College-level task explanation using simple language

¶ … Outliers: The Story of Success" is a non-fiction literary work written by Malcolm Gladwell in 2008. In this book, Gladwell has explained the underlying reasons for the success of certain very famous individuals. He has called such people "outliers," which by definition is any value that lies far away from, or at the extreme ends of, a set of data. Similarly, Gladwell has explained such individuals to be very different from the rest of us, exceptional, far removed in their immense success.

In the book Gladwell has explained certain factors he believes are the reason for the success of, say, Bill Gates and the Beatles. These include the "Matthew Effect," which Gladwell has used to explain why many elite Canadian hockey players are all born in the first few months of the year. The reason he gives for this is that, as youngsters, these hockey players had an advantage of being older and hence bigger and more mature than their younger opponents, and therefore received extra coaching. This enabled the likelihood of their being selected into elite hockey leagues. In this way, the stronger kept getting stronger and the weaker (those born in late months and less mature) kept getting weaker, i.e. they did not make it to the major leagues. This is called the "accumulative advantage" by Gladwell, or the "Matthew Effect" (named after a biblical verse in the Gospel of Matthew).

Another idea presented by Gladwell in this book is the "10,000-hour-rule." This idea is basically that greatness requires a lot of time and effort, specifically 10,000 hours according to Gladwell. He has used the example of Bill Gates, who gained access to a computer at an early age and then spent almost 10,000 hours on it programming. He also gives the example of the Beatles, who performed in Germany over 1200 times in four years, which amounted to 10,000 hours.

Gladwell has also explained the notion that it is not merely hard work or genius that determines the success of a person, the environment the person has grown up in also plays a major role. He supported this idea with the example of Robert Oppenheimer, father of the atomic bomb, who was brought up in an affluent Manhattan neighborhood and attended the best private schools as a child. This led to him having a childhood of concerted cultivation. (Gladwell 320)

The ideas Gladwell has presented in this book can be applied to real life as well. We can see examples of outliers in our contemporary society as well as in history. One such exceptional personality is William Shakespeare.

William Shakespeare was a famous English poet and playwright, and he was widely regarded as the world's most pre-eminent dramatist. Some also name him as the national poet of England and the "Bard of Avon." Shakespeare was born in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon. His parents were John Shakespeare and Mary Arden.

John Shakespeare was the son of a tenant farmer, but he moved to Stratford at the age of 20 and set up a business trading wool, malt and corn. His business tied well with his father producing and supplying the goods and John selling them. He also started making and selling leather gloves and purses for the nobility and this helped him earn enough to buy a house in Stratford, and another one in the same city after five years. Mary Arden was born into the noble Catholic family of the Ardens of Park Hall, who were one of the most prominent families of Warwickshire. She was the most favored of eight daughters. When her father passed away in 1556, she was named as one of the Executors of his will and inherited some money and land from him. These two very different people were married in 1557 and they lived happily for a while.

But the journey became rough when, in 1578, the children had to be removed from school owing to financial problems. Then, the eight-year-old daughter Anne died. Mary's estate had to be mortgaged. Then, when William was 18 he informed his parents that 26-year-old Anne Hathaway was three months pregnant. This led to a hasty wedding, amid fear of much shame and gossip. Two years later, the couple had twins. Since they lived with William's parents and John's financial position was weak and there were too many mouths to feed, William worked many jobs at once trying to make ends meet. But finally, he left for London to try his fortune. He returned years later as a successful poet, making his name in the Theatres of London and mixing with the elite, befriending nobles and aristocrats. In 1594, he even played before the Queen. This turned around the fortunes of the family, and in 1596 they were allowed to display a coat-of-arms. The men of the family could now put Gentlemen before their names as they were now a part of the gentry. (Knight 202)

Now, given Shakespeare's family background and the happenings of his youth, it is safe to say that more than one of the ideas presented by Gladwell in his book played a role in shaping Shakespeare's success. First is the environment Shakespeare grew up and was married in. Seeing his father immersed in financial problems, his mother's struggles to stand by his side through all the bad times, seeing how the problems affected his life in major ways (by stopping his education when he and his brother had to be taken out of school and working in the family business from a very early age), then the circumstances he had to get married in and how hard he had to work to support his family, all led to his decision to move to London, where his road to success began.

Shakespeare's time in London can also be seen as an example of one of the reasons for success that Gladwell gives in his book, namely -- an advantageous demographic/culture. London is, and has been, the cultural and economic capital of the United Kingdom. It was no less in those days. Shakespeare's move from his hometown to London exposed him to a more cultured environment, one that was highly conducive to his creative thinking. He was able to meet with other intellectuals and benefit from their ideas. Also, he was able to find a proper medium, in the theatres of London, for the portrayal of his literary skills.