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Malcolm Gladwell's Outlier: Analyzing The Theme of Success
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by Malcolm Gladwell
Outliers essay questions.
How does Gladwell argue that success is the product of constant practice?
To draw a clear link between practice and excellence, Gladwell both refers to the famed "10,000-Hours Rule" and links specific individuals to this idea. Bill Joy, Bill Gates, and the Beatles are among the individuals who, apparently, achieved excellence in their fields by putting in a proverbial 10,000 hours (or more) honing their talents. However, Gladwell also indicates that success is unlikely without an environment conducive to constant practice and refinement. The account of obscure genius Chris Langan is one piece of evidence in this regard. Langan, after all, was unsuccessful because he did not take advantage of clear opportunities for practice, self-discipline, and self-improvement.
What role do random opportunities play in determining success?
In the first several chapters of Outliers , Gladwell calls attention to success-determining factors that are well beyond individual control. These factors include date of birth, year of birth, and the availability of specific resources and technologies. The idea that these random factors can be integral to success may seem unusual to some readers, yet Gladwell builds his case by showing that random opportunities ensure success across very different time periods and very different disciplines. Hockey players, oil magnates, software tycoons, and New York lawyers are just a few of the individuals who have benefited from being born in optimal places or at optimal times.
Why do some incredibly intelligent people not achieve success?
An effective answer to this question will consider a few different sides of the arguments that appear in Outliers . First, Gladwell argues that measures of intelligence such as IQ do not correlate to practical, real-world success, and he builds his case by showing how IQ researcher Lewis Terman was led astray by assuming that high IQ and high success are clearly compatible. Second, Gladwell explains factors that do ensure success, such as family and socioeconomic background. While an intelligent person from a wealthy background (such as Robert Oppenheimer) can easily translate intelligence into success, an intelligent person from a poor background (such as Chris Langan) often lacks the skills of self-assertion that would make success possible.
How does Gladwell argue that culture and success are closely linked?
In the later chapters of his book, Gladwell uses a variety of examples to show that specific psychological traits have evident cultural roots. Often, these are traits that determine professional success or failure. While Gladwell suggests that some cultural inheritances (such as the respect for authority observed in South Korea) can have disastrous consequences (such as the miscommunication that leads to airplane crashes), he also argues that a culture can shape the people who inhabit it for the better. Perhaps his single strongest example is the Chinese rice farming industry: by teaching self-discipline and instilling the idea that work is meaningful, rice cultivation can produce positive traits such as perseverance and attention to detail.
Why does Gladwell end Outliers with an account of his own family?
Throughout Outliers , Gladwell has made the case that random opportunities can intersect with cultural and ethnic roots to determine an individual's success. The epilogue of his book, "A Jamaican Story," shows how Gladwell's own family advanced through factors well beyond individual control, especially skin color and access to education. This final section could be designed to defeat potential criticisms of Outliers , since Gladwell presents himself as living proof of theories that may seem (at least to skeptics) to be limited to remarkable, oddball cases such as Bill Joy and Chris Langan. Yet this section may serve other purposes, too. It could mainly emphasize that Gladwell's project is deeply personal or emotional in nature, or could challenge readers to follow Gladwell's example and apply the theories contained in Outliers to their own lives.
Outliers Questions and Answers
The Question and Answer section for Outliers is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.
Outliers Questions
Yes, I believe that certain people are born with certain talents.
Gladwell says that in the end, preparation becomes plays a bigger role than talent. The "best" practice more than anyone else. Thus, someone with innate talent must still prepare or...
What is accumulative advantage?
All the advantages that one gets in life leading to success like family wealth, opportunity, race........All of these advantages accumulate.
What is the magic number for mastering a specific skill?
That would be 10000 hours.
Study Guide for Outliers
Outliers study guide contains a biography of Malcolm Gladwell, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.
- About Outliers
- Outliers Summary
- Character List
Essays for Outliers
Outliers essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell.
- The 10,000 Hour Rule in Outliers
- Malcolm Gladwell's "Small Change": A Rhetorical Analysis
Lesson Plan for Outliers
- About the Author
- Study Objectives
- Common Core Standards
- Introduction to Outliers
- Relationship to Other Books
- Bringing in Technology
- Notes to the Teacher
- Related Links
- Outliers Bibliography
Wikipedia Entries for Outliers
- Introduction
“Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell Essay
Introduction: assessing gladwell’s psychological strategy, an examination of personal character based on gladwell’s doctrine, conclusion: weighing personal successes, works cited.
In this paper, the fundamental principles of personal success and ingenuity are recounted. The suggested theory is based on the book that was written by the famous psychologist, Malcolm Gladwell, and is named Outliers . The title of the book stems from a particular type of an individual, who makes significant accomplishments in life and, therefore, does not entirely comply with the picture of a typical man or woman. The author calls such person an outlier, for he strives to emphasize that possessing high virtues is not a regular pattern but rather an exception from a rule. Such people are always criticized, discussed, and questioned, for the power of their talents is a wonder for the surrounding community.
