Gumption By Russell Baker Essay

Different readers could interpret Russell Baker’s Growing Up in many ways. The book gives insight into his life, from his humble childhood to his successful adulthood. By describing the events in his life, he is also paying tribute to the important women who shaped him. These women were his Mother, Grandmother, and wife. All three were vital influences on him, and made him who he is in the present day. My interpretation focuses on those women more than any other factor in Russell’s life, most importantly, his mother Lucy Elizabeth.

Many people do not have the chance to live out their dream; a sundry amount have to settle for more attainable goals. Future presidents became dentists and rock stars turn into nurses. There is a limited population who can walk up every morning completely satisfied with their life path; McTeague is one of the lucky few. He is a man who took the remnants of his deceased mother’s wealth and pursued his dream. Some might fantasize of bigger homes or fancier cars, but McTeague dreamed of a little dental parlor. His dream of starting up a business can seem rather small, but McTeague is content with his one shop. The narrator however disapproves of McTeague’s ambitions and belittles the protagonist through choice of structure and condescending

Two Cheers for the Maligned Slacker Dude by Nathan Robin is an essay from the Wall Street Journal on February 19, 2011. Nathan Robin is the head writer for “A.V. Club,” the entertainment section of the Onion (481). In this essay, Robin aims to convince his readers that men in their 20’s can accomplish great things. The idea of being young and creative is what Robin emphasizes in the essay. It is interesting what Robin uses to persuade his readers about the idea of being young and creative. Robin uses a movie, and four men, who are billionaires today, and his own personal experience as examples to persuade his readers.

Success is measured differently by every person and each and every culture. The journey to success in most cultures, however, is generally idealized in the same way: one person working harder than everyone else to achieve his or her goal with their own merits as their only advantage. In Outliers: The Story of Success, the author, Malcolm Gladwell, argues about how wrong that ideology is and the truth behind successful people. Throughout his guide, Gladwell employs the help of many argumentative techniques to convince the reader of his message.

Vince Lombardi, a great American football coach, and player, once stated that the “dictionary is the only place that success comes before work. Hard work is the price we must pay for success”. According to Lombardi, hard work will get you to where you want to go, and many people would agree. In Malcolm Gladwell’s novel, “Outliers: The Story of Success,” secrets and misconceptions about success are exposed and explained. Gladwell was right in saying that “if you work hard enough and assert yourself...you can shape the world to your desires”, as evidenced by examples from the book itself, the successful career of Serena Williams, and my own personal story (Gladwell 151).

Success has been pondered over for centuries. How does one gain success? Is it worked for or is it only designated for a special few? Looking past the multitude of self help books that have been written, many like Malcolm Gladwell have begun to consider factors beyond just “working for it” as a contributor to success. One of these factors are cultural legacies. Though it is true that cultural legacies can be extremely powerful and that we should acknowledge them when considering someone’s success, it should be evident that the extent of power culture has is less than what Gladwell proposes. The place someone originated from has extremely influential effects on how that person thinks and acts, and in turn how they gain their success. The culture they grew up with becomes deeply rooted in their minds and results in different thought processes that shape the mindset they have while developing into an individual. However, Gladwell overestimates how powerful

"The biggest misconception about success is that we do it solely on our smarts, ambition, hustle and hard work” (Gladwell, 42). Outliers is a book that praises the success of great men, then cuts them down to size by explaining how it wasn’t pure hard work and sweat. Gladwell studies those who have already achieved society’s idea of “success.” Every chapter is filled with detailed examinations of cultural heritage and environment in relation to the idea of “success”.The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore is a detailed analysis that undergoes a comparison between two characters with outwardly similar beginnings but entirely different destinies due to personal choices, self-determination, and effort. The book values the importance of discipline and

Becoming successful is what most people aspire to be. Most people fantasize the dream house, car, and having the dream job. Even though success is viewed so highly, not everyone can be successful. Malcolm Gladwell explains that idea throughout his book Outliers. Gladwell’s chapters contain endless amounts of evidence that support his claims exceptionally well. But, Michiko Kakutani, a critic for New York Times, exposes Gladwell’s evidence as unreliable and unconvincing, and upon further research, Gladwell’s faults grew deeper. Even though Gladwell provides an extensive amount of evidence, that evidence is one-sided and relies on suggestion.

The Jacksonian Period did live up to its characterization of being the era of the “Common Man”. Andrew Jackson was born poor and did not have a formal education like other presidents had, meaning that he represented a “common man” to the people. Jackson wanted more of the normal, average citizens to be able to participate in the government rather than just rich, land owning white men. Jackson also felt that the First National Bank only appealed to the wealthy and high class citizens and he felt that it hurt the normal Americans, so he abolished it. Everything that Jackson felt was not adhering to the common folk, he abolished.

Campolo believed that “evangelical Christianity had been hijacked because it had seemingly become anti-gay, anti-feminist, anti-muslim, and pro-war. According to Campolo, the Religious Right hijacked it because they believed to be evangelical you had to be a radical conservative and hate everything you don’t believe in, rather than respecting them.

Additionally, Gladwell says that the conditions and circumstances surrounding our lives are significant, influential factors that determine our success, neither our inner ability or talent. In Outliers, Gladwell states: “Successful people don’t do it alone. Where they come from matters. They’re products of particular places and environments.” (Gladwell 179). This alludes to the whole idea that success varies from

The best approach to succeed is to mortify, rule, and put down others, an approach wonderfully exemplified in Captain Black 's never-ending attempts to inspire individuals to expend themselves with envy or, as he puts it, “eat your

Sullivan’s essay includes many rhetorical devices; the first one that stands out is the anecdote device because of the experience that she went through. She uses her personal life as a short story to catch the reader’s attention. This is an example of a great device that can be used for all essays, because every paper needs a “hook” that will keep the reader interested from the moment they start reading. Although, sometimes it is difficult for dual credit students to find something that can catch a reader’s attention, this essay can make it less difficult to understand. Another thing that can help the students is the analyzation in Sullivan’s

“There is something profoundly wrong with the way we make sense of success” (Gladwell 18). In Outliers Malcolm Gladwell is trying to convince his audience that they misunderstand how people become successful. Many believe one only needs hard work and determination in order to achieve success. However, Gladwell complicates this idea by explaining that hard work and determination is not how people become successful and instead, it is all about the opportunities one is given that decides if he or she is successful or not. Gladwell uses the rhetorical appeals of pathos and ethos in order to persuade his audience to accept his idea of the process of becoming successful.

In this age in which we live, success is generally measured by the amount of money you earn, or the amount of wealth or power or number of promotions you’ve accumulated. I find that the older I grow, the more I view the people who are most happy and content with their lives as the most successful. Rich, poor or in between, they’ve tended to treat life as a journey, not a final destination. They took that trip when they were 25 even though they really couldn’t afford it, they ordered the $55 bottle of wine with their filet because they knew that even though it was expensive it would enhance the meal so much more than water would. They took a chance on a start-up company, moved to Europe or Asia and experienced things that most people only dream about. If they managed to grow wealthy from the experience, so much the better. As long as moderation with most things is practiced, things won’t spin out of control.