There are definite similarities between Gerald Graff’s article, “Hidden Intelligence” and Mike Rose’s article, “Blue Collar Brilliance.” Graff puts forward the argument that intellectualism exists not only in academia but in other areas such as in team sports. Similarly, Rose argues that, contrary to popular belief, workers of blue collar jobs need a high level of intellect.
Rose and Graff both have in common that they believe intellectualism is found in people working in fields other than academia, and that this intellect should not be overlooked. Furthermore, they both go about their arguments in a similar fashion. Rose lists the ways in which waitresses and builders have to think, analysis and learn; Graff speaks in a similar way about players of team sports. Both authors list specific ways in which people who are perhaps deemed as unintellectual by many, in fact display intellectual skills through their nature of their work.
The major difference between the two authors’ views is that Rose claims to have spent a great deal of time learning about his subject as an adult, whereas Graff talks about conversations he had when he was a teenager, and uses these has a point of reference. Rose says: “I’ve since studied the working habits of blue collar workers and have come to understand how much my mother’s kind of work demands of both body and brain.” This perhaps gives him more credibility in his argument. However, the other difference between the two authors is in writing style. While Graff’s article seems light and conversational, Rose’s seems, at times, patronising to those he speaks about.
Works Cited
Graff, G. “Hidden Intellectualism.”
Rose, M. “Blue Collar Brilliance.”
