Outliers Malcolm Gladwell Rhetorical Analysis

Well-known journalist and author, malcolm gladwell, in his introduction of outliers, describes the anomaly of a small city named roseto. Gladwell's purpose is to impress upon the readers the idea that outliers do not start out as outliers and to understand their success, one needs to look beyond their intelligence and ambition and their personality traits and examine their culture, their family, and their generation. He employs the rhetorical appeals of ethos, pathos and logos. These combined with his friendly tone creates an effective argument for his idea. He excellently uses pathos to sway the reader to his point. He starts out by setting up the rosetans as lowlife people by stating, ‘life was hard” (4). This already has the audience feeling sympathetic towards the rosetans, and as a result, they keep reading hoping that the rosetans will end up in a better state. Gladwell clearly exploits the natural weakness of human nature when he describes the rosetans life at the end of the …show more content…
He makes sure that he highlight all of Wolf's accomplishments. He notes that ‘wolf was a physician,” he “studied digestion” and “taught in the medical school at the university of oklahoma” (5’6). It is vital to state these facts before stating the findings because this gives the readers a reason to believe wolf and trust that the information is correct and reliable.
All in all, ethos, pathos, and logos can be efficiently effective if used correctly and malcolm gladwell exhibited his proficiency as a writer by successfully utilizing these techniques. He adhered to emotions, provided reasoning, and showed credibility in order to sway his audience to the conclusion that the rosetans did indeed achieve their longevity due to their culture, interactions, and overall