Underdogs Misfits Giants

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

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

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

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

In this Chapter Gladwell highlights how the common picture of success is achieved is not the one which many individuals think of when they consider the cause of success and shows this with evidence from very successful people. Gladwell employs logos in order to create a logical as well as the factual base for the story. This use is extremely obvious as almost the entire chapter is made up of example that supports his theory on the 10'000 hour rule. In order to concrete his argument, he uses Ethos by constantly employing well-known names in order to build a sense of credibility and citing people who have authority on the scene. He does a good job of using this for its desired purpose. Gladwell redirects his argument with phrases like "Let's

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

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

“There is something profoundly wrong with the way we make sense of success” (Gladwell 18). In Outliers Malcolm Gladwell is trying to convince his audience that they misunderstand how people become successful. Many believe one only needs hard work and determination in order to achieve success. However, Gladwell complicates this idea by explaining that hard work and determination is not how people become successful and instead, it is all about the opportunities one is given that decides if he or she is successful or not. Gladwell uses the rhetorical appeals of pathos and ethos in order to persuade his audience to accept his idea of the process of becoming successful.

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

This similar idea can be also be seen through “Self-Made Men”, a speech by former slave and abolitionist Frederick Douglass. In his speech, Douglass argues that self-made men cannot be independent from the world around them, and must owe their success to achievements from their community. He states that, “our best and most valued acquisitions have been obtained either from our contemporaries or from those who have preceded us in the field of thought and discovery” (Douglass 1). Douglass’ ideas resonate deeply with Gladwell’s argument. Although these texts are from two starkly different points in history, both have found a similar conclusion: it is impossible to separate a person from what advantages may be given to them.

Gladwell presents an interesting concept of “thin slicing” I definitely recommend this book for others to read. I enjoyed reading this book. Malcolm Gladwell was right when he stated on the back cover of the book, that reading this book would change the way I understood every decision I made. It has changed the way I think about making decisions.

Part One of Malcolm Gladwell’s David and Goliath was a wonderful read that I connected to greatly, probably more so than the other sections. This segment dealt with our perception of advantages and disadvantages. This was due to the fact that Gladwell used stories that I related to more and found most interesting as a whole. I especially loved Chapter Three’s subject dealing with a student by the name of Caroline Sacks and her choice between going to a large university versus going to a small one because it was a conflict that I myself had. I have since been very happy with my choice to go with a smaller school and was surprised to see how many statistics supported the idea. As someone who loves studying history, one of my favorite ways Gladwell structures his narrative is when he uses historical events to make his very personal points. He begins the Caroline Sacks chapter with an anecdote about the French Impressionists and how they decided that it was “better to be a Big Fish in a Little Pond that a Little Fish in a Big Pond” (Gladwell 74). This, of course, ties into Caroline Sacks’ decision,

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

"The biggest misconception about success is that we do it solely on our smarts, ambition, hustle and hard work” (Gladwell, 42). Outliers is a book that praises the success of great men, then cuts them down to size by explaining how it wasn’t pure hard work and sweat. Gladwell studies those who have already achieved society’s idea of “success.” Every chapter is filled with detailed examinations of cultural heritage and environment in relation to the idea of “success”.The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore is a detailed analysis that undergoes a comparison between two characters with outwardly similar beginnings but entirely different destinies due to personal choices, self-determination, and effort. The book values the importance of discipline and

While I definitely agree with this claim, I was disappointed by Gladwell's exceedingly fallacious reasoning. In Outliers Gladwell often cherry-picks only information that reinforces his thesis, uses generalization, and is very narrow-minded when it comes to his idea of what “success” is.