Outliers Gladwell Analysis

Audience: Outliers answers the unanimous question about those who become successful and “what they’re like”, “what makes someone successful?” or “what are successful people like?”. Gladwell directs his book towards an extremely broad audience. He talks about financial success, musical success, athletic fame, and everything in between, interesting everyone because who does not want to be successful? Outliers teaches lessons that are beneficial to people of all ages, and shows the readers what it takes to make it to the top.

Gladwell goes on to say that people don’t rise from nothing, there are many influences that can shape a person

In the novel Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell, he explores the idea of of misunderstandment of relationships among individual talent and opportunities. Gladwell argues this statement by showing that talent is necessary but not the reason to achieve success. I agree with Gladwells statement: The opportunities that are offered creates a straight path to success.

Malcolm Gladwell, through his work in Outliers, writes about extremely successful individuals, “Outliers” and focuses on success and failure. His main argument is that success is a mix of many different factors. It needs a look at what influences and plays a role in why individuals or groups of people thrive or fail. Gladwell collectively builds his argument through the examination of “success stories” in which self-made individuals have overcame great odds and have succeeded based purely off of talent and “merit”

Gladwell makes his case with educational examples. In discussing the importance of birth dates, for instance, he borrows from the work of Canadian psychologist Roger Barnsley to show the impact of “relative age.” Gladwell uses examples from sports, including the birth dates of soccer players in a recent junior world championship tournament. Gladwell goes on to argue that relative age is just as important in schooling, noting that in countries like the United States, where ability grouping begins in early childhood, students who are among the oldest in their grade will begin the school year more advanced than students who are among the youngest. He claims these older students are then placed in higher-level ability groups, thus beginning a cycle of cumulative advantage and more opportunities for achievement and success. He provides Denmark as a counterexample, where, based on national policy, ability grouping does not begin until age ten, noting that the impact of relative age on success and achievement in school is nearly unheard of there. The narrative of The Other Wes Moore becomes more personal by discussing two particular people, who started off with similar backgrounds and then had two extremely different fates. This perspective means that Gladwell will be primarily seeking people who have already reached

In summing up Gladwell’s argument, the lesson he forwards is very simple. If we continue to believe in the myth of the “self-made” individual, we will continually seek out some strange gifted individual that never existed. In order to be more effective as a society or better stated, a world community,

The intended audience could be for older teenagers to young adults because the way the book is written with a form of intimacy and is informal. The use of jokes in between gives a sense of intimacy that makes the audience feel like Gladwell is talking to them as he uses jokes such as, “Slope, as I’m sure you remember (or, more accurately, as I’ll bet you don’t remember; I certainly didn’t” (240). The book also connects with the audience because while reading the book, the reader would feel like they still have an opportunity to be successful even if they are not a genius as Gladwell emphasizes that, “We are so caught in the myths of the best and brightest and the self-made that we think outliers spring naturally from the earth” (269).

Gladwell’s overall writing style in Outliers managed to convey his message using formal yet simple diction and mostly uncomplicated syntax. His writing was symbolic at times, but also quite literal at others. The book was relatable, memorable, and easy to understand. He uses some rhetorical devices, such as this polysyndeton: “he’s tall and gawky and sixteen years old” (Gladwell 42). He also used other literary devices, such as dialogue: “‘it came out of the blue’” (Gladwell 248). These devices added complexity and depth and also caught my attention. They are key to writing a book that keeps the reader interested and helps them pay attention to and remember key details. The impact of organizing the book into “Part 1: Opportunity” and “Part 2: Legacy” was that it showed there was a clear division between the two parts of achieving success. Having this distinction helps the reader to learn each concept and in the end, be able to understand the overall theme. For opportunity, he describes how opportunities need to emerge in order for success to be reached, such as how “[t]heir world—their culture and generation and family history—gave them the greatest of opportunities” (Gladwell 158) in the case of many people. Gladwell distinguishes the two parts of the book in part two, saying that so far, we have seen that “success arises out of the steady accumulation of advantages… [that] all make a significant difference in how well you do in the world. The question for the second part

To start, in chapter 4 of Outliers, Gladwell describes a genius by the name of Christopher Langan. His IQ is 195 and he is considered one of the smartest men in America. Take a look at his accomplishments. He doesn’t have many, and for a very distinct reason. The reason is he doesn’t have anyone to help him; he never did. Growing up, Langan’s family struggled with being poor. His parents never helped him that much while he was developing, so therefore he never learned to take initiative and to work hard. Compare him to Einstein. Einstein’s IQ, being significantly lower, accomplished so much in both the science and academia fields. Einstein had much help to bring him to the position he was in, allowing him

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

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

A child’s abnormally high IQ may trigger thoughts of undoubted success for many of us, but Outliers shows us that many with unbridled promise fail to deliver. This study shows that almost all “geniuses” that fail to complete post-secondary degrees have one glaring trait in common: socioeconomic status. Gladwell presents the case of Chris Langan, a man who’s IQ nears 200 and taught himself to read by age four. Langan spend his adult years as a bouncer and later ran a horse farm. This is hardly dignified work for “the smartest man in America.” Langan’s only mistake was growing up poor. Gladwell compares Langan with Robert Oppenheimer, architect of the atomic bomb. While both were extremely intelligent, only Oppenheimer grew up affluent and gained necessary skills needed to succeed. While Langan had difficultly figuring out the procedures necessary to fill-out financial-aid forms in college, Oppenheimer was raised to learn social niceties. The author goes into great detail explaining how the experiences provided to Oppenheimer through family wealth helped separate him from a fate all-to-often

Outliers is Malcolm Gladwell 's examination of what makes some people excessively more successful than others. These "outliers," as he calls them, are commonly thought to possess talent and intelligence far above that of the average person, but he challenges this popular belief by looking at the background of some notable outliers.

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

The term ‘genius’ is associated with an array of diverse connotations. When reviewing the literature, it is vital to note that a specific definition and approach to measure whether or not a person is a genius, is rather complex. Garber, M. (2002) declares “genius” as a special inflation and over time has “become a commodity, an ambition, and even a lifestyle.” The underlying question is: how, and what makes an individual a prodigy? One may argue that completing an intelligence quotient (IQ) test will suffice and determine whether an individual exemplifies genius-like tendencies, as others argue otherwise. There are tendencies and certain behaviours that geniuses exhibit differing them from other individuals who are more or less considered “normal”. Therefore, relationships with geniuses tend to differ as their intelligence and typical demeanor is peculiar. In the film The Silence of the Lambs directed by Jonathan Demme, one of the main characters, Hannibal Lecter portrays unusual behaviour. Based on his questionable character, one may argue that genius-like behaviour is conspicuous; this is seen through his relationships, his intellect, and overall demeanor.