The book contains two parts, one of which targets the issue of timing as a prerequisite for achievements. Gladwell is persuaded that no genius can be born with wisdom and ingenuity, which come with a persistent work as well as an ability to control one’s resources. The psychologist mentions many successful individuals such as The Beatles or Bill Gates and recounts their lifestyles. From the description, one can clearly understand that these people did not operated their skills from the very childhood but rather developed them daily through regular drills and genuine aspirations. In the second part of the work, Gladwell suggests that cultural specifications impose some considerable impact on the formation of an individual, which results in his failures and successes (Gladwell 132).
The book by Malcolm Gladwell provides some consistent guidelines for personality analysis. Specifically, according to the author, an individual success may be weighed on the basis of the Matthew’s Effect, demographic trough, 10,000 rule, and the concept of cultural inheritance. The author suggests that these four psychological principles respond to the virtues of an individual and can explain them in a constructive way. Thus, in this work, the personal success of Oprah Winfrey is assessed, due to the doctrine of Malcolm Gladwell (Bilanich par. 8).
First, the correspondence of the television star to the Matthew’s Effect is analyzed. The notion implies the adoption of personal advantages, which evolve from the inborn status of a person. In other words, the principle of Matthew clarifies that the individuals, who are born in the wealthy surrounding are bound to gain more than those, who belong to impoverished settings. The problem targets the influence of economic resources on the development of personal will and success (Briggs par. 12).
Applying the principle to Winfrey’s life, one can disclaim the Matthew Effect’s validity, for the broadcast star was born in a poor family of Afro-Americans and never knew her biological father. For many years, Oprah was challenged by the hardness of her mother’s life, who could not find a decent job in the American world of race discrimination and abuse. Nevertheless, from her early seventeenth, the girl was motivated to show the world that black-skinned population can reach success, due to the individual virtues and multiple talents (“Oprah Winfrey Biography – Academy of Success” par. 5). Therefore, the example does not entirely correspond to Matthew’s Effect.
The 10,000 hour rule was developed by Malcolm Gladwell from the comparative description of the timeframes and historical periods, which were peculiar to certain lucky individuals. Specifically, the author deduced that those prominent people, who were born in the middle of the 19 th century, reached exceptional accomplishments, for the age of active industrialization and innovation opened up multiple opportunities for personal development (“The 10,000 Hour Rule” par. 5). The rule can not be referred to Oprah Winfrey, for the journalist was born in the second part of the 20 th century, which signified World Wars decadence, post-military destruction, and social discrimination.
The concept of demographic trough implies the influence of the birth rate estimations on the prerequisites for individual success. Due to Gladwell, those people, who were born in the periods of demographic downfalls, could gain more chances for building a successful career. The birth of Oprah Winfrey falls into one of such time lapses. For the television star faced the world in the late 50s and strived for career success in the 60s, one may figure out that she possessed some good chances for reaching her aim, for the ravished post-war community was looking for new talents, which bring science and media from the ruins.
Though Oprah Winfrey was born in the time of demographic trough, she failed many times on the way to her personal success since her cultural heritage provided a negative background for the journalist’s experience. Specifically, she was repeatedly fired from television shows, for it was acknowledged that Afro-Americans were not fitting for the U.S. media (Bud par. 17). Consequently, it is apparent that culture and ethnicity provide some strong influence on personal careers.
The example of Oprah Winfrey offers a support for Gladwell’s theory of success. Moreover, it disapproved some traditional ideas about wealth-driven accomplishments. On the practical example, one views a character, who reached a status of the first Afro-American on the U.S. television, who built a career through regular self-improvement and hard work (Ward par. 6).
Bilanich, Bud. 50 Famous People Who Failed at Their First Attempt at Career Success . 2013. Web.
Briggs, Saga. The Matthew Effect: What Is It and How Can You Avoid It in Your Classroom? 2013. Web.
Gladwell, Malcolm. Outliers: The Story of Success , New York: Back Bay Books, 2011. Print.
Oprah Winfrey Biography – Academy of Success 2010. Web.
The 10,000 Hour Rule 2011. Web.
Ward, Rachel. Oprah Winfrey: A Career Timeline . 2011. Web.
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IvyPanda. (2024, January 15). "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell. https://ivypanda.com/essays/outliers-by-malcolm-gladwell/
""Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell." IvyPanda , 15 Jan. 2024, ivypanda.com/essays/outliers-by-malcolm-gladwell/.
IvyPanda . (2024) '"Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell'. 15 January.
IvyPanda . 2024. ""Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell." January 15, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/outliers-by-malcolm-gladwell/.
1. IvyPanda . ""Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell." January 15, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/outliers-by-malcolm-gladwell/.
Bibliography
IvyPanda . ""Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell." January 15, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/outliers-by-malcolm-gladwell/.
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Malcolm Gladwell
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A good essay topic should be broad enough to allow for exploration, yet specific enough to facilitate focused discussion. Finally, think about the audience for your essay and choose a topic that will be relevant and engaging for them. Below is a list of recommended essay topics for Outliers, divided into categories for ease of reference.
In Outliers: The Story of Success, Malcolm Gladwell considers the circumstances that lead to success.The first half of the book looks closely at how opportunities matter more in the lives of successful people than hard work or raw talent. The second half of the book focuses on cultural legacies: behavioral tendencies rooted in their ancestral past.
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