pretty much equal focus set upon the sports teams and groups such as Mock Trial.”

The things we wish the author did or did not do to make his essay more convincing and valid.

Carrie: “The only thing I wish Penrod discussed would be not only smart kids are treated as outcasts but also anyone who is different. “For the sake of the smart kids, we all need to “lay off” a little” (757). The last thing teenagers need while trying to figure out life is constant torment from other teenagers. If people would just “lay off” of each other then we could all co-exist.”

Lizzie: “This essay makes the average person feel unintelligent and it gives off the vibe that Penrod thinks that everyone should be on his intellectual level. Aside from the word use, the piece also lacks evidence to give validity to the argument. There is no mention or example of a counter argument anywhere in the piece and there are really only a few specific examples to back up the argument. Over all, I feel that while this essay topic has legitimate potential, it fails to fulfill all that is could be and falls short of the desired finished product. ”

Jamie: “I felt like this article was very biased. This is strongly stated when the author says “Uneducated success extends far beyond just singers and sports stars too; even the current president of the United States presents the image of the success of nonintellectualism.” (page 756). After reading this part of the story I did not like the argument at all. I felt that statement was extremely biased. At first the argument the author was trying to make was clear, and then the article became more foggy.”

Hard work and correct choices can lead to success in the long run.

Kaylyn: “People who create jobs and become our president are those that most people who don’t like. I personally think they envy them. We are given the same opportunities and they just chose a better one. You can choose the type of education you want. Some might be better at it than others but you can always works as hard as you want to get where you want to be.”

Kendal: “Yes, there are some people that are very successful that aren’t as educated, but there are also people that are very well educated that worked hard and became successful through their hard work, which I think is more rewarding in the end. Another thing I found very interesting was the statistic that Penrod put in his article from Ethan Bronner that says “in the survey…74.9 percent of freshmen chose being well off as an essential goal while only 40.8 percent” chose “developing a philosophy” as their goal. This was interesting to me because when I think about it, I think that someone that has a philosophy, morals, and an education, will most likely end up working hard and becoming successful and in return well off.”

Joe: “The ending of the essay really brought all of his main points together. Talking about how in the end it is the intelligent people in life that can advance technology and other important things in society.”

Discussion Questions:

1) What points do you think Penrod is trying to convey about society and why?

2) Why do you think Penrod chose such a relatable topic to write about?

3) Is Penrods argument somewhat bias? Does he generalize the jocks and the nerds? Explain.