The Outliers By Malcolm Gladwell

Improved Essays
In the novel The Outliers written by Malcolm Gladwell, Gladwell explains how and why some people succeed with impactful lives and others don’t even if they try their hardest. He looks at the lives of professional hockey players, Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, and many more people explaining how they’re considered outliers. He explains how some people were deserving of their success, how some weren’t, how some people earned theirs, and how others were just in the right place at the right time. One of the things Gladwell talks about is The Matthew Effect, he talks about how professional Canadian hockey players become successful. According to Malcolm, it takes more than how hard they work or what their lifestyle is to succeed, it mostly depends on factors that they cannot control. For example, Gladwell says that 40% of the players are born between January and March, 30% between April and June, 20% between July and September, and 10% between October and December (23).
This is showing that a child born in January will have a better chance at succeeding in professional hockey than a child born in December, this is because the child in January has more experience with hockey because he’s had more time to play. The children born in January have a higher
…show more content…
Gladwell says that if a group of people were given 20 seconds to memorize a certain sequence of numbers that most Chinese people would get the sequence right vs only 50% of Americans getting it correct (227). This is because Chinese numbers are shorter than English numbers, giving Chinese speakers an advantage. For example, 4 is “si” and 7 is “qi”. Also, Asian children normally learn how to count at a younger age so it makes it easier for them to grasp numbers. Asians are considered outliers because just learning their language gives them an advantage over other

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    In today’s society, what makes a person an outlier? How do people become outliers? In the novel Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, these questions are discussed and answered throughout the entire novel. The sole purpose of this novel is to discuss how some of the many people in today’s society and in the past can be defined as “outliers” and how they obtained that title. During the novel, the author discusses how people who are successful are only successful due a great opportunity, lots of hard work, and a good amount of luck.…

    • 1408 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    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.…

    • 456 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the book, Outliers: The Story of Success, by Malcolm Gladwell, the author is challenging our views of how people become successful. He is saying that to get to where you want to be you can’t rely solely on hard work or determination. It takes much more than that, something that many of us don’t get; opportunities. If you want to be successful, you need a series of opportunities that present themselves to you at the right time, to put you ahead of everyone else. He proves this idea in chapter two by using the rhetorical appeal of logos and ethos.…

    • 1564 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In “Outliers,” Malcolm Gladwell attempts to prove to his audience that their idea behind how success is attained in the United States is considerably different than what many Americans would like to think. In America many people believe in the concept of a hard-working individual pulling themselves up by their bootstraps and earning their success through dedication and talent. Gladwell attempts to prove while individual efforts are a big role in success, theses outliers would have never been as successful as they are without luck and opportunity. Throughout “Outliers,” Gladwell points out certain key opportunities that arose in the lives of many successful people and argues that these rare and exceptional opportunities are the reasons behind people’s success. While analyzing multiple stories of success, to persuade his readers into agreeing with his opinion on success, Gladwell incorporates the use of multiple logical fallacies that throw his entire perspective on success into question.…

    • 1149 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved 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
  • Improved Essays

    Malcolm Gladwell’s non-fiction book, ‘Outliers: The Story of Success’, examines the factors that contribute to success, advocating that the complex equation of success consists of external confluences rather than hidden talent. This position appears well-received because of its overused rule that ‘practice makes perfect’ and there is no propensity that gives one individual a greater advantage than the other, However, it should be noted that Gladwell’s research may not be as dependable as we might want to believe. , Outliers continually stresses fallacious facts and selective evidence in place of solid research to build on the argument that social class, environment, and timing are the major components of success. Gladwell ascribes a major…

    • 914 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the book David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants, by Malcolm Gladwell, Gladwell raises a contrary voice on the misconceptions of underdogs and outsiders. According to Gladwell, “We think of things as helpful that actually aren’t and think of other things as unhelpful that in reality leave us stronger and wiser.” (25). The Merriam Webster’s Dictionary defines an advantage as “superiority of position or condition” and a disadvantage as “an unfavorable, inferior, or prejudicial condition”. Gladwell uses the story of David and Goliath, from the bible, to show the misconceptions we have about underdogs and outsiders.…

    • 1228 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Malcolm Gladwell's, “Outliers: The Story of Success” illustrates the illusion and the blind luck of the “self-made man”. The idea of the self-made man has been alive and well in the United States. Hundreds of thousands of people immigrate to the U.S. every year on the dream of a new life full of opportunity and subsequently, success. What Gladwell argues is that there is never any success without ample opportunity. There is no such thing as a real self-made man.…

    • 945 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Throughout the novel hockey is used as an example of the disadvantages natives faced living in Canadian society. It is evident that natives were at a disadvantage before they even touched the ice and likewise in their everyday lives in the pursuit of obtaining jobs, education and even basic human rights. Wagamese used hockey consistently throughout the novel to shed light on these set backs. Indian horse describes the life of a native boy named Saul and his experiences as a professional native hockey player. At a young age native children like Saul were plucked from their families and moved into Christian residential homes.…

    • 849 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Story of Success, is Malcom Gladwell's convincing attempt to challenge the way success has classically been viewed. Gladwell's context, voice and identification of his audience help him adequately impart his message. In chapters three and four, titled "The Trouble with Geniuses" Gladwell recounts highly intellectual people's stories of success or lack thereof. He explains in a clear and straight-forward manner how they got there. It is through his writing style that Gladwell gains the confidence of his readers and effectively presents his case.…

    • 865 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There are many different beliefs towards what brings us to success. In The Sports Gene by David Epstein, it is explained that innate and physical talents are what allow people to succeed. In Outliers: The Story of Success, Malcolm Gladwell explains that effort and practice is what brings us to the top. Epstein and Gladwell both put forth arguments about how much in our lives we control, however, based on evidence Gladwell definitely shows that effort and practice is what we control to make us our best, and he better answers the question, how much of what happens in our lives do we control.…

    • 955 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The incident I’m about to tell you is when I judged someone’s level of play because he wasn't well know. There is one NBA rookie that had gotten drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers in 2017, His name is Kyle Kuzma. Kyle was picked 27th out of 30. No one knew who Kyle was , nor did they think he would be successful in the NBA. But, when the summer league came around Kyle Kuzma shocked the whole world by averaging 21 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists.…

    • 687 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Miracle on Ice Michael Arbuiso is probably the best ice hockey player ever. He is the caption of his high school hockey team and he is a legend the NHL is waiting for. Michael can score,pass,check,you name it. In his junior year Michael set a record that Sidney Crosby or John Tavares hadn’t set in their career yet, 100 goals,97 assists,in just 82 games.…

    • 1406 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Fences: The Impact of Racial Segregation [Definition] Troy Maxson has experience discrimination throughout his life dealing with the white man. Because of racial segregation in his past, Troy develops a deep hatred for the white man. He hold the white man responsible for most of his misfortune since they was the ones who prevents him from doing anything he wants.…

    • 664 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Outliers Reflection

    • 1019 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Growing up I was always taught that hard work, preservation, motivation and drive would excel and get me far in life. Outliers almost paints a different picture. Outliers states how luck might have to do with one 's success, such as succeeding and becoming a high ranking sports player. Outliers also mentions how Asians are better at math, because they practice more and if we all contributed at least 10,000 hours into a hobby we enjoy, we could be the best. All these possible reasons as to why, someone could succeed and I started to feel like everything I had been taught, was false.…

    • 1019 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays