America Needs its Nerds
Leonid Friedman’s piece “America Needs its Nerds”, exposes a common reality shown in modern day
institutions and nations. He provides the proper information in order to show and prove that slowly
intellectualism has somehow turned into something that isn’t idolized or pursued but rather into
something mocked and laughed at. He does so by describing the situation lived by “nerds” or good
students and thinkers everyday in America and how their lives are being changed due to this way of
thinking. He uses different rhetorical devices and vocabulary in order to develop his argument and at the
same time persuade the reader through the use of these. By doing so Fridman gets a point across the
table and successfully develops a complete argument on said debate.
Friedman begins developing his argument by juxtaposing words such as “nerd” and “geek” to
“intellectually curious and “academically serious”. What Friedman wants to prove with this is that
America has lost its values, if they’re calling intellectually curious people derogatory terms like geek. To
further support his argument Freedman cites the Webster’s New World definition of geek “ a street
performer who shocks the public by biting off the heads of live chickens.” What Friedman’s wants to
point out is that, it’s unacceptable that someone who is just looking for knowledge is compared to a
person that likes to bite people’s heads off. Friedman then uses an appeal to authority to prove his
point, by saying that even in a prestigious institution as Harvard, known for its academic rigor; students
are still mocked for wanting more knowledge. Friedman states that of all the undergraduate students of
Harvard, only for a minority, pursuing knowledge is their top priority. By citing Harvard Friedman wants
to support his argument, because if in a top Ivy League university like Harvard searching for knowledge
is discouraged, then something is wrong with American Culture. To conclude his idea Friedman says
“Nerds are ostracized while athletes are idolized”. By mentioning this Freidman demonstrates that
sports are overvalued, “Idolized”. Meanwhile knowledge searching is not found amusing by many. But
this doesn’t only happen in Harvard, it happens in America as a whole.
Towards the middle or the essay fridman continually uses the word “ostracized” to scholarly describe to
the reader just how much and how often intellectuals are neglected, mocked and bullied. The author is
devoted to convince people fist of all how much this juxtaposing paradigm happens by generalizing
statements like saying it occurs in “U.S. elementary and high schools” without exception and secondly
emphasizing the need to change. His disdainful tone in words like “wasted” and “deprived” show his
cynical demonizing view on the American society that is in danger because of these practices. And his
declarative and imperative sentences like that of paragraph 5 show contundently that the time for
intellectual criticism Is over. Then fridman returns to questioning the common jock associating it him
with crime with words like “persecutor” and making a segway to deaths and suicides of many smart
individuals which in one way or another have been chased to the “grave” in all seriousness. Afterwards
he generalizes again that Americas well being is at stake in this matter to influence the reader on
protecting nerds.
Fridman’s argument then takes the readers to the final two paragraphs of his piece. His sixth pagraph
seems to havbeen written with the intention to make the reader actually feel embarrassed of America.
He compares This disgusting American way of thought to that of the rest of the world that seems to
differ in this idea. He explains that Americans constantly mock nerds while “in most industrialized
nations… a kid who studies hard is lauded and held up as an example”. By doing so he intends to create
a sense of pity since he is stating that most of the developed country seem to have evolved in this way
of thinking yet America seems to have gotten stuck in it. He simply understands this and intends to state
it in such a way so that the reader may have a sense of jealousy towards other nations. They all seem to
have evolved “but not America”.
Paragraph seven serves as a rhetorical conclusion. It consists of two rhetorical questions that seem to
have obvious answers that yet the reader is expected to answer. Again these questions compare
America with the rest of the world and state that they will not be able to compete with other developed
nations if they continue with this way of thinking. By introducing this sense of danger the author
successfully implies tat there must be change brought upon the American people immediately, and
creating this thought of danger, the audience is more easily persuaded and convinced to believe him.
Fridman in America needs its nerds reflects the American way in quite a harsh unsympathetically way
towards cynical people who ostracize “geeks” and “nerds” throughout his essay he demonstrates his
point of view mostly carful word diction and successfully exposes the his argument.