In Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Outliers, his purpose is to analyze factors that make people successful. He does this effectively through not only the facts and anecdotes I have previously pointed out, but he also uses dialogue and rhetorical questions in the second half of his book.
When Gladwell highlighted why Korean flights crash so much more than any other flights, he pointed to lack of communication. To illustrate this effectively for the reader, he adds dialogue. “Klotz: One-five-zero maintaining two thousand Avianca zero-five-two heavy. The captain is clearly on the edge of panic. Caviedes: Advise him we don’t have fuel...Klotz: Climb and maintain three thousand and, ah, we’re running out of fuel, sir” (199). By using a direct dialogue from the cockpit of a flight that crashed, Gladwell is able to dissect the conversation directly for real-world evidence. This makes his argument stronger by appealing to logos, and when dialogue like this is paired with facts and figures about the number of crashes, there is an irrefutable correlation that the reader can see between lack of communication and plane crashes.
Not only does dialogue strengthen Gladwell’s arguments, but his rhetorical questions relate his purpose to the reader in an engaging way. At the end of the section that explains the link between growing rice in asian culture to how asian kids are much better at math on average than anyone in the world, Gladwell ends the section with a question. “...it’s hard not to wonder how many other cultural legacies have an impact on our twenty-first-century intellectual tasks. What if coming from a culture shaped by the demands of growing rice also makes you better at math? Could the rice paddy make a difference in the classroom?” (232). This use of a rhetorical question engages the reader because it prompts them to think on their own.
Though these rhetorical devices and more, Gladwell achieves his purpose in effectively analyzing the factors that make people successful. However, in doing so Gladwell actually discourages people from success. All the facts and supporting evidence he uses supports his theory that success comes from one’s cultural background, not the hard work of the individual. Only one chapter, “The 10,000 Hours Rule” supports the fact that with hard work comes success. Thus, making Gladwell’s book interesting, but quite upsetting to someone who is not from the cultures highlighted with his data. As for me, I’m Jewish. Does that mean I’ll become a doctor or a lawyer because my great-grandfather wasn’t like the irish farmers and worked in the manufacturing business? No, and Gladwell cannot tell me differently. I’m set to prove him wrong.
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