Susan Cain Introverts

I. Speaker:
The author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, Susan Cain, is an intelligent woman with a trustworthy background that makes her writing scholarly level. First off, she categorizes herself as an introvert and is married to an extrovert whom she describes as a man who is “more aggressive in a week than [she] would be in a lifetime” (153); which causes some difficulty in her marriage, but shows that she has problems as an introvert. Secondly, Cain used personal stories over the years from her job in corporate law, which is a heavily extroverted job. She gave a story in the beginning of the book about having to speak for her whole company and how she pushed herself to the limits although she thought

of herself as too quiet, “too unassuming, [and] too cerebral” (8). Similarly, Cain traveled all around the United States and talked to people who studied or worked for jobs/schools that preferred an extrovert; she interviewed both personality types in full color to show how they dealt with problems. More importantly, Susan Cain studied the topic of personality for years; she officially started writing the book “since 2005, and unofficially for [her] entire adult life” (Cain’s Author Note). She examined research papers from successful scientists such as Kagan, Suomi, Jagiellowicz, Ledoux, and Berns; Cain included “thousands of people about [introversion] and have read as many books, scholarly papers, magazine articles, chatroom discussions, and blog posts” (183) which she gives credit to in her book. Mrs. Cain has studied historical books to show how historical figures got through difficult times as introverts. Similarly, she debriefed past time periods using proof by primary sources to show the change of to what the population of the western world appealed. Additionally, Cain took the time to compare the western world’s ideal persona to one of that is from the Eastern world. Once again, she interviewed several people to gain a substantial amount of information to compare the two places with a scholarly eye. Lastly, Cain uses specific language and tone shifts in her writing that emphasize specific points that are important to note. For every piece of numerical or scientific information that is given, Mrs. Cain simply states the facts and does not show the correlation to her argument until it is thoroughly explained in the text. On the other hand, she uses lively diction and a softer tone for personal stories and asks her readers rhetorical questions to state her point of view. This change in tone shows that Susan Cain is well versed in the background of personality and has empathy towards people who are struggling in the extroverted world. In conclusion, Mrs. Cain gives proof that she was highly qualified to have written the book through the information she provides in Quiet, as well as through personal stories to show how passionate she is about helping introverts who view themselves as social outcasts.
II. Occasion:
To start, the main reason why Susan Cain wrote the book was from past experiences and the worry in which it is causing her as morals changed year after year. Before the twentieth century, “what counted was not so much the impression one made in public as how one behaved in private” (21) but when the economy changed, it was expected that “every American was to become a performing self” (21). The dramatic split between introvert and extrovert came when America became a Culture of Personality rather than a Culture of Character while prejudice followed. The western world became indulged in the salesman persona, the whole population catered towards personality, extroverted personality. Cain saw how people marked as introverts were virtually outcasts of society and not given the same amount of respect as someone who was louder and more abrupt than them. Introverts who had the same knowledge or even smarter than their extrovert equivalent did not usually get jobs in high ranking positions such as politics. In fact, some bosses would not hire an introvert unless they possessed an extroverted cover-up when performing their job and Ivy League schools such as Yale and Harvard rejected “the ‘sensitive, neurotic’ type and the ‘intellectually over-stimulated’ in favor of boys of the ‘healthy extrovert kind’” (27) in the late 1940s. Likewise, in offices, introverts were not given enough space and in schools, introverts had to suffer through group activities almost every day. Susan Cain also became over-stimulated in America’s bias toward extroverted people; when she was put on the spotlight to speak for her company, Cain was curious about why jobs and schools catered to extroverts rather than introverts and what exactly was the cause of the two extremes. Thus, she created the Quiet to share her evaluations to the public.
III. Audience:
The novel Quiet, is mainly geared towards introverts who are having difficulty finding their place in an extroverted world but also speaks towards people who offer jobs and run companies to not be biased towards just one personality type.

First off, Susan Cain directly spoke to introverts during several cases throughout the book by stating the psychological aspect of discriminations towards introverts while asking rhetorical questions starting with “if you’re an introvert” (16). She also included several interviews with introverts whom had to deal with the pressure of the Extroverted Ideal lodged on their back and introduced ways which introverts do not have to be over-stimulated for the majority of the day. In the scientific research which she provides, Cain reinsures introverts that they do not have to feel less than extroverts because according to case studies, “introverts think before they act, digest information thoroughly, stay on task longer, give up less easily, and work more accurately” (168) than an extrovert. She uses Rosa Parks’ title of her autobiography “Quiet Strength” (2) as a reference for introverts that they can lead by embracing their unique power. On the other hand, Cain addresses the rest of the population, more specifically politicians, job managers, and school principals through research and historical evidence that extroverts are not always the ideal person; both introverts and extroverts possess the same abilities and complement each other. In addition, Mrs. Cain includes how managers and teachers can appeal to the introverted student; thus by providing space to introverts instead of giving them the standard “offices without walls” (6) and “classroom desks […] arranged in pods” (5). All in all, Susan Cain addressed the whole population of the western world by giving examples that introverts are not lazy and unintelligent as society makes them out to be, they have the same capabilities as extroverts but show them in their own

