OUTLIERS THE STORY OF SUCCESS BY MALCOLM GLADWELL

OUTLIERS: THE STORY OF SUCCESS BY MALCOLM GLADWELL

INTRODUCTION GENRE • OUTLIERS: THE STORY OF SUCCESS IS A NONFICTION WORK. • NONFICTION IS WRITING ABOUT REAL EVENTS; HOWEVER, NONFICTION IS NOT NECESSARILY TRUE, IT JUST HAS A CLAIM OF TRUTH • THE AUTHOR SHAPES HIS OR HER MESSAGE BY CAREFULLY CHOOSING WHICH INFORMATION TO INCLUDE AND WHICH TO EXCLUDE. • THE EMERGENCE OF CREATIVE NONFICTION WRITERS (REBECCA SKLOOTS) HAS BLURRED THE LINE BETWEEN FICTION AND NONFICTION. • CREATIVE NONFICTION MAY CONTAIN RE-CREATED DIALOGUE OR COMPOSITE CHARACTERS, IT STILL REMAINS ESSENTIALLY FACT-BASED.

GENRE • MALCOLM GLADWELL IS CREDITED AS HAVING PIONEERED A GENRE OF NONFICTION THAT BOOK REVIEWERS NOW REFER TO AS "GLADWELLIAN. " • OUTLIERS EXAMINES ACADEMIC THEORIES FROM SOCIOLOGY AND PSYCHOLOGY THROUGH A NARRATIVE LENS, WHICH ALLOWS A BROADER AUDIENCE TO UNDERSTAND THESE COMPLEX THEORIES. • GLADWELL CITES CASE STUDIES, ACADEMIC TEXTS, EXPERTS, AND OTHER DATA, BUT HE RELIES PRIMARILY ON ANECDOTES TO PROVIDE HIS EXAMPLES AND EVIDENCE. • THE TONE OF HIS WORK IS MORE CONVERSATIONAL THAN ACADEMIC.

GENRE • OUTLIERS IS ALSO A FORM OF SOCIAL COMMENTARY. • GLADWELL EXAMINES SOCIAL SYSTEMS AND CULTURAL VALUES AND REVEALS HOW THEY ARE FLAWED. • HE ALSO RECOMMENDS HOW THESE SYSTEMS AND VALUES COULD BE CHANGED SO THE BENEFIT MORE PEOPLE THAN THEY CURRENTLY DO. • SINCE GLADWELL MAKES SUCH RECOMMENDATIONS AND USES RHETORICAL DEVICES TO CONVINCE READERS TO ACCEPT HIS ARGUMENTS, OUTLIERS CAN BE CONSIDERED A PIECE OF PERSUASIVE WRITING.

LOGIC AND ARGUMENTS • LOGIC IS THE SCIENCE OF THE FORMAL PROCESSES USED IN THINKING AND REASONING. ARGUMENTS ARE COMPOSED OF THREE ELEMENTS: A CLAIM, WHICH IS THE POSITION BEING ARGUED FOR, ALSO CALLED A CONCLUSION; GROUNDS OR EVIDENCE USED TO SUPPORT THE CLAIM; AND WARRANTS, WHICH EXPLAIN WHY THE GROUNDS PROVE THE CLAIM. • TWO MAIN TYPES OF ARGUMENT—DEDUCTIVE AND INDUCTIVE. A DEDUCTIVE ARGUMENT IS STRICTLY BASED ON FORMAL LOGIC. INDUCTIVE ARGUMENTS EVALUATED BASED ON WHETHER THE GROUNDS PROVIDE LEGITIMATE SUPPORT FOR THE TRUTH OF THE CONCLUSION.

LOGIC FALLACIES A LOGICAL FALLACY IS AN ERROR IN REASONING, NAMELY AN ARGUMENT IN WHICH THE PREMISES DO NOT PROVIDE ADEQUATE SUPPORT FOR THE CONCLUSION. IN A DEDUCTIVE ARGUMENT, IF THE CONCLUSION OR ANY OF THE PREMISES ARE FALSE, THE ARGUMENT HAS COMMITTED A FORMAL FALLACY. AN INFORMAL FALLACY IS A DEFECT IN THE CONTENT OF THE ARGUMENT, NOT THE STRUCTURE. THE MAJORITY OF LOGICAL FALLACIES ARE INFORMAL. GLADWELL HAS BEEN ACCUSED OF COMMITTING, EITHER INTENTIONALLY OR UNINTENTIONALLY, A FEW KEY LOGICAL FALLACIES AND OF CITING OTHERS’ FALLACIOUS ARGUMENTS IN OUTLIERS.

• APPEAL TO COMMON PRACTICE IS THE ASSUMPTION THAT IF MOST PEOPLE PERFORM AN ACTION OR PRACTICE, THEN THAT ACTION OR PRACTICE IS CORRECT, MORAL, REASONABLE, OR JUSTIFIED. • APPEAL TO NOVELTY IS THE ASSUMPTION THAT IF SOMETHING IS NEW, IT IS GOOD OR CORRECT. • CUM HOC IS THE ASSUMPTION THAT BECAUSE TWO EVENTS OCCURRED TOGETHER, THEY MUST BE CAUSALLY RELATED, IGNORING THAT FACT THAT CORRELATION IS POSSIBLE WITHOUT CAUSATION. • DESCRIPTION OF DIVISION IS THE INFERENCE THAT WHAT IS TRUE FOR A WHOLE MUST BE TRUE OF ITS PARTS EVEN THOUGH NO JUSTIFICATION FOR THIS INFERENCE IS PROVIDED. • • HASTY GENERALIZATION OCCURS WHEN A CONCLUSION IS BASED ON TOO FEW OBSERVED EXAMPLES. • IGNORING A COMMON CAUSE IS THE ASSUMPTION THAT IF TWO EVENTS OCCUR TOGETHER, ONE MUST HAVE CAUSED THE OTHER, IGNORING THE POSSIBILITY THAT A THIRD FACTOR MAY HAVE CAUSED BOTH OF THE EVENTS. • MISLEADING VIVIDNESS OCCURS WHEN A FEW DRAMATIC EXAMPLES ARE USED TO OUTWEIGH A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF STATISTICAL EVIDENCE. • POST HOC IS THE ASSUMPTION THAT IF ONE EVENT OCCURRED AFTER ANOTHER, IT MUST HAVE OCCURRED AS A RESULT OF THE RST EVENT. • STRAW MAN IS AN ARGUMENT THAT FABRICATES, MISREPRESENTS, OR OTHERWISE DISTORTS A POSITION, REFUTES THIS WEAKER, MISREPRESENTED POSITION, AND CONCLUDES THAT THE ORIGINAL POSITION HAS BEEN REFUTED.

THE MATTHEW EFFECT "FOR UNTO EVERYONE HATH SHALL BE GIVEN, AND HE SHALL HAVE ABUNDANCE: BUT FROM HIM THAT HATH NOT SHALL BE TAKEN AWAY EVEN THAT WHICH HE HATH. " (SEE HANDOUT)

LEWIS TERMAN (SEE HANDOUT)

KIPP SCHOOLS (SEE HANDOUT)

OUTLIERS: THE STORY OF SUCCESS BY MALCOLM GLADWELL