Outliers Final Study Guide Questions and Answers Graded A

Outliers Final Study Guide Questions and Answers Graded A What is the narrative purpose of the definition given at the beginning of the book? To state what an outlier is How does Gladwell establish the similarities between Roseto Valfortore, Italy, and the region the Rosetans settle in the United States? Gladwell discusses the way the Rosetans transported the paesani culture of southern Italy to the hills of eastern Pennsylvania. He notes the way they'd created a powerful, protective social structure that serves to insulate them from the pressures of the modern world. What does Gladwell achieve with the use of the direct address to the reader in the following line: "If you had wandered up and down the streets of Roseto in Pennsylvania in the first few decades after 1900, you would have heard only Italian..."? That the town is its own little world or an outlier Identify where and how the tone shifts in the introduction. When Wolf realizes the secret of the Roseto Discuss how Gladwell manipulates his readers' feelings about the information he provides about Roseto. He talks about how the town is protected in disease How does Gladwell demonstrates the legitimacy of his use of the term "outlier" in the following passage: "Wolf's profession had a name for a place like Roseto—a place that lay outside everyday experience, where the normal rules don't apply. Roseto was an Outlier"? By making the use of outlier is in one sentence In section two, what is the function of hypophora such as "If diet and exercise didn't explain the findings, then what about genetics?" The author is using this hypophora to shift the argument to a different solution possibly What purpose does the story of Roseto and Stewart Wolf serve in the greater narrative? To show that fact that sometimes even though they don't make sense, the information given is the truth and you can't explain. Gladwell opens with a passage from the Gospel of Matthew, which is repeated later in the chapter. What is the narrative function of this epigraph? Those who are talented will continue to grow their talent. How do allusions to biblical, literary, historical, and political figures help Gladwell clarify his point that society's long-held views toward success are problematic? Those who strive for riches will fall short and people who don't will get riches How do techniques like hypophora and the use of first-person and direct address affect how the reader receives the information and views Gladwell's perspective? Makes the reader think more highly of the information since it already has an answer Explain how the analogy of the "ecology" of the "tallest oak in the forest" clarifies Gladwell's point.Success is not just by hard-work, it requires opportunity and luck. You not only need hard work, but need the right opportunity and circumstances to achieve certain things. How does Gladwell alter the recounting of the play-by-play of the hockey game? What purpose does this alteration serve? Instead of saying the players names, he says their birthday to show that the best players were born in an earlier month. How does Gladwell prepares his reader to accept his theory explaining the skewed age distribution in hockey? The most Successful people are the ones born very soon after the cutoff date, meaning they are the most physically or mature for their age group. What is Gladwell's purpose in repeating evaluative words like simple and simply when offering his explanation? What effect does the repetition of these words have on the reader? He is saying that the solution is not that far off. The reader will take the information for what it says and no figuring out what it means. Why does Gladwell use footnotes when applying sociologist Robert Merton's definition of a "self-fulfilling prophecy" to hockey? To show that this age selecting process has been going on for ages. What research does Gladwell discuss to quantify the relative age bias that exists in education? How does this research lend credence to Gladwell's argument? He uses the TIMSS to show the difference between the students. Shows people that a students success can be predicted in their class. What are the implications of systems that are skewed based on relative age? How does this potential issue relate to Gladwell's larger points about success? US Basketball and Football teams. School success is related to maturity and not ability. Explain why Gladwell includes Gord Wasden's comments about his son, a player for the Medicine Hat Tigers. To bring real experiences into the argument. A University of Michigan faculty member describes the 1971 mainframe computers as looking "like one of the last scenes in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey." How does this allusion help readers visualize and understand the significance of the Computer Center? Helps the reader see why Joy came to the University and computer programming in the first place. How does Gladwell transition from the story about Bill Joy to the psychological study that indicates that people require ten thousand hours of practice before they master a skill? What is the effect of this transition? He transitions by telling us research about innate talent and back to the story of Bill Joy. Makes the reader look at the rest of the story about Bill Joy different. Gladwell chooses to evince the 10,000-hour rule by looking at Bill Gates and the Beatles; describe the effect these specific selections have