Ola Ola
ENGL 1101
Ms.Nielsen
Gladwell develops his argument but the evidence he uses is weak and he ignores the scientific characteristics of dyslexia as well as the societal issues involved with being a gifted dyslexic
My paper is a critique of Malcolm Gladwell’s book David and Goliath, it is not simply attempting to analyze his piece but attempting to extract what he has said about difficulty and disability and compare it with what others have found regarding the topic in order to develop a greater understanding of the connection. My thesis is that Gladwell develops his argument but the evidence he uses is weak and he ignores the scientific characteristics of dyslexia as well as the societal issues involved with being a gifted dyslexic …show more content…
He examines a study that finds the very specific conclusion that changes in font can improve testing performance. He overgeneralizes this to difficulty as whole and attempts to show how it could cause similar performance in the case of dyslexia being the difficulty. This would be fine had he proved it with experiments and data, not a examining few instances which would prove his point. I show that overgeneralizing the results even slightly can result in incorrectness by citing a study that did just that and found their hypothesis to be incorrect. I then show that his examples of people who prove dyslexia are a desirable difficulty actually are not examples of that at all. I show that he has ignored a subset of people known as gifted dyslexics who are incredibly intelligent but also have dyslexia. One of the main issues is recognizing these people and understanding how their disability holds them back. Gladwell not recognizing acts as a perfect example of this. My paper also somewhat serves to bring light to this issue. Finally, I …show more content…
. . the act of facing overwhelming odds produces greatness and beauty.” Second, he says, we often misread these stories.” What looks like strength (a big, heavily armored giant) can actually be a weakness (slow, overconfident, etc.). A weakness (small, young) can be a strength (fast, unintimidated) --- or it can produce compensating strengths (the dyslexic who can’t read but develops a phenomenal memory and listening ability)
Gladwell starts off by explaining how David’s sling is actually a devastating weapon. It is one of the most feared weapons in the ancient world. The stone that is shot from this sling can have a stopping power of a 45-caliber handgun. This is enough power to kill someone on impact. Not only this but David wasn’t just a mere shepherd. He was a warrior. He would defend his herd of sheep against wolves and other predators with his sling and bare hands when needed.
In ancient times, he would have been part of the projectile warriors. These warriors are known today as artillery and included archers and slingers. Slingers had a small leather pouch with two leather straps at each end. They would place a rock in the middle strap and swing the weapon until it gathered enough momentum and they would then release the stones at the enemy, taking down a good number of them in the
ENGL 1101
Ms.Nielsen
Gladwell develops his argument but the evidence he uses is weak and he ignores the scientific characteristics of dyslexia as well as the societal issues involved with being a gifted dyslexic
My paper is a critique of Malcolm Gladwell’s book David and Goliath, it is not simply attempting to analyze his piece but attempting to extract what he has said about difficulty and disability and compare it with what others have found regarding the topic in order to develop a greater understanding of the connection. My thesis is that Gladwell develops his argument but the evidence he uses is weak and he ignores the scientific characteristics of dyslexia as well as the societal issues involved with being a gifted dyslexic …show more content…
He examines a study that finds the very specific conclusion that changes in font can improve testing performance. He overgeneralizes this to difficulty as whole and attempts to show how it could cause similar performance in the case of dyslexia being the difficulty. This would be fine had he proved it with experiments and data, not a examining few instances which would prove his point. I show that overgeneralizing the results even slightly can result in incorrectness by citing a study that did just that and found their hypothesis to be incorrect. I then show that his examples of people who prove dyslexia are a desirable difficulty actually are not examples of that at all. I show that he has ignored a subset of people known as gifted dyslexics who are incredibly intelligent but also have dyslexia. One of the main issues is recognizing these people and understanding how their disability holds them back. Gladwell not recognizing acts as a perfect example of this. My paper also somewhat serves to bring light to this issue. Finally, I …show more content…
. . the act of facing overwhelming odds produces greatness and beauty.” Second, he says, we often misread these stories.” What looks like strength (a big, heavily armored giant) can actually be a weakness (slow, overconfident, etc.). A weakness (small, young) can be a strength (fast, unintimidated) --- or it can produce compensating strengths (the dyslexic who can’t read but develops a phenomenal memory and listening ability)
Gladwell starts off by explaining how David’s sling is actually a devastating weapon. It is one of the most feared weapons in the ancient world. The stone that is shot from this sling can have a stopping power of a 45-caliber handgun. This is enough power to kill someone on impact. Not only this but David wasn’t just a mere shepherd. He was a warrior. He would defend his herd of sheep against wolves and other predators with his sling and bare hands when needed.
In ancient times, he would have been part of the projectile warriors. These warriors are known today as artillery and included archers and slingers. Slingers had a small leather pouch with two leather straps at each end. They would place a rock in the middle strap and swing the weapon until it gathered enough momentum and they would then release the stones at the enemy, taking down a good number of them in the