Outliers Gladwell Analysis

Improved Essays
Throughout life, the whole nation struggles with many decisions. One topic that comes up often is weather or not we can control our lives, or how much of our lives do we control? Outliers; The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell and Macbeth by William Shakespeare are two stories written around this important topic. Outliers is written to prove that we can control our own successful destinies. While Macbeth is also written showing us that we can control our destiny, but the overall story doesn’t give us enough evidence to prove that we can control our destinies. With strong evidence and logical reasoning, Gladwell constructs an enhanced persuasive argument to reinforce his claim that humans build their own successful destinies through practice …show more content…
Throughout the article, a study is explained on how successful the violinists are due to practicing, hard work, and time put into what they are trying to achieve. The violinists were divided into three groups. The first group was, “the students with the potential to become world-class soloists.” Next, the second group consisted of, those who were “merely good” and the third group contained, “students who were unlikely to ever play professionally and who intended to be music teachers in the public school system.” Indeed, these violinists were divided by how many hours of work were put into their carers. At first, “everyone practiced roughly the same amount, about two or three hours a week,” but as the students became much older the differences in the time spent practicing because diverse. In fact, “by the age of twenty, the elite performers had each totaled ten thousand hours of practice. By contrast, the merely good students had totaled eight thousand hours, and the future music teachers had totaled just over four thousand hours.” Basically reporting that the elite performers were totaling more hours in practicing than the “merely good students” and the “future music teachers.” Given these points, Gladwell is proving that ones who work hard at a goal are able to control the outcome of what happens such as the successfulness of their

Related Documents

  • Decent Essays

    Malcolm Gladwell in chapter one of Outliers convincingly describes that some people are more advantageous than others due to when they are born. In this case, Gladwell talks specifically to rule creators and authorities of sports leagues and elementary schools, because they have the power to make adjustments to unfair advantages. By unfair advantages, hockey leagues in Canada fixed an age cut-off date for incoming players, and elementary schools positioning the oldest students within a class to higher academic levels. Overall that signifies the older, the more prestige a person gets. To prove his point, Gladwell implied in a simple and understandable statement that "players are judged on their own performance" (pg.17), but rebutes his claim…

    • 213 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A Rhetorical Analysis of a Central Argument in Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers In his acclaimed novel Outliers, a book that details the various factors that contribute to success, Malcolm Gladwell aims to convince his audience of the simple yet powerful assertion that success cannot simply be attributed to the choices one makes, but rather that it is a product of opportunity. “Outliers are those who have been given opportunities — and who have had the strength and presence of mind to seize them”, claims Gladwell. Although he makes several noteworthy points within this novel, the idea that success and opportunity are tightly interwoven serves as his most pivotal argument. The use of such devices as anecdotes and statistics help Gladwell construct…

    • 1094 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Gladwell Vs Epstein Essay

    • 762 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The debate over whether someone's success is based on their natural abilities or their hard work and dedication has been widely discussed by people everywhere. Authors Malcom Gladwell and David Epstein argue their different points to try and persuade their audience. David Epstein, author of The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance, believes that innate talent plays a bigger role in determining a successful destiny than practice. The author of Outliers: The Story of Success, Malcom Gladwell, has an opposing view; many hours of preparation is the leading factor in being an expert in your craft. Although both writers make compelling arguments, Gladwell's claim that hard work is the leading factor in determining…

    • 762 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Nature versus nurture has been a scientific debate that has constantly been argued and discussed for decades. Both “Outliers” by Malcom Gladwell and the article focusing on the academic success and economic status of children whose parents are immigrants argue on the nurture side of it all and the accountability of environmental factors that are out of one’s control and are not just purely genetic.…

    • 65 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    In this insert from the book, The Outliers, written by Malcom Gladwell, the author expresses the central idea that the key to success is hard work and preservation (Glawdwell). Most individuals believe that in order to excel and reach the highest ranks in a subject, than they have to be naturally gifted with the ability. Gladwell proves this statement to be wrong by writing about different experiments psychologist have performed on professionals in different professions. This passage from the book tells you just what the key to success actually is. After performing the same experiment on different prodigies of different talents, a pattern of how many hours theses experts had practiced surfaced.…

