Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers

The author explains exactly what the professional asserts and how particular pieces of evidence relate to Gladwell’s unconventional idea of success.

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell is a book with very insightful and intriguing information that is important for all people with professional careers to understand. It allowed me to understand the importance of success and how that success will be achieved. Success will never be achieved by taking short cuts or beating around the bush. It is accomplished through hard work and many hours, just as Gladwell explains in his book.

The stereotype addressing the topic of Asians being smarter than other races has been around since the 1950’s. This stereotype started as a result of immigrants assimilating into the US. During this time Asians had a considerable higher success rate in school compared to Hispanics and Blacks. This is not the case because in places such as Chinatown where poverty runs rampant Asian immigrants have a difficult time staying above the poverty line. In the essay, “The Harmful Myths of Asian Superiority,” published by the New York Times the author, Ronald Takaki, addresses the reason why Asian people are considered “successful” and “model minorities” by using logic to persuade his audience and statistical information to

Gladwell uses strong anecdotes and studies to prove all the claims he presents throughout his book. He explains he evidence well and ties everything back to the point he is trying to prove. This helps further understand Gladwell’s argument. But, even though Gladwell uses multiple anecdotes and studies to support his claims, the problem that is faced is that he merely suggests his sources are correct but never

Vince Lombardi, a great American football coach, and player, once stated that the “dictionary is the only place that success comes before work. Hard work is the price we must pay for success”. According to Lombardi, hard work will get you to where you want to go, and many people would agree. In Malcolm Gladwell’s novel, “Outliers: The Story of Success,” secrets and misconceptions about success are exposed and explained. Gladwell was right in saying that “if you work hard enough and assert yourself...you can shape the world to your desires”, as evidenced by examples from the book itself, the successful career of Serena Williams, and my own personal story (Gladwell 151).

Throughout the book, Gladwell talks about how culture family and ones’ upbringing can determine ones’ success in the future. In the introduction of the book, Gladwell states, "It's not enough to ask what successful people are like. It is only by asking where they

While the author, Malcolm Gladwell, does not dispute that hard work in a necessary component, we learn that many factors, lucky breaks, and some coincidences all occur in making high achievers into true outliers. We also learn that many of the richest, most famous, and most successful people in

Essentially, the topics Gladwell covered in this book include are, being at the right place at the right time, the 10,000-hour rule, timing, upbringing, and pursuing a meaningful career. Although all of these have been proven by Gladwell to be a major component of success, I do not agree with the idea of a particular upbringing will determine success. With this idea, Malcolm also includes that

Though Gladwell is correct in telling us that opportunity is a key component to success, his emphasis on the importance of opportunity and less on a person’s own individuality and character traits, is absurd.

“Outliers” by Malcom Gladwell is an inspirational analysis of success and aspects that encompass the meaning of outliers. Gladwell dives deep into stories and facts to explain success and failure in a serious but entertaining tone. In this novel Gladwell introduces and explains important points that strengthen his argument that success is the result of multiple factors in life. His main three points used to set the tone of his overall argument is opportunities, hard work, and culture.

A stereotype that is used in everyday mathematics was explained in the book as to why Asians excel at mathematics. Usually people think asians were just naturally intelligent in this field, but it was a surprise to find out that there had been more to them turning out this way in modern society because of the way their culture emerged and evolved. Reading about the past of the Asian culture gave me a different point of view on asians. This book has given me a interest on the asian culture and I also learned that there could be a reason behind certain stereotypes saying asians are intelligent that make some true but not all.

The second article I read was, The new whiz kids by Brand, D. According to the article, Asian Americans have set a standard for Americans on education. A researcher at the U.S. Department of Education found that Asian Americans spend more time on their homework, take more advanced classes, and graduate with more credits than other students. They are known to be high achievers. The stereotype of Asian Americans as the model minority group is not true. It is simply because they work harder. Because of their cultural background and how they were raised, they are really focused on their education. They view education as the key to success. “It’s a matter of dedication, family support and discipline,” says Julliard President Joseph Polisi. He believes that Asians are not naturally talented but because of their hard work, they are able to be successful in what they are doing. Asian American children are greatly influenced by their parents to study hard and get a good degree because the advantage the American educational system has in store for them. Asian American parents expect a lot of educational success from their children because of the sacrifice they have to make for their children to be successful in the future. Because of what they have been taught, asking for help is not easy. They have been taught to not show any emotions and be

In order to make his argument feasible Gladwell tries to disprove the belief that success is based on an individual's own personal merit. Instead he focuses on showing that success is achieved by a variety of different factors such as the month or year you are born, or how long you practice your craft. The problem with this idea however is that Gladwell is taking a

Gladwell likes to go for the shock factor and he really hits the nail on the head when saying what people normally think is considered an “underdog story” is not possible and there are other things to consider. Once again in this passage he gives the reader a sneak peek and doesn’t say exactly what he means when he says things such as “But in fact they are invariably the beneficiaries of hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies that allow them to learn and work hard and make sense of the world in ways others cannot” he tells us there are other factors but doesn’t state what they are yet. I personally enjoy it manly for the way I read, I reread things a lot in order for me to better understand it so the fact that

However, the topic can be better addressed with Cain’s other label--the culture of virtue. Whereas America made the switch with the industrial boom and urbanization of the 20’s, the business world shifting from private life to a busy city life dependent on first impression and personality, Asia’s cultural bias remains towards virtuous, hard-working, and humble citizens (loosely labelled introverts). In the US, we value the sociable, the charismatic and lively. In the “culture of personality”, as Cain calls it, the two poles represent a sort of “Halo Effect” (Jacobsen 1), in that with one positive value comes many by association. In American culture, the halo sits atop the extrovert. In Asian culture, the halo sits atop the