Malcolm Gladwell Persuasive Techniques

In the book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell uses the persuasive techniques such as figurative language, rhetorical questions, and analogies to persuade readers that the American view of success is wrong, and that success is the product of opportunities, hidden advantages, and hard work. In Chapter Two, these techniques are used to describe his idea of “The 10,000-Hour Rule” - that belief it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert at something.

Gladwell’s basis for the 10,000-hour rule is that people who are experts in their field became so good from hidden and rare opportunities that allowed them to practice their skills. One example gladwell uses are The Beatles, whom Gladwell identifies as one of the most famous rock bands ever. He first mentions that as a struggling high school band, they were invited to play in a Hamburg, Germany

While writing about the computer revolution, he briefly discussed Steve Jobs, the cofounder of Apple Computers. He mentions how extraordinary Jobs’ childhood experiences were, like calling Bill Hewlett and getting spare parts and a summer job. It is then said by Gladwell “Bill Hewlett gave him spare parts? That’s on a par will Bill Gates getting unlimited access to a time-share terminal at age 13. Its as if you were interested in fashion and your neighbor when you were growing up happened to be Giorgio Armani”(Gladwell 66). In this quote, you can see how Gladwell used an analogy to show how rare of an opportunity it was for Steve Jobs to receive spare parts from Bill Hewlett. This is persuasive because it connects the idea, in the reader’s mind, of Giorgio Armani being a big figure in the fashion world to Bill Hewlett being a big figure in the computer world, making readers see how rare opportunities played a part in Steve Jobs’ success and overall connecting back to Gladwell’s