Monday, June 2, 2014

FREE STUFF

Outliers was an overall great freakin book. Of all the books I remember reading, this has got to be the most interesting and attention grabbing book. Malcolm Gladwell did an excellent job at keeping me interested at what he will say next and also keeping me focused on the reading. I'll be honest and say that I am not a big book fan (which is bad, and starting to catch up to me). Whenever I start a book, I will be somewhat interested but as I keep reading I will slowly start to lose interest and focus. But, Outliers is a great book that always seem to keep you interested by including interactive texts like questions and charts. Sure, fiction is fun and cool but a book about reality and information that can change and affect you like Outliers, seem to be more interesting to me. The three highlights of my reading that I've been able to connect with have been from the chapters, 'The Trouble With Geniuses', '10,000 hour rule', and 'Marita's Bargain'.

The Trouble With Geniuses almost directly relates to me. Explained in my last post, I've learned that IQ is not the only determining factor of becoming successful or a 'genius'. Being accepted into the National honor society not only required a certain GPA but also, service in leadership roles, community service and hard work. This chapter really caught my interest and I was able to directly relate to it. Now I'm not calling myself a genius but that I agree with Malcolm Gladwell's theory of the trouble with geniuses.

The 10,000 hour rule really caught my attention. I wasn't able to directly relate to it because I've never practiced one thing for more than 10,000 hours but this chapter taught me a lot. It taught me that in order to 'master' something, you would have to practice it for at least 10,000 hours or 417 days. So does practice make perfect? No, practice just make you really good at it. This chapter has taught me that it's actually very difficult to become good at something. So I now realize and appreciate people who have mastered their skills.

I was somewhat able to connect with the chapter, 'Marita's Bargain'. The chapter was how schools in Asia have much longer school periods than schools in America and how their summer vacations are much shorter. Which my parents have always told me. They've always told me that I have it easy compared to schools that I could have gone to in South Korea. The chapter also talks about how some schools have students that score just as well as students from wealthy schools without all the need of expensive material possessions like expensive computers or smart-boards. This chapter also caught my attention.

I believe Malcolm Gladwell's intended audience was really for anybody. It's a non-fiction informational book that can apply to anyone. He attempts to connect and persuade his audience a huge use of LOGOS. The whole entire book is made of separate examples that back up and support what he is trying to say in every chapter. Every example is well cited and also include researched information like graphs, surveys, interviewed quotes, etc. Overall this book from my opinion was a 10/10 that you can learn a LOT from.



Sunday, June 1, 2014

Outlieing Punctuation

Outliers is a book made of numerous examples and countless quotes to support Malcolm Gladwell's theories on the steps and factors that make success. Throughout my reading so far, I have not been able to find any interesting punctuation uses. Because Malcolm Gladwell constantly uses back to back examples from other sources the only interesting punctuation marks that are from his own  writing seem to be question marks. Malcolm Gladwell intentionally made his book Outliers, interactive by making it seem more like a conversation rather than  just informative reading. Throughout the book, he will ask you direct questions to grab your attention and stay focused on the reading. 

For example, in the first chapter, he writes, "What is the question we always ask about the successful?" Or, "Do you see it?" The first quote was to start off the second section of the first chapter. I believe he starts with a question to grab the readers attention. The second quote was asked after showing a table of facts with a hidden meaning. He then asks, "Do you see it?" to engage the reader with an interactive question. I totally agree with Malcolm Gladwell's use of question marks. Personally, I feel as if the question marks really help me focus on the reading more. It makes the book more fun to read and allows you to think more.