Blink By Malcolm Gladwell: Rhetorical Analysis

The circumstances in which this passage takes place is obviously the time after Hassan's rape, in which the guilt is killing is torturing Amir and he is has realized that the choices that he made that day has truly hurt more people than he could've ever imagined. A metaphor that I found that led me to believe this would be him saying, ". . . the monster in the lake". I think that this metaphor represents the moment in which Amir has begun to acknowledge that he is the person that unintentionally is causing the ones around him to suffer with his selfish actions, the monster. Another metaphor that I found would be, "I was the snake in the grass". This metaphor represents Amir seeing that the people who are around him get hurt by him unexpectedly. Think of Amir as obviously the snake hiding within the grass and he's the predator. Hassan would be the prey

All in all, Gladwell helps paint a picture of what’s said to be behind the locked door of the subconscious. He uses repetition and rhetorical questions to stress how thin-slicing plays a crucial part in our world. The power of our minds are limitless but Gladwell is still searching for the key to unlocking the truth of our unconscious

He asks, “How are human beings connected? Do we all belong to separate worlds, operating simultaneously but autonomously, so that the links between any two people, anywhere in the world are few and distant? Or are we all bound up together in a grand, interlocking web? (Page 34)” Gladwell doesn’t actually expect readers to come up with an answer, but he does realize that readers wouldn’t consider these questions had he not put the questions in their heads to start with. By doing this he allows his audience to form their own opinions on the questions asked before he reveals what answers the questions were originally designed to expose. Gladwell effectively uses rhetorical questions to get the audience interested early on, therefore making the information given in the selection more important.

An ineffective device used by Gladwell was his use of repetition of evidence and failure to acknowledge counterexamples by forcing the reader into thinking that Gladwell’s theory is the only one possible to be correct. The lack of acknowledgment towards counterexamples thrusts the audience into thinking that Gladwell’s opinion is the only viable one. “Philip Norman, who wrote the Beatles biography”, “nonstop show, hour after hour”, “Here is John Lennon”, and “playing all night long” are examples of repetition of evidence because the author already established that the

The tone that Gladwell uses in Outliers is long sentences to get his points across to the readers. He uses key points. There were some metaphors used in the book when he talks about the tallest oak trees in the forest and they helped describe the situation and what was being talked about. Many people are cognitive of outliers once they have read the book thoroughly. Some imagery was also showed when Gladwell talked about the winning team and how all of the players and reporters crammed into the locker room. Some people fancy the way that outliers think, act, and how they are successful. These

Gladwell utilizes

To start with, Gladwell uses ethos, an appeal to ethics, as a device to effectively explain how

The Maze Runner by James Dashner is an action, adventure, science fiction book. It is about a teenager named Thomas, who arrives in an enclosed environment with no memory of his past. He lives with other teenagers, all boys. Everyday, they try to figure out a way to escape the maze, and seek freedom, but Thomas figured a way out. All of the gladers (the nickname of the people, due to them living in a place called the glade) ran out in the maze, most of them were killed by grievers (monsters that live in the maze), but some of them survived including Thomas. The survivors escaped the maze.

As Gladwell conducts his argument, he writes with confidence and authority, which expresses his passion and knowledge about the subject. Gladwell’s poise throughout the essay, combined with his resume, establishes his credibility and constructs a rhetorically effective argument. Being a best-selling author as well as a professional

Most people would believe that we are shaped and defined by our values and moral character. However, Malcolm Gladwell argues, in the chapter “The Power of Context, Bernie Goetz and the Rise and Fall of New York City Crime” In other words, The Power of Context is the social setting and or the environment around you and how it affects your behavior. Anticipating resistance from the reader Gladwell uses rhetorical strategies such as real life examples, controlled experiments and theories to help advance his claim and to help persuade the reader to side with his argument.

This paper analyzes and responds to Malcolm Gladwell’s The New Yorker article, “Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted,” concluding that though Gladwell provides a decent context for his argument, it is ultimately made less effective because of its comparisons and underlying assumptions. This paper shows how Gladwell’s comparison of contemporary social movements to those of a prior non-digital age works against his main argument by drawing an unfair parallel in which the two systems of comparison are far too different to draw any binary conclusions. The purpose of this paper is to consider how rhetoric, including the use of ethos and pathos, can influence how readers think about issues of social and political justice.

Gladwell’s use of ethos through word choice and tone throughout the five-page case in Outliers is concerned and disappointed as if in this example he is upset that his thesis is holding true. He is displaying himself as an equal to the audience, just as sad and frustrated throughout the disappointing Langan case, “That was the lesson Langan learned from his childhood: distrust authority and be independent,” (110). The pathos employed by emotional influence is strong throughout the entire discouraging case because the audience views the great potential of Langan, lost due to a lacking background. Gladwell uses short phrases to be direct with the issue which forces his audience to ponder on the information, “He’d had to make his way alone, and no one - not rock stars, not professional athletes, not software billionaires, and not even geniuses - ever makes it alone,” (115). The mental image of Langan having to persevere in harsh conditions with Gladwell’s thesis of success against him, makes the audience feel for him. Furthermore, it u9nfortunately persuades the reader that if the super genius, Chris Langan, cannot succeed because of his lacking background, then Gladwell’s thesis that success is based on factors

In 1800’s following the American Revolution, the new American Government and the indigenous Native American people had to learn how to coexist. In order to successful work with together, there was a need for translators and mediators. One of these mediators was named Red Jacket, a chief and orator for the Seneca Tribe in New York. For his leadership and efforts in maintaining peace, Red Jacket was recognized by President George Washington. In 1805, the U.S government sought to proselytize, convert the Native Americans to Christianity, the Seneca tribe which was met by opposition from Red Jacket and his people. In the speech, Red Jacket Defends Native American Religion, 1805, Red Jacket builds an argument to persuade his

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking is a book written by Malcolm Gladwell. This book introduces the concept of “thin slicing”. The concept refers to how in a split second or blink of an eye people can make an unconscious and accurate assessment of someone. Using the concept of thin slicing we can determine what is really important within the first few seconds when meeting someone. Malcolm Gladwell explained that first impressions or spontaneous decisions can be just as important as decisions that are made carefully and planned out. According to Gladwell, people make better decisions with quick judgments than they do with a lot of analysis. Gladwell believes that the power

Authors use literary as devices such irony, foreshadowing,or flashbacks to help develop the theme of a story. Novels such as Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, use these literary devices to elaborate on and support one common theme. Even short stories such as “A Sound of Thunder” by Ray Bradbury use literary devices to make their stories and plots more interesting and to develop their themes. Literary devices are an important part of writing and an essential part of any plot, story, or theme.