    • 229 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell, Gladwell introduces the idea of success and what people typically believe to be successful. Typically people become successful due to his or her own individual skill and how he or she uses the skill. Gladwell claims that people do not have talent or a skill just by doing things on their own, they have many things that support him or her on the journey to success. He gives an example of an elite youth hockey team. They are all born in the earlier months of the year.…

    • 728 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    By utilizing simplistic language, which is easy to understand, Gladwell is able to adopt the role of a teacher to better aid his students, the audience, in understanding the multiplex existence of success. Gladwell continues to rely on the same modes throughout the…

    • 1351 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Many protests critics of Gladwell raise, such as the child geniuses Mozart and Picasso will be put down. It is true that Mozart was taught by a father obsessed with seeing his son become a star in music, and Picasso’s family environment allowed him to blossom into a creative artist. I recognize this objection but have answered it. Environmental conditions are what causes talent to show. My background consists of largely mathematical conditions, as both parents are relative geniuses in this field.…

    • 914 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    How does one define success? People have different viewpoints on success. Some people usually think success is all about how much money you some people think success as you are being happy. In my opinion success is being able to support the ones you love, the ones who make you happy, and the ones who support you in your time of need. Many people strive to be successful however not everyone becomes successful.…

    • 1337 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Malcolm Gladwell, the author of Outliers, believes that choices by people do not influence their success in a big manner. Against popular opinion, he believes that a “self-made man” is imaginary; instead, circumstances, family background, and tolerance for hard work all contribute to success. Gladwell is correct that circumstances and family background…

    • 1017 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Outliers Malcolm Gladwell

    • 827 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Outliers: The Story of Success, written by Malcolm Gladwell, is a non-fiction book analyzing similarities of culture, family, and class of what we define as a successful person. Gladwell examines and breaks down his answers to what most people wonder: “What are the personalities of a successful person?” “Were they born with various gifts that the unsuccessful don’t have?” “What personal aspects of an auspicious individual help shape the peak of what they reach?” Countless written autobiographies ostensibly follow a similar story to one another.…

    • 827 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    This quote is significant because it brings up one of the first major points Gladwell is trying to prove by saying hidden advantages start from a young age. Gladwell uses the word “innately” which means natural so he is talking about the young kids who have natural talent compared to the others. However in this passage he is calling out the people who are over using preparation. He is telling the audience that they shouldn’t be doing this due to the fact that since the younger kids haven’t gotten the same chance as the other older ones even if they have the same amount natural talent. He states “the smaller the role innate talent seems to play and the bigger the role preparation seems to play” the significance of this is Gladwell is stating…

    • 302 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Whether it was my young self having the desire to play the violin or simply me being obstinate in not listening to adults, it’s a wonder to realize that what defines me today is all due to my younger self refusing to give up. Despite my determination, it became clear to me that my passion for the violin was not matched by the effort that I was putting into the instrument. As part of my instruction on the violin, I participated annually in ASTACAP-American String Teachers Association Certificate Advancement Program. Until…

    • 679 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Gladwell says there are no shortcuts between hours of practice and achievment, to just floating to the top. Psychologist suggested that there were no 'naturals'. Althoguh a person can have natural talents , it won't do them any good if they never practice it or try to improve it. Overall Gladwell is saying that you will become better at something once you've practiced it. Gladwell suggest timing also plays a role in a person's success.…

    • 940 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Music Personal Statement

    • 348 Words
    • 2 Pages

    As a student, I have invested several thousand hours into practicing at home and with my teacher. The complexity of working on repertoire with my teacher, carefully learning every note fingering, and observing musical details all taught me the importance of perseverance and diligence from a young age. I have also learned artistry working…

    • 348 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays