The Trouble With Geniuses Chapter 4 Summary

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

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

Gladwell carefully constructs his argument by offering the real life story of Bernie Goetz. Gladwell uses this example in order to provide a

Alternatively, pathos is another literary device that can also appeal to the jury because it will bring out the more emotional part of the trail and cause people to empathize with Tom Robinson. For example, Atticus starts to bring up African American stereotypes. “And so a quiet, respectable, humble Negro who had the unmitigated temerity to ‘feel sorry’ for a white woman has had to put his word against two white people. I

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

Conclusively, Gladwell uses pathos. Gladwell appeals to emotions through vivid images. Gladwell states that “Unlike the longstanding tradition of gameplaying-- which engages the child in a vivid, three-dimensional world filled with moving images and musical soundscapes, navigated and controlled with complex muscular movements-- books are simply a barren string of words on the page.” Gladwell is giving an extremely vivid image of someone playing a game, rather than simply reading words written on a page. This proves emotion by being able to see an idea of gameplaying and not just seeing words written on a blank page. Gladwell also appeals to emotions through properties of a book. Gladwell states that “But perhaps the most dangerous property of these books is the fact that they follow a fixed linear path” (“Brain Candy”). This is an example of emotions because books are isolating and not open-minded because they follow a set of distinct rules.

In many instances, those who are successful are made out to be some sort of separate breed, those who were innately able to perform remarkable feats that others, no matter how hard they tried, simply could not. Through this exhibition, many people view success as an elusive feature that only a select few can obtain. This theory is the main inspiration for Malcolm Gladwell’s exploration of success in Outliers: The Story of Success. In the book, Gladwell analyzes not only those who are successful, such as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, J.R. Oppenheimer, and Joe Flom, but what path led them towards becoming exceptionally skilled. This extremely in-depth analysis of successfulness forms Gladwell’s layered theory of what creates success, and his attempt

This speech has an ample amount of appeals to pathos. One example is, “They no longer felt pain, hunger, and thirst. They feared

Throughout Gladwell’s text he uses many paradigms. The first paradigm that he uses is in the introduction of the book. Gladwell begins by using a small town in Pennsylvania called Roseto. There was something very unique about this town. A doctor named Stewart Wolfe he found that the rates of heart disease in this little town were significantly less for those under the age of sixty-five, which during the time heart disease was a huge epidemic. Wolfe began to research the obvious things that one would believe to have an impact on heart disease. He looked at diet

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

Pathos is used very effectively in Seth Davis’s article. By using pathos he is helping to expose the purpose of the article in a way that you wouldn’t think of before. Davis states “As the father of three children under the age of eight, I can only pray that someone “exploits” my sons someday

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