Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers: Stories Of Success
Griffin Michel
Ms. Donohoo
English 12 - G
14 January 2016
Nonfiction Book Review - Outliers
Introduction
The classic American success story: a person is born to nothing, has an idea, and, by sheer power of their own will and determination, makes it big--or so it would seem. These are the stories, the stories of billionaires, professional athletes, lawyers, and scientists, that Malcolm Gladwell examines in his 2008 book, Outliers: Stories of Success. He delves deep into the stories of successful people, finding that they are rarely self-made. He counters the well-loved “rags to riches” stories that success is a product of great opportunities, cultural legacy, and a bit of luck.
Summary
In the first section of Outliers, “Opportunity,” Gladwell …show more content…
“We can not separate ourselves from where we are from,” and that may be either aiding or detrimental to our success (221)-- it is both why Asians are “good at math,” because of their long history of intense rice agriculture, leading to a culture of hard work; and why Korean airlines crashed so many planes, because Korean culture itself does not encourage speaking up, even in danger; and it is why Americans perform poorly on exams. Society, he says, must reorient itself to support and foster success (given these two impactors: opportunity and …show more content…
Gladwell arranges the chapters and their respective stories to flesh out a new point, while also adding to the arguments of the previous chapters. The sequential adding of each chapter culminates with a final story, pulling together all of the points made in the part. This structure makes sense in a book like Outliers, with a central argument that calls for evidence. While Gladwell could have certainly used each chapter for only one point, the culmination of points solidifies each point and his argument as a whole for that part. This structure, along with Gladwell’s casual language and comprehensible data analysis, renders Outliers an easy to follow, enjoyable
Ms. Donohoo
English 12 - G
14 January 2016
Nonfiction Book Review - Outliers
Introduction
The classic American success story: a person is born to nothing, has an idea, and, by sheer power of their own will and determination, makes it big--or so it would seem. These are the stories, the stories of billionaires, professional athletes, lawyers, and scientists, that Malcolm Gladwell examines in his 2008 book, Outliers: Stories of Success. He delves deep into the stories of successful people, finding that they are rarely self-made. He counters the well-loved “rags to riches” stories that success is a product of great opportunities, cultural legacy, and a bit of luck.
Summary
In the first section of Outliers, “Opportunity,” Gladwell …show more content…
“We can not separate ourselves from where we are from,” and that may be either aiding or detrimental to our success (221)-- it is both why Asians are “good at math,” because of their long history of intense rice agriculture, leading to a culture of hard work; and why Korean airlines crashed so many planes, because Korean culture itself does not encourage speaking up, even in danger; and it is why Americans perform poorly on exams. Society, he says, must reorient itself to support and foster success (given these two impactors: opportunity and …show more content…
Gladwell arranges the chapters and their respective stories to flesh out a new point, while also adding to the arguments of the previous chapters. The sequential adding of each chapter culminates with a final story, pulling together all of the points made in the part. This structure makes sense in a book like Outliers, with a central argument that calls for evidence. While Gladwell could have certainly used each chapter for only one point, the culmination of points solidifies each point and his argument as a whole for that part. This structure, along with Gladwell’s casual language and comprehensible data analysis, renders Outliers an easy to follow, enjoyable