on the narrative. These stories are very successful people that had grind to get where they are today. How does the point of view shift in sections three, four, and five of this chapter? What is the narrative effect of this shift in perspective? The point of view is different in sections three, four, and five. Each section is a different story. Proof that you have to be experienced in order to succeed. Near the end of section four, Gladwell mentions many statistics on the frequency and length of time the Beatles played. How do these numbers affect readers' perceptions of the Beatles in light of the 10,000-hour rule? It shows how much the Beatles worked and how popular they got because of it. What rhetorical purpose might Gladwell's shift from primarily simple sentences to one long compound-complex sentence serve? Explaining the circumstances and other things about time periods. Gladwell uses anaphora by repeating the word happened when remarking on the opportunities Bill Gates had. What is the effect of this anaphora? Shows that he had many opportunities he had growing up. Explain how Gladwell expands upon the relative age phenomenon he describes in the previous chapter. What evidence does he offer to support the claim he makes based on calendar analysis? By giving examples of time periods and how their birthday relates to what they were. What does Gladwell achieve with the near-aporia "I don't mean to suggest, of course, that every software tycoon in Silicon Valley was born in 1955"? Not every business during the time came out good. What is the narrative purpose of using Christopher Langan's appearance on the show 1 vs. 100 as his introduction to the reader? To show someone is very smart and has a high IQ. Oppenhiemer In the first two sections of this chapter, how does Gladwell signal that he is skeptical about the idea that intelligence clearly indicates that someone will make great accomplishments? By giving quotes from Langan on how having a high IQ made you think deep thoughts. Analyze how Gladwell uses graphics to articulate his point about IQ tests. He offers a visual pattern and a level of difficulty to help the reader understand. How does the hypothetical situation about a daughter being accepted by both Harvard and Georgetown University affect the reader? The reader would most likely choose Harvard because it seems to be the better option due to the test scores that come from the school. In the end both schools are a great option. Gladwell lists the universities from which recent American winners of the Nobel Prize for Medicine and the American Nobel laureates in Chemistry received their undergraduate degrees. Explain what he demonstrates with these lists and how his reasoning may be flawed. He wants to show that Universities put students into categories and how only the "top" students get in to these universities. Everyone is smart. Gladwell revises psychologist Liam Hudson's statement "Knowledge of a boy's IQ is of little help if you are faced with a formful of clever boys" to read, "Knowledge of a law student's test scores is of little help if you are faced with a classroom of clever law students." What is the effect of this revision and reiteration? Makes the reader realize that IQ and test scores do not matter in a success story. What is the significance of the comparison of Poole's and Florence's answers to the divergence test? To show in a another way that IQ does not matter in success. What does Gladwell achieve by quoting sociologists Pitirim Sorokin and Lewis Terman to address the failure of Terman's study on geniuses? The final conclusion that IQ and success are not related in the Langan quotes in his book. What effect does the sudden change in syntax in the closing paragraph have on Gladwell's readers? Langan is a very special person but he was not successful. How do the parallelism, anaphora, and epistrophe in the opening paragraphs of section one affect the reader's viewpoint? Repetition of his mother. Her second husband was murder,third commited suicide,fourth was a faled journalist. Talks about the repetition of her outcome. The epistrophe is explaining holed. Shoes had hole pants have holes. For what likely reason(s) does Gladwell let Langan, for the most part, recount his college experience instead of giving a summary? To let the readers know what hardships he faced in detail rather than being very broad about it and telling us what we already know about Gladwell. Describe how the tone shifts from section one to the beginning of section two. How does the author achieve this tonal shift? The tone shifts from very happy because of Gladwell's past to very dark and hurtful of Langan's childhood. Nature vs Nurture. When relating the incident of Robert Oppenheimer's trying to poison his tutor, what does Gladwell achieve by repeating Oppenheimer's "on probation" but phrasing it as a question? That the punishment was to soft for Openhieimer. He should have went to jail. How is the juxtaposition of Oppenheimer's impressive General Groves with the exchange between Langan and his calculus professor a transition to Gladwell's discussion of practical intelligence? Since the professor said that being a mathematician isn't for everyone he is trying to account for the one who are not that. How does Gladwell define "practical intelligence"? Precirol and practical in nature. He provides a blunt observation that practical intelligent that helps your read situation properly so u get what u want. What does Gladwell