10,000 Hour Tenacity in Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

The Beatles, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, professional hockey players, and solo violinists all have one thing in common. Malcolm Gladwell, author of “Outliers”, is able to effectively link these different parties together though his “10,000 Hour Rule”. Gladwell states that, “practice isn’t the thing you do once you’re good. It’s the thing that makes you good” (42). Using rhetorical devices, Gladwell effectively conveys how overall success can be spotted by historical, recurring patterns or events. Malcolm Gladwell has supported himself as a reputable author as well. Using supported statistics, easily illustrated patterns, and well known examples, Gladwell fulfills the logos appeal. Also, due to his very successful works “The Boiling Point” and “Blink”, Gladwell shows his credibility as an author. Gladwell’s main purpose is to teach his audience the pattern of success, and why some people did or did not succeed. This audience is consisted of those who want to succeed, and want to create as many possibilities to reach their goal. Their main values are gaining success for themselves. Another possible audience is a group who enjoys statistics and patterns. These patterns show that around 10,000 of practice in an activity, the person becomes very proficient in that activity. Citing the Beatles, Bill Joy, and Bill Gates as his examples, Gladwell shows that practice can make perfect. Malcolm Gladwell states that to reach a level of expertise, one must practice that activity for 10,000 hours. Using rhetorical devices, tone, and logos, Gladwell efficiently supports his claim of the 10,000 hour rule.

Gladwell’s style of writing begins with explaining or presenting an example of someone with success in a field. He then quickly refutes the reader’...

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...a well defended argument, and was able to reinforce it well with factual evidence, rhetorical devices, and tone.

Gladwell effectively uses rhetorical devices, tone, and factual evidence to support his claim of the 10,000 hour rule. Using rhetorical devices such as parallelism, facts and statistics (logos), and style of writing, Gladwell reinforces his idea of practice. Malcolm Gladwell uses his evidence to make a reader truly think about those who are successful as being hard workers, not just “lucky”. He illustrates how many well-known experts became legends in their field. This not only shows how software moguls and tycoons became wealthy or successful, but how the reader can as well: by following the old piece of advice “practice makes perfect”.

Works Cited

Gladwell, Malcolm. Outliers: The Story of Success. New York: Little, Brown and, 2008. ________Print