Jessica Do
Mrs. Allan
AP Language
15 June 2018
Assignment #1: Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
In the Outliers Malcolm Gladwell states that “The ten-thousand-hour research reminds us that the closer psychologists look at the careers of the gifted, the smaller the role innate talent seems to play and the bigger the role preparation seems to play,’’ in which he contends that it takes constant and meticulous amounts of practice in order to purposefully be successful and execute natural talents into accomplishment. Therefore, the principle of the 10,000 Hour Rule holds that it takes 10,000 hours of this constant and dedicated practice to actually reach true mastery in any field. Metaphorically, the 10,000 Hour Rule emphasizes the idea that practice makes perfect. Whether it takes 3,000 hours or 10,000 hours, it doesn’t particularly matter but the amount of effort and seriousness taken is what will really lead to success. For AP students this rule means that it must take an honorable amount of dedication and time in order to succeed in the results that they strive for. Therefore, to succeed in the Ap Language & Composition class, students must make adjustments to their academic and non-academic habits. One must be attentive in class and take thorough notes in order to take full advantage and benefit from the lessons. Having an organized binder and color-coded notes will also be of use to when studying and reviewing for the AP exam. Time management is also a crucial component to succeed in this class. If we roughly spend 184 hours in class preparing for the exam, we must attempt to spend the most time preparing and learning outside the class as much as possible to go along with the 10,000 Hour Rule. Also since the AP Language & Composition exam is only 3 hours and 15 minutes long, students must work on how to manage their use of time by thoroughly reading over the passage, use process of elimination, and checking their answers.
In regards to personal success, Gladwell asserts that the trouble with geniuses is that analytical intelligence and IQ plays only a small role in success and it is only significant up to a threshold. The contemporary American myth of personal success has usually been presumed based on one's talents and intelligence, but in actuality there are numerous other factors that lead up to personal success and the accurate combination of opportunity, diligence and a persons’ background is what will render that talent into a favorable outcome. In Outliers, Gladwell exemplifies the life of Christopher Langan; a man with an IQ of 195 path towards success. In spite of the fact that his IQ was significantly higher than Albert Einstein’s IQ of 150, the environment and opportunities he had growing up offered him a low possibility of success. Langan grew up in a poor family and was the eldest of his three siblings who each had a different father, all who eventually passed away during his childhood except his fourth step father, Jack Langan. Jack Langan was an abusive alcoholic and the family were constantly on the move. Due to the fact that they kept moving, schools never realized how gifted and brilliant Langan was. He was offered two full scholarships, but eventually lost it due to his mother forgetting to fill out the scholarship renewal. In response, Langan goes to the office but they simply did not care. The problem with Christopher Langan was that he wasn’t born into a wealthy family who valued education. Instead, he had a troubled childhood with no one to teach him how to speak up for himself, negotiate with “higher” authority, and simply having the privilege. In contrast to Christopher Langan’s unfortunate opportunities, Robert Oppenheimer had a serendipitous encounter. Luckily, Oppenheimer grew up in a wealthy family and he gained a considerable amount of attention from his peers. His parents and teachers considered him to be a genius and a bright child. He attended Harvard and later on Cambridge to pursue his passion in theoretical physics. While attending Cambridge University, Oppenheimer took an attempt to poison his tutor but his only punishment was probation and regular sessions with his psychiatrist, yet Langan had trouble negotiating with his college experience. The difference between Chris Langan and Robert Oppenheimer wasnt that one was smarter than the other, it was solely based on chance. Gladwell also explains that children from privileged backgrounds have acquired practical intelligence in acknowledgement of involved parenting. Oppenheimer grew up in a wealthy family and his peers fed him assistance and more advanced knowledge while Langan was poor and his peers didn't realize how smart and bright he was to cultivate his education.
