Malcolm Gladwell Outliers Speech Analysis

Outliers Speech

In Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, he states on page 19, “People don’t rise from nothing. They are invariably the beneficiaries of hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities.” The book Outliers is a collection of chapters discussing the minorities, or in this books, the outliers within a specific group of people. Throughout the book, he speaks of the high rate of success with KIPP students, why hockey players born in January are more successful, and why the smartest man did not graduate college. Gladwell brings forth the idea that opportunity leads to success.

In chapter nine named Marita’s Bargain on page 251, Gladwell states, “84% of KIPP students perform above their grade level.” Most students enrolled in a Knowledge is Power program (KIPP) live in lower

They didn’t give a sh*t about their students. There was no counseling, no mentoring, nothing.” In this particular chapter, it is discussed as to why the smartest man in America named Chris Langan never graduated college. Being a poor student, like discussed earlier, he needed extra support in college. He needed more opportunities, more tools. However, the college he received a scholarship to provided him with nothing. When he was settled in, he felt he belonged nowhere, and once again, he was the minority. This was a situation he was unable to succeed in. Besides for the lack of support, his failing mother never renewed his scholarship. Both his school and his mother failed to provide him with the correct tools to succeed in college.

Throughout the book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell discusses how KIPP students succeed when put in a bad situation, why hockey players born in January through March are so exceptional, and why the smartest man in America never received a college degree. In the book Outliers, it is clear that opportunity leads to