From the Getting In article, a reason for Harvard (early 1900's) not letting a student in was simply because they were "Short with big ears."
Yeah...
Monday, December 22, 2008
Examples of Other People
I don't know if there is an actual word for it, but Malcolm Gladwell does it a lot and does it well. In the last article I read, No Mercy, Gladwell frames the essay on a student, who he does not mention is Robert Oppenheimer until the very last sentence. He uses of examples of other people all the time in his articles. But these examples are extended to make a point, or are used as reasons or evidence. I personally love examples and their presence can make something that is complicated be lucid.
I'm in the middle of reading the article, Getting In, which is about the Ivy League admissions process. It reminds me of the Gatekeepers a little but gives a lot of information on the Ivy League Colleges. I now see why many people try to avoid the Ivy League Colleges, and my opinion on it is has definitely changed about them (and I'm not even done reading yet). Gladwell is pretty influential, not because he forces the reader to think his way, but along with showing his own opinion, he gives plenty of information, examples, and evidence to the let the reader form his or her own opinion. I'll be looking for what makes him so influential from now on, its a little hard to explain right now.
Also, for this article, Gladwell uses himself as an example of another person. He has been a writer for the New Yorker for a very long time by this article and has the authority to start his first sentence with "I" and have it be effective.
I'm in the middle of reading the article, Getting In, which is about the Ivy League admissions process. It reminds me of the Gatekeepers a little but gives a lot of information on the Ivy League Colleges. I now see why many people try to avoid the Ivy League Colleges, and my opinion on it is has definitely changed about them (and I'm not even done reading yet). Gladwell is pretty influential, not because he forces the reader to think his way, but along with showing his own opinion, he gives plenty of information, examples, and evidence to the let the reader form his or her own opinion. I'll be looking for what makes him so influential from now on, its a little hard to explain right now.
Also, for this article, Gladwell uses himself as an example of another person. He has been a writer for the New Yorker for a very long time by this article and has the authority to start his first sentence with "I" and have it be effective.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Second Article
Just finished another article, Examined Life, which is about the S.A.T.s and how effective they are. Apparently hard work and determination means nothing to the people who made the S.A.T., which is silly.
Gladwell gives a lot of information in the article as well as establishes his point. I knew nothing about the S.A.T. and now I know enough to have an opinion about the test.
It's interesting too, he gives examples of actual problems on the test and how it can be answered without actually reading any passages or (for math) solving any problems.
Like the last article, he frames and bases this article on a person, Stanley H. Kaplan, and uses plenty of examples and evidence.
Gladwell gives a lot of information in the article as well as establishes his point. I knew nothing about the S.A.T. and now I know enough to have an opinion about the test.
It's interesting too, he gives examples of actual problems on the test and how it can be answered without actually reading any passages or (for math) solving any problems.
Like the last article, he frames and bases this article on a person, Stanley H. Kaplan, and uses plenty of examples and evidence.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
First Article
Just finished the first article from Gladwell, Baby Steps. It was an article from 2000 because I was curious as to how he wrote then. I noticed less humor, although he did have some clever phrases. What he did then that he still does now is give plenty of evidence from other people. In the spaghetti video below he based his whole presentation on Howard Moskowitz, while in the Baby Steps article, he bases it on many people like Hillary Clinton and John Bruer just to name a couple.
For the next articles I'll be looking for the similar things;how he builds his authority and the kind of evidence he decides to use. I'll probably read a few more articles before starting one of his books.
For the next articles I'll be looking for the similar things;how he builds his authority and the kind of evidence he decides to use. I'll probably read a few more articles before starting one of his books.
First off I wanted to post this video of Gladwell, he's an interesting speaker. He's funny and has a crazy hairdo and talks about diversity using an example of a man (Howard Moskowitz) who created all the many different kinds of Prego spaghetti sauce, extra chunky made 600 million dollars in its first 10 years.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Malcolm Gladwell's website has information about his books, blogs, and New Yorker articles he wrote since 1996. Lots to read here.
First Post
To be honest, Malcolm Gladwell was the only author I looked at, since I thought I was sure I'd like him.
His first book, the Tipping Point, is about change. He says something about thinking of life as an epidemic because of how epidemics start quickly and then die down just as fast.
He was a scientific writer and has been writing for the New Yorker since about the mid 1990's. He addresses some topics about IQ and has a blog on his website.
His first book, the Tipping Point, is about change. He says something about thinking of life as an epidemic because of how epidemics start quickly and then die down just as fast.
He was a scientific writer and has been writing for the New Yorker since about the mid 1990's. He addresses some topics about IQ and has a blog on his website.