Outliers

Choose someone in your life (a family member, friend, or teacher) who you believe is successful and interview them about how they got where they are today. Keeping in mind the themes of this book and what the author claims about success, be sure to ask about family background, location and time period, and any special circumstances that played a role. Describe this person’s story in your essay and then analyze it. How does his or her story fit Gladwell’s idea of success? Are there any points where they differ? If so, how?

Gladwell cautions in a couple of places that his theory of the strength of cultural influences runs close to what we call racial stereotypes. He doesn’t explicitly delineate the differences, and he acknowledges that even positive traits, when seen as stereotypes, can offend the groups in question. One example of this is the idea that Asian people are excellent, hardworking students, particularly strong in math and science. How do you view this issue? Are stereotypes bad only if they refer to negative traits? How should we incorporate the views of those being stereotyped (in this case, Asian people)? Is there a place for both Gladwell’s theory and not perpetuating generalizations about people without seeing their individuality—or are they mutually exclusive?