Argumentative Essay On Outliers By Malcolm Gladwell
Every individual has at least one major hobby or career. Not a single person wants to be just ok or mediocre at whatever they have devoted their life to. How can one achieve great success in any pursuit? The question is deceptively simple, but the answer is complex. There is no definitive answer to the question, but that has not prevented scholars, journalist, and every individual who has thought about it from forming their own opinion on the matter. One argument is presented in a book titled Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. Gladwell’s book presents a rule called the 10,000-hour rule. The rule inspired at least a few other individuals to write their own works countering his argument. A specific example of a counter argument is David Bradley’s
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Gladwell weaves a narrative of a young college student whose life changes when he discovers computer programming as a freshman. The student, Bill Joy, is someone that most of the readers of Outliers could relate with. The reader would know what it was like to be a freshman in college. It would not be hard for them to relate with another person who delved deep into their passion to become successful. Gladwell makes the reader vicariously live through Joy’s successful life so that when Joy states that he estimates he was a proficient programmer after about 10,000 hour, the reader does not second guess him (Gladwell 47). Bradley also employs a similar appeal to readers. He begins the appeal by starting to use words such as “our” and “us”. Bradley then transitions to a short example of how the total amount of time he had played guitar did not represent his skill. He uses himself to try demonstrate that Gladwell’s 10,000-hour rule requires focused training. Bradley however, does not do as well with his application due to the fact he does not expand his appeal enough to get readers truly connected emotionally. Gladwell is once again able to better persuade readers by creating a superior emotional connection between readers and his narrative
Gladwell weaves a narrative of a young college student whose life changes when he discovers computer programming as a freshman. The student, Bill Joy, is someone that most of the readers of Outliers could relate with. The reader would know what it was like to be a freshman in college. It would not be hard for them to relate with another person who delved deep into their passion to become successful. Gladwell makes the reader vicariously live through Joy’s successful life so that when Joy states that he estimates he was a proficient programmer after about 10,000 hour, the reader does not second guess him (Gladwell 47). Bradley also employs a similar appeal to readers. He begins the appeal by starting to use words such as “our” and “us”. Bradley then transitions to a short example of how the total amount of time he had played guitar did not represent his skill. He uses himself to try demonstrate that Gladwell’s 10,000-hour rule requires focused training. Bradley however, does not do as well with his application due to the fact he does not expand his appeal enough to get readers truly connected emotionally. Gladwell is once again able to better persuade readers by creating a superior emotional connection between readers and his narrative