Malcolm Gladwell's Blink

My appreciation of a literary work was enhanced by understanding symbol when I read Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. The science fiction novel is about Guy Montag, a man who is a firefighter. In this time, the job of a firefighter is to burn and destroy all books because reading or having books is illegal. He does his job, day by day, burning books without giving it a thought. As the novel continues, Montag realizes that books are not bad and tries to save them. He remembers a time when fire was not a destructive force; fire was also a source of warmth and comfort. In this novel, fire represents two opposing forces, depending on how it is used. The firemen use it to destroy, but Montag learns that it gives a source of a warm and comforting affect when used correctly.

In this society that is gradually becoming increasingly dependent on technology, will literature slowly disappear from the minds of the population? This is the question that Ray Bradbury’s novel, Fahrenheit 451, attempts to answer. In this book, he describes a hypothetical world in which the population not only avoids reading, but has made owning books an unthinkable crime, with all books discovered burned, along with the houses of those who hoarded them. In this dystopian future created by Bradbury, the beauty that is literature has been replaced in society by television programs and radio stations. This reveals Bradbury’s obvious fear that modern technology would completely replace books- a legitimate concern to have. In 2015, the value of books differ between groups of people. The disadvantage of this is that books provide the readers opportunity to allow their imaginations to run wild, something that television and radio never could. Fahrenheit 451 addresses the problem and fear of overwhelming technology through its fictional world, which shows what would happen should people render literature completely useless through the use of television and radios.

In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury incorporates people and events to change Montag’s character through the course of the story. He uses characterization making Montag switch perspectives. Ray Bradbury uses this book to reveal how much Montag can change.

In Blink by Malcolm Gladwell, “The power of thinking without thinking” is the central idea that Gladwell conveys through his many anecdotes alongside his scientific evidence. In Blink, though scientific evidence comes into play a lot, most of his evidence can be found daily if we examine ourselves. When the psychologists Claude Steele and Joshua Aronson did the “priming” experiment with black college students and the twenty questions taken from the Graduate Record Examination, a test for entry in graduate school, upon making them identify their race just “that simple action was sufficient to prime them with all the negative stereotypes associated with African Americans and academic achievement- and the number of items they got right was cut in half. (Page 56, Chapter 2. ) This can bring us to the notion that if you can be “primed” to be inferior, you can be “primed” to be superior. As Gladwell put it, “If a white student from a prestigious private

Criminal case is always tedious when it involves little or no information about the offender, like in the 9/11 terrorist attack which annihilated most of the workers in and damaged the New York Trade Center building. However, in an attempt to identify the offenders, government officials and investigators try out different ways such as criminal profiling and others. Thus, in the New Yorker article, “Dangerous Minds” by Malcolm Gladwell; the author informs the deeper problems with FBI profiling and argues that it is ineffective. He questions the usefulness of criminal profiling, “But how useful is that profile, really?” and uses other criminal cases, group research analyses, and analogies to refute

In the novel Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury states the negative effects of technology. Bradbury illustrates a society where books are banned and people entertain themselves with parlor walls, which is a TV. One of the characters Mildred, who is the wife of Montag, a fireman who is paid to burn books. Mildred is always attached to technology and can’t get away from it. She is usually watching the parlor or listening to her seashell earbuds. Bradbury uses the literary element of indirect characterization on Mildred to suggest how she is selfish and thoughtless, examining the negative effects of technology when one constantly uses it and relies on it which causes obsession and over-reliance towards technology leading one to not think critically

Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, is a prime example of social criticism. The story sets in the 24th century where people race jet cars; the author’s idea of the future. It shows a flawed social structure, controlled by the media and government with banning and burning of books, and suppressing society’s minds from history. Their logical thought was that it would keep society from thinking too much, which in turn would prevent bad thoughts, and to keep them “happy all the time”. The book tells a story of Guy Montag, the protagonist, and his life as a book burner. He was an “instrument” of the government, a firefighter that was used to suppress information from people by burning all books. The characters live in a world where the past is hidden from them. The government has brain washed society and they are forced to contemplate on what is true and what is not. Montag plays a round character that undergoes change throughout the story. He starts as a narrow-minded character that does what he is told, no questions asked. He has lived his life thinking he was happy. As a reader, you will begin to sense a character change in Montag as this paper will analyze certain events that occur in his life representing an individual fighting against conformity. It begins with control of the masses by censorship as society is censored from history by book burning and oppressive technology. The rise of Montag’s character development starts to socially rebel from societies norms causing him

Mankind has been utilizing fire for millennia; it has been used to make food safe, to provide warmth, to illuminate the dark and unknown, and to protect from savage beasts. It is also practical for torturing, killing, intimidating, and destroying. It only takes one glance for someone to see how fire -- as it dances, spearing the sky for but a moment before it is gone, only to be replaced by another flame -- is far too chaotic to be controlled. In the world of Fahrenheit 451, it seems, superficially, that man has conquered fire at last; the home, man’s refuge from everything undesirable in the world, is fireproof. Why, then, are things still burning in this gilded utopia? In this futuristic society where there is no such thing as an uncontrolled fire, fire has been reduced to a mere tool to be wielded by mankind. As such, fire, in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, is a reflection of the true nature of each character in the novel. In the hands of the society and especially the fireman, fire is a tool wielded for fractious and destructive intent. For Clarisse, who is compared to a candle, fire is friendly and inspiring of thought. And for Montag and the other literates hiding outside of the city, fire is a warm gathering place that fosters kinship and the proper ideals to feed a revolution.

Everyone aims to fulfill the American Dream, achieving prosperity through hard work. Society loves the ideology that anyone can become successful and that we all have the same opportunities and chance of success, if enough work is applied. With this ideal, people can blame their failure on not working hard enough or having an adverse life. However, Malcolm Gladwell sees success in contrast to the common people. Gladwell believes that success is mainly caused by having the right opportunity and circumstances rather than by working hard. David Karp, founder of the international social networking site Tumblr, is an individual who embodies Gladwell’s phenomenon by having extended advantages that were rare among his peers and having a supportive, relatable lineage that not only lead him to success, but also makes him an Outlier.

Each individual finds his unique place in the world by going through a journey of self-discovery. One who cannot surmount the tests and trials faces the possibility of not completing the cycle, and will be labeled a tragic hero. A hero rises as a master of two worlds when he utilizes the help of mentors and disregards the hindrances placed by other characters and the unknown world. The typical hero in literature is depicted as the one who conquers all, faces what no other dares to, and fights to make good triumph over evil. Ray Bradbury presents the fictional story, Fahrenheit 451, of such an individual, whose perspective opens up another world previously hidden from him. The story exhibits turning points in Guy Montag’s journey and gives

When the secondary characters of a book are written in a unique way than in most other novels, it can bring up challenging questions regarding their lives. This is most apparent in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, where everyone seems happy in a futuristic life without books and instead uses a vast array of technology to occupy their downtime. But when we look at how they live everyday, even though they seem happy, are they really? Most citizens in the novel do the same routine day in and day out, not really questioning why everything is the way it is. It is almost as if they have been brainwashed in a way to make them seem happy, but in actuality they wouldn’t really know compared to our day’s standards. Though they might be happy living in their lifestyles, the people of Fahrenheit 451 are not actually sure of what happiness is, and therefore cannot be happy when they do not know what brings happiness.

In order to pursue what one wish to be, one must fully understand what they wish to be. As human beings, we desire to become better and achiever greater amounts. In simple words, we want to become an expert of some sort. According to the Oxford Dictionary, an expert is a person who is very knowledgeable about or skillful in a particular area. But with this simple description of an ‘expert’, what does it truly mean? Malcolm Gladwell, a famous writer and speaker, with 10, 000 hours one could succeed to become an expert in a certain area. Gladwell explains his theory of 10, 000 hours in his book, “The Outliers,” with various examples of not only talented but also respected figures such as an European Violinist, Bill Gates, and even the Beatles. In the book, these figures explain similar yet different situation where after a certain amount of practice or effort, approximately 10, 000 hours, they began to excel in their area of interest. Furthermore, Gladwell explains that there are none naturally talented or ‘gifted’ people who reach the level of expertise without a significant input of hours. In order to improve or master in an area, all individuals must contribute the minimum of 10, 000 hours. It is true, through practice and effort one could reach a level of expertise. However, there are different circumstances that oppose this theory, such as the continuously growing information, one’s passion, and the way of learning.

In Blink by Malcolm Gladwell presents and creates very fascinating terminologies to describe split-Second processes that human mind undergoes to make important decisions. One of the term that he uses in Blink is “thin slicing”. Malcolm Gladwell defines this term as “the ability of our conscious to find patterns in situations and behavior based on very narrow slice of experince”(23). What this means is your brain is able to “subconsciously gathers the necessary information for sophisticated Judgments”(23) from previous experience. In Blink Gladwell presents a lot of examples to make you better understand the meaning of thin slicing and when it takes place. Also In are lifes we use thin slicing in daily basis but we do not know when thin slicing

the story farnhiet 451 susidty in that story is not what its sopost to be if you have a book they will put you in jail or something and you cant really hide because there is a mancanel hound that poisins you its tale and kills anyone with a book which is pretty stupid because we need books fairhiet 451 is about a firefighter trying to keep books and hiding it because people don’t want books anymore and he is trying to make life the way it should be the other story is about a regeler life that some people thinks some people that has some books are meant for destructon which is kinda weird they say these books promote the rejection of religion there in mosul mosul is the biggest of the cites the islamlc state group now controls the Islamic state

The essay “The Naked Face” written by Malcom Gladwell is about the ability of recognizing the meaning behind someone’s facial expressions. He starts the essay with a life or death situation between an inner city police officer and a suspect that both are pointing guns at each other. The officer clearly has the right to shoot the suspect, but decided not to base on a hunch that the armed suspect was not a threat (Gladwell 24). Gladwell then demonstrates that the police officer is one out of a thousand people that scored really well on a psychology test to determine if someone is lying or telling the truth based on facial expressions (Gladwell 59). Gladwell’s essay then continues with