Malcolm Gladwell Plane Crashes Analysis

In Malcom Gladwell’s book Outliers, he writes a chapter called “The Ethnic Theory of Plane Crashes”. While some might say that his book is glib, poorly reasoned, and thoroughly unconvincing, this book is exciting and draws the reader in. In the beginning, Gladwell writes about a plane crash and then throughout the chapter, he adds in facts and examples to back-up his claim: cultural differences can cause many plane crashes. He also uses italics in this chapter to show his voice and thoughts on the story, or even just to highlight the ridiculousness of statements being made. He gives the experts their own voice within this chapter, validating his claims. He lets the authors tell their own story while telling his own. This book is a great example …show more content…
It paints a more vivid and realistic picture for the reader. Another thing that this does is, since Gladwell is not an expert in plane crashes, it lets the experts tell the story. They use their own words fused with their own cultural customs. It also backs up Gladwell’s credibility to be writing about this book, it is not only from his point of view, because he uses other experts to talk about things he is not an expert in. It helps the reader understand that Gladwell is not just making up these facts, but he is reliable and trusted source. This improves his writing, showing that he can write using different sources and experts to back up his original claim in this chapter: cultural legacies are vital in understanding the Korean Air plane …show more content…
He uses all sorts of writing techniques to further his claims in this particular chapter and throughout the entire book. He uses italics to have his readers understand what he is saying and even how he is saying it. The italics help the reader to go deeper than just quickly skimming through this book, it makes them think about his words long after they have put the book down. Another way he draws his reader in is how he tells the main story first and then adds in facts and data to back up his story and his claims. He does this to draw his readers in and to maintain his credibility in telling the story. Finally, he maintains his credibility by giving his sources a voice. He lets his experts tell the story that they experienced so it is more real to the readers. Gladwell’s writing is well thought out and wonderfully written. The way he writes his chapters from start to finish is something more people should be taking the time to