Outliers Short Response Questions
Gladwell gives differing definitions of intelligence. Yet his definition of success is singular—"worldly" success in terms of wealth, power, and fame. Are there also differing definitions of success that Gladwell doesn't consider? If so, what are they, and what does it take to achieve those versions of success? What is your definition of success, and how does it compare to Gladwell’s? Has your definition of success changed at all?
There are many different definitions of success, and many depend on the person defining it. Success can be achieving your goal of running a mile or not failing a math test. It can be independence or not embarrassing yourself in public. To achieve these versions of success, you need to practice and put in effort. After all, Gladwell says if you work hard enough you can do anything and “Achievement is talent plus preparation.” (Gladwell 221). The above definitions of success are similar to my own. I define success as reaching my goals, not being in debt (money wise), and having independence. I also agree with Gladwell that wealth, power, and fame are indicators of success, however, I do not gauge my own success on power or fame. My definition of success has not changed because of the Outliers, but it has changed over time. As I age, my view of the world changes and so does my definition of success.
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I agree with Gladwell that hard work can lead to success. Too often we think success happens because someone has money or gets lucky. This is wrong. Success takes hard work, imagination, and motivation. “Success is not a random act. It arises out of a predictable and powerful set of circumstances and opportunities.” (Gladwell 52) If you assert yourself and use your mind and imagination, you can create those
In Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell argues that there is no such thing as a self-made man, and that success is only the result of a person’s circumstances. However, throughout the novel Gladwell points out that your circumstances and opportunities only help you become successful if you are willing to take advantage of them and work hard. From a twelve year old living in the Bronx, to those who were born at just the right time to become millionaires, one thing is the same throughout; these people because successful because they seized the opportunities they were given. The advantages and opportunities that came from their circumstances would not be important if they had not grasped them. Every successful man is self made, because he has seized the
The American college dictionary defines success as 1. The favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors, 2. The gaining of wealth, possessions, or the like. This has been the general seances for the past hundred years or more. But in more modern days the prospective of success has changed slightly. It has shifted to having a good education, going to collage, getting a carrier getting married & having children. Having your own home and eventually dying and passing it all on to a child or children. Success is no longer satisfaction or personal goals. It has been supplemented by the goals society has preset for the populous that have been drilled into the minds of the young from the very beginning. To a man named Santiago in The Old Man and The Sea by: Earnest Hemingway, success was to conquer the Marlin Santiago had fought for so long. But as a cruel twist of fate his success is taken away in an instant when the prize he had fought so hard for was eaten by sharks, leaving Santiago with no spoils left to show for his hard fight. He was even so crushed by of the loss of the Marlin that he cried out to the sea "I am beaten.....hear stands a broken man" (234). Santiago still experienced success in the fashion that when he returned to port the little boy named Manolin that he had taught how to fish earlier in the novel was allowed to come back to fish with him. This was the ultimate form of success that was perceived for Santiago by Hemingway. To Jean Valjean in Les Misreables By: Victor Hugo , Valjean's success was represented in the form of going from convict to loving father of a daughter. The little girl named Cosette may not have been his true daughter, but after he had had dinner with a bishop that had seen the possibility of good in he started the transformation of his life. he met Cosettes mother and vowed to save her daughter from the place where she was being kept. The success Valjean experienced was what made his character the man that he was. But to Willa Cather in My
Imagine a book that offers the reader a key; a key that enables them to ride down the highway to success and see all of the stops along the way that are instrumental in achieving success. Malcolm Gladwell does precisely this in his novel Outliers, which examines some of history’s most successful people and then attempts to explain why they specifically became successful beyond their wildest dreams. Gladwell is a reporter for The New Yorker and an accomplished author in the areas of psychology, sociology, and social psychology. In Outliers, he presents his reasoning as to why some people become successful and some do not. One of his major points in this regard is the ten thousand hour rule, meaning that to master a topic and become extremely successful in that area, one must accumulate at least ten thousand hours of practice in that area. He closely examines the early lives and careers of some of history’s greatest success stories to make a fine argument for his case. However, his strong arguments in support of his theories on success are not as strong when they come to countering the “typical view”, as Gladwell sees it. Outliers is different than most persuasive novels in that by proving his point, Gladwell does not necessarily disprove other people’s view on success. He effortlessly utilizes logos, along with numerous examples and parallelisms to support his theories. However, his lack of ethos and strong counter-argument allows for the audience to understand his ten thousand hour rule without necessarily supporting it wholeheartedly. After proposing something unthinkable to the average mind, Gladwell goes on to explain his ten thousand hour rule theory using two, very descriptive, very in-depth anecdotes. He shows how multi-bil...
In the passage from “Outliers”, published in November of 2008, acclaimed author Malcom Gladwell discusses class and argues that being a part of a higher class comes with its advantages in regards to being successful. He supports this claim by using rhetorical strategies such as ethos, example and comparison, along with an unvarnished tone, with the purpose of exhibiting the advantages of social class on success.
In Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers he writes about how success comes from a numerous factors from extra opportunities that can open doors to genetic advantages that can be the difference in edging out competition. An “outlier” that I am quite familiar is my uncle Travis Knight. He is an obvious outlier because he stands at 7 feet tall and played basketball at the University of Connecticut and he played in the National Basketball Association for 7 seasons. His professional career was a result of many of the topics Malcolm Gladwell discusses, Early advantages often result in increased coaching or placement in accelerated programs which means more experience and significantly more practice than those who do not have the same opportunities.
Throughout the book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell, the author, defines what he thinks is success. Gladwell defines success by using small stories of real people, who eventually became successful, such as the Beatles, Bill Gates, and so many more. The author also at the end provided and anecdote of how his mom became successful.
Another piece of evidence that supports my claim is in the epilogue on page two hundred-eighty-five with Gladwell’s second to the last conclusion paragraph of “[The successful] are products of history and community, of opportunity and legacy . . . grounded in a web of advantages and inheritances, some deserved, some not, some earned, some just plain lucky - but all critical to making them who they are.” Of course, his word alone is not enough to support his purpose, so he included studies from researchers such as Lewis Terman Richard A. Easterlin as well as the dissection of success stories of successful people and geniuses such as Bill Joy, The Beatles, and Christopher Langan (288-291). By including these elements in his book, Gladwell is able to persuade his audience into thinking that the opportunity is all one needs to be successful. With this in mind, his readers, including myself, are almost compelled to connect the pieces of the puzzle and figure out for themselves that Gladwell’s purpose for writing the book is
Outliers: The Story of Success is a nonfiction written by Malcolm Gladwell, The book proposes and examines the factors contributed to great success. Some of which are uncommon and unexpected, but are said to be essential to high achievements. Ever since we were young, we are often told that talent and hard work are the most crucial factors leading to success. Yet, just as the lyrics from the theme song of the cartoon Powerpuff Girls had mentioned “Sugar, spice, and everything nice. These were the ingredients chosen to create the perfect little girls.”, that is other than sugar and spice – talent and hard work, our “professor” suggested various significant factors that we may have overlooked. The book is separated into 2 parts, opportunities
The book Outliers, written by Malcolm Gladwell, discusses cultural and societal circumstances that give advantages to certain opportunistic people. Through a number of different case studies, Gladwell concurs that we have all too easily conformed into believing the myth that successful people are self-made; instead, he claims these individuals are invariably the recipients of certain advantages, unique opportunities and cultural legacies that allow them to learn and work hard which allows them to obtain a sense of the world in a way others do not. In the book Gladwell defines an outlier as a person out of the typical “who does not fit into our normal standard of achievement.” Gladwell claims these great individuals are recipients of specialization, collaboration, time, place, and culture.
According to The New Yorker, “Malcolm Gladwell has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1996… He is the author of three New York Times best-sellers: “The Tipping Point,” “Blink,” and Outliers” (Author Malcolm Gladwell). One of Gladwell’s three best-sellers is Outliers: The Story of Success. Outliers is a book that describes the traits of successful people. Instead of focusing on the traits that most people do, such as intelligence, personality, and ambition; he focuses on traits such as their culture, experience, and their family. Outliers are people who achieve more than the average person, but according to Gladwell intelligence alone is not the way to achieve it. He believes that there are many other factors that contribute
“People don't rise from nothing....It is only by asking where they are from that we can unravel the logic behind who succeeds and who doesn't”(Gladwell 18).
Malcolm Gladwell makes many debatable claims in his book “The Outliers”. One of these controversial topics is brought up in chapter three when he talks about a person’s IQ and how that relates to one’s success. Gladwell says, “The relationship between success and IQ works only up to a point. Once someone has reached an IQ of somewhere around 120, having additional IQ points doesn’t seem to translate into any measurable real-world advantage.”After reading “Outliers” I believe that this is the greatest controversial topic. I agree with Malcolm Gladwell because there are a high amount of people who are not incredibly smart that are very successful, success can be viewed differently by different people, and from my own experiences on the U-High
Success can be an extremely broad subject. There is an abounding amount of different views on what the “true” definition of success is. Personally, I believe that success is finding happiness. Success is waking up in the morning and not having to worry about whether or not the bills are going to be paid this month. Success is having a job that you enjoy going to every day. Success is having friends and family who love and support you. Success does not mean that one has to be exceedingly rich or have a lakeside mansion. As long as they are happy, they have succeeded in life.
Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers is an extremely informative read about success and the different aspects that attribute to it. Gladwell is able to use many studies and sources that back up his theories of how success is achieved. Although he is biased towards his theories, the only real argument that can be made in opposition to his theories would be a debate over exceptions to the 10,000 Hour Rule. Outliers ultimately has a positive effect on the audience by making them more aware of their own chances at success and how if they may be lacking in one area (education, opportunity, creativity) all hope is not lost. Gladwell’s piece is essentially timeless and will be able to be applied to future generations because he used examples from a few different eras that still make sense to today.
We all understand what success is, but what allows for a person to become successful? Malcolm Gladwell wrote his book Outliers to study this topic and settle once and for all why some people are more successful than others. Gladwell uses the success stories of people throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to discover just exactly what it is that allows for one to be successful. He explains that there is much more to becoming successful than just natural talent and skill. Gladwell states in Outliers that success is the product of the time we were born, our dedication, and most of all where we come from.