Outliers: The Story of Success Style

Outliers: The Story of Success Style

Perspective

Gladwell is primarily writing about historical facts and events, looking at the social and cultural factors that contributed to the success of his subjects. He is also making an argument for acknowledgment of the concepts he identifies and employment of them in educational reform, so his perspective is at the same time forward-looking as well as historical.

Gladwell is writing about scientific research in many parts of the book, but he does not adopt a strictly academic perspective. Instead, he invokes anecdotal evidence to illustrate the concepts he describes. He takes a journalistic approach, describing concepts in a general way for a wide readership.

In the epilogue at the end of the book, Gladwell's perspective shifts to a highly personal one. He describes his own Jamaican heritage while applying the theory of success that he has developed. He describes the opportunity and cultural legacies that allow his mother to get...
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