way.
IV. Subject:
Susan Cain discusses the problems of the western world favoring the Extrovert Ideal and how having a balance between the two personalities can benefit the whole population instead of explicating just one. Initially, Cain shows how introverts are subjected to discrimination due to the fact that people in America favor people who are “self-serving” and speak out. However, Cain uses scientific research to show that always speaking out does not show that the person is smart as taught by the Extroverted Ideal. Extroverts are “more likely to take a quick-and-dirty approach to problem solving, trading accuracy for speed, making increasing numbers of mistakes as they go, and abandoning ship altogether when the problem seems too difficult or frustrating” (168) which causes a lot of problems, especially in the business industry. In most cases, the speaker for a company is an extrovert and ends up getting carried away in the heat of the conversation, thus leaving the company with a solution they did not want or no solution at all. Moreover, extroverts are “characterized by their tendency to seek rewards, from top dog status to sexual highs to cold cash” (159) that can lead to economical crashes. Although these are facts, the majority of the population still lean towards the mighty extrovert because of their persona. For instance, in the presidential campaign of 1828, Andrew Jackson’s slogan was “John Quincy Adams who can write/ And Andrew Jackson who can fight,” (30) that led to Jackson winning the election because people believe the person who does something right away knows what he is doing. However, as explained in Cain’s book, that way of thinking is wrong and the extrovert who speaks their mind actually knows the same amount, and sometimes less, than an introvert who thinks before saying something. Subsequently, Mrs. Cain compares the western world to the eastern world to illustrate that introversion is a good thing. In China, “there is more emphasis on listening, on asking questions rather than holding forth, on putting others’ needs first” (47) while in the United States, there is more emphasis on long conversations. In Asian communities, the public views quiet as a symbol for deep thought, unlike in the West, quiet is seen as incapable, yet quiet is what gives the Asian countries their high scores on tests. The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study exam has a lengthy, optional questionnaire at the end that many students do not fill out, but “the nations whose students fill out more of the questionnaire also tend to have students who do well on the TIMSS test” (201); otherwise known as Mahatma Gandhi’s quiet persistence, something that people from the United States do not give enough credit towards introverts. In other words, the increasing bias towards extroverts does not work in favor for the nation, Cain emphasizes that there should be a balance between introverts and extroverts in high ranking positions since each can bring out the best in a team but that team will not work if one always dominates the others.
V. Purpose:
Susan Cain wrote Quiet as a way to reach out to downhearted introverts to embrace their special powers and show that they too can be leaders in society. To start, Cain provides historical evidence about the prejudice feelings towards introverts but reveals that some of the most memorable events happened because of an introvert foundation. Movements such as the Civil Rights Movement boycotting buses became a reality when an introvert by the name of Rosa Parks refused to move. Parks was “timid and shy’ but had the ‘courage of a lion’” (2) and had quiet strength that only an introvert can possess, which is what Cain wants introverts to realize. Furthermore, the author uses scientific research to persuade and inform not only introverts, but the whole world that introverts are on par with extroverts when concerning school work and office work. Although extroverts have an impulse to take action right away, they tend to ignore signs to tell them to slow down and give up more easily. Introverts, however, possess “quiet persistence” (201) and “satyagraha, [...] firmness in the pursuit of truth” (199) that gives them a better understanding of what is being put in front of them. Cain suggests to the readers that if extroverts are the responders, introverts are the inspectors and the two cannot work separately if the goal is to achieve greatness. For this reason, Mrs. Cain wants introverts to “trust their gut and share their ideas as powerfully as they can” (173) once they are done reading Quiet because historically and scientifically, introverts have a remarkable talent to lead by listening and suggesting their own thoughts in a group. Therefore, Susan Cain envisions her introverted readers to ignore the discrimination put against them and realize that they are suited to lead the nation just as well as their counterpart.
VI. Authorial Devices and Structures in the Argument:
In Quiet, the author uses several literary techniques that gives her novel value, making her readers comprehend her reasoning. To begin, Cain uses pathos by speaking to introverts on a personal level; she starts the book with a story about a famous introvert and later discusses her own personal troubles as being an introvert on Wall Street. When Cain discloses a personal story, she uses soft setting words and colorful vocabulary to help the reader better depict the image which she is setting. For instance, when Mrs. Cain went to a seminar starring Tony Robbins, she portrays him as “having a ‘hyperthymic’ temperament-a kind of extroversion-on-steroids characterized, in the words of one psychiatrist by ‘exuberant, upbeat, over energetic, and over-confident lifelong traits’” (38) and shares her own thoughts on his personality. She puts more emphasis on the emotions of characters that are brought up in the stories, relating them to emotions of the bigger picture in the end of the chapter. Rather than using off putting expression or passive arguments, Cain states facts explicitly without going off course. In addition, at the end of facts, she asks the readers rhetorical questions to emphasize the need for introverts to speak up in the world; notably shown on page two, Cain asks the readers “why shouldn’t quiet be strong?” (2) that lingers in the readers’ minds throughout the whole book. Secondly, the author structures her argument in a way that all the points that she gives are connected for the bigger picture. For every chapter, Cain gives a personal story then breaks down scientific research or historical evidence to show the reasoning for such events. For example, in chapter eight, the readers connect to Mike Wei “a seventeen-year-old Chinese-born senior at Lynbrook High School” (181) who is introverted and finds it weird that America values extroversion while China value introversion. The chapter continues with vivid descriptions of the Lynbrook High School followed by comments provided by teachers. The school is then compared to other schools in China backed by articles, books, proverbs, explanation by a professor in science, and the historical figure Gandhi to show at the end of the chapter introverts have the power to excel in many things because of their persistence which is a stepping stone for Cain’s argument. She appeals to the reader with stories by using pathos, backs up her reasoning with research as a form of logos to make her readers believe, and uses ethos by using high title names to tie everything together in each chapter. All in all, Susan Cain was smart about how she structured Quiet as it not only pulls in the reader to feel what introverts feel, but also states important information concerning the problem in a way her readers can understand.