In “A Jamaican Story” of Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell ties the conjecture of path towards success to the story of his own life based on his success, cultural legacies, opportunities, and prosperity. Malcolm Gladwell’s grandmother grew up with a lighter skin tone due to her white genetic heritage which allowed advantages such as less slave labor, education, and a considerable amount of fortune and privileges in comparison to darker skin toned Jamaicans. In regards to his family’s light skin, Gladwell mentions that both his mother and aunt were granted scholarships to expensive schools and a shopkeeper let his mother borrow money in order to pay for her trip to a London College due to the privileges of their skin tone. “These were history’s gifts to my family, and if the privileges of that skin tone had been extended to others, how many more would now live a life of fulfillment, in a beautiful house high on a hill?,” states Gladwell. Therefore, Gladwell asserts that his own personal success courses back to his cultural privileges, legacies and gratification. Before reading Outliers, my individual view towards personal success was that being adroit at a particular thing and having the infatuation to yearn for your goals was what will simply lead the way towards personal success. In consideration to Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell has opened up the different plausible foundations of understanding achievement and who will manage to find their way to success. For instance, in “Rice Paddies and Math Tests” Gladwell asserts that the potential causes for the prevalence of Chinese students in math tests was because of their agriculture and language. Growing rice paddies demands a great extent of exertion and concentration which explains the ability of chinese people to have a greater attention span. Adding on, the chinese number system is a lot less complex than the typical american system because the chinese language constructs numbers and mathematical concepts more understandable to a young child’s brain. Therefore, they are learning twice as fast as an American child would. In regards to this, I think my personal success has been influenced by the opportunities and cultural legacies I’ve been given. I was born into a vietnamese culture where rice was also a crucial component to their society. My family also heavily pushed me to focus on my education and get good grades. These two factors can relate in why I always try to work hard in order to satisfy my peers and why math is one of the subjects I am better at in comparison to English or Science. Consequently, Malcolm Gladwell asserts that aside from the hard work and determination, one must take into consideration the cultural and circumstantial impacts that guides personal success.
Jessica Do
Mrs. Allan
AP Language
15 June 2018
Assignment #2: Mother Tongue
Amy Tan’s short story “Mother Tongue” articulates the relationship between the language we grow up with to how it influences us for the duration of our lives. She explains how language has affected her education, indignity towards her mother, and feeling as if she lives in two completely different worlds based on how her mother speaks in a “broken english” and people don’t take her seriously. Tan’s short story intended audience was specifically for her mother but also towards those who felt ashamed towards their mother language like she once did and those who are under the impression that a person’s worth and credibility is based on their ability to speak english.
The strategic use of detail throughout the article is based on Tan’s own personal experiences and incidents. For instance, she quotes her mother to describe where she comes from. She explains an occurrence that exemplified how her mother’s imperfect English caused her and herself to have “limitations.” She explains, “When I was fifteen, she used to have me call people on the phone to pretend I was she,” and continues to quote exactly what happened when she called her mother’s stockbroker, “And then I said in perfect English, ‘Yes, Im getting rather concerned..’ Then she began to talk more loudly. ‘What he want, I come to New York tell him front of his boss, you cheating me’ And I was trying to calm her down, make her be quiet.’(pg. 488). The quote is very personal, but it clearly elucidates how Tan feels and what led her to feel that way.
Although there isn’t a large amount of imagery present throughout the article, it is seen that Tan’s writing allows the audience to imagine the thoughts and experiences Tan undergoes with her mother. She does this by revealing the difference between her mom and her giving the audience different perspectives. First, we see the prestigious english Tan uses as a writer which she isn't very comfortable with; “‘That was my mental quandary in its nascent state’ A terrible line, which I can barely pronounce.” Then we see the comfortable english Tan uses around her family, “Not waste money that way,” which she explains “has become our language of intimacy…that relates to family talk.” Ultimately, we see the English that Tans mother uses; “He come to my wedding. I didn't see, I heard it. I gone to boys side, they have YMCA dinner.”
Tan’s colloquial and informal diction allows the audience to trust and appeal to her. Tan speaks in a casual manner using basic and simple words, especially since she wanted her work to “envision a reader for the stories I would write,” (pg. 491) who would be her mother. This is shown when she starts the essay off with, “I am not a scholar of English or literature. I cannot give you more than personal opinions on the English language,” (pg.486) which captures the sense that she is talking to you personally. She continues to talk in this manner, saying “I believe,” “for me,” or “I think.” She also writes her article mixing her mother’s “watered down” English and her “perfect” English, which in a way creates an intimate and sentimental tone throughout the article. The personal stories and opinion she shares with her audience allows us to see into her vulnerable past. She aspired to “capture what language ability tests can never reveal: her intent, her passion, her imagery, the rhythms of her speech, and the nature of her thoughts” (pg.704). She was apathetic to the criticisms from any critic, and she knew she succeeded once her mother said it was “So easy to read” (pg. 491).
Amy Tan uses short and direct sentences for emphasis and shadows it along with a longer descriptive sentence, which helps explain the significance. This is seen when Tan says, “I am not a scholar of English or literature. I cannot give you much more than personal opinions on the English language and its variations in this country or others, I am a writer.” The simple declarative sentence, “I am not a scholar of English or literature” accentuates the skeleton of the structure, while the longre sentence, “I cannot give you much more than personal opinions on the English language and its variations in this country or others, I am a writer,” serves as the body. The longer sentence is long and descriptive in order to give a comprehensive meaning. Tan also incorporates dashes, in order to mark her abrupt change of thought or recapitulate. For example