Rhetorical Analysis Of America Needs Its Nerds

“America Needs Its Nerds”, by Leonid Fridman, analyzes American society’s approach on how it views its intellectuals. In the following passage, Fridman describes how American society should stop looking down on academically serious people, by calling them “nerds” and “geeks”. Instead, these individuals should be treated with more respect. Also, he explains in the passage how Americans stress being social and athletic, rather than being intellectually adroit. Fridman develops his argument that America has anti-intellectual values by using the techniques of hyperbole, rhetorical questions, and logos. Fridman uses hyperboles to prove to the reader that the American population needs to change its view on intellectualism. In the first paragraph, Fridman writes, “There is something very wrong with the system of values in a society that has only derogatory terms like nerd and geek..” (line 1-3). The words “very wrong” and “derogatory” are used as an exaggeration in order for Fridman to develop his case. He deliberately amplifies the situation to emphasize his point that America’s anti-intellectual values are wrong and need to be reversed. According to Fridman, Americans viewing smart people as nerds and geek is degrading to an educated person, and these individuals should be better respected. Additionally, in the middle of the passage, Fridman uses another
Hyperboles are used to exaggerate and emphasize how American society treats its intellectuals. Likewise, Fridman uses rhetorical questions to criticize America’s values. He expresses that America needs its intellectually curious individuals, if it wants to remain a superpower. Lastly, logos is used to explain to the reader that intellectuals are viewed as freaks, are not respected, and are paid less than professional athletes. By using these devices, Fridman is successful in developing his