achieve by formatting the interaction between Alex and the doctor like a screenplay? To show the difference in middle-class to lower class children. Explain the thematic significance of the anecdote about the Oppenheimers and the observations from the Langan family members. That Oppenheimer handled life so easy. What is Gladwell's probable reason for ending this section with a return to data about Terman's geniuses? Many of them are failures now. What does Gladwell consider remarkable about Joe Flom's rise to partner at "one of the largest and most powerful law firms in the world"? How does he contrast his view with most people's opinions on Flom's achievements? He started with an unknown law firm and it began to grow. He was an immigrant and that is a hard life. Note the dark humor at the end of section one. How does it help characterize the culture that existed in Harlan, Kentucky? They were so used to the violence that they accepted the fate. How do the direct address and the hypothetical scenario Gladwell offers affect the reader? Puts the reader inside the story to understand it more deeply. How does procatalepsis bolster Gladwell's rebuttal to objections to his argument? Gladwell clarifies that identifying patterns of long-lasting cultural behaviors is not the same as making harmful stereotypes. In what way does the idea of "cultural legacies" expand on Gladwell's earlier points? It makes a difference where and when you grow up. What does the opening account of Korean Air flight 801 imply? This means that there is going to be a problem with the plane. What is the most likely reason Gladwell quoted Korean president, Kim Dae-jung: "The issue of Korean Air is not a matter of an individual company but a matter of the whole country"? Air travel might be one of Korea's biggest industries. Describe the rhetorical strategy Gladwell uses when explaining the primary causes of plane crashes. He contrasts plane crashes in movies to real life showing that they are not the same. Why does Gladwell discuss the nuclear incident on Three Mile Island? How does the fact that this passage is a footnote affect the main narrative? It proves even further that many small things cause problems. It happens in the air to. Why does Gladwell quote Suren Ratwatte so extensively in this chapter? He was a veteran pilot that had been involved in human factors research. How does Ratwatte's anecdote about flying from Dubai to New York City contrast with Avianca flight 052 in terms of communication? There was silence in the cockpit which is not good. While analyzing the transcript from the Avianca flight, Gladwell says, "If it were not the prelude to a tragedy, their back-and-forth would resemble an Abbott and Costello routine. "What does he achieve through this use of dark humor in alluding to these comedians? He makes a point that things don't just happen without something happening before. Note how Gladwell orders and explains "Hofstede's Dimensions." What is the narrative effect of this organization? He puts the list of countries to most likely follow procedure at the top and the least at the bottom. He goes on to say that there is no right or wrong on the scale. Why does Gladwell expand the analysis of the flight recorder transcript from Korean Air 801? To show the deeper cause of the crash. What is the tone of the final paragraphs? How does the author achieve this tone? Stressed. Using the word but. What purpose does the description and background of the rice paddies serve? How much that it means to Chinese culture. What does Gladwell achieve by addressing his readers directly and asking them to read a list of numbers aloud and try to memorize the sequence? He is trying to show the difference in the english language to the Chinese language. How does Gladwell prepare his readers to question preconceived notions and "conventional wisdom" and consider his explanation for why the demands of growing rice can create a culture in which people are better at math? By using the statement, " Could a rice paddy make a difference in the classroom?". Gladwell refutes psychologist Richard Lynn's theory that Asians have higher IQs because of "the Himalayas, really cold weather, premodern hunting practices, brain size, and specialized vowel sounds." Why might this refutation be a straw man argument? Because being good at math might be in their culture. How does the comparison of rice farming to garment work bolster Gladwell's argument? Because rice farming is not simple. How does Gladwell connect the work ethic of Asian cultures to the first part of the book? What thematic effect does this association have? By using some common phrases in the culture. How does the direct address Gladwell uses before discussing Renee's attempts to solve a math problem affect readers? What other technique does he use to further this effect? Makes the reader try to remember how to do that portion of math. He tells the process she used to solve the problem. What is the effect of the syntax of the lines "But Renee persists. She experiments. She goes back over the same issues time and again. She thinks out loud. She keeps going and going. She simply won't give up"? If you figure out the problem by yourself, it is more likely that you will understand it more. How is the correlation between the rankings of TIMSS math scores and number of items filled out questionnaires significant to Gladwell's argument? It shows the determination of the students and how willing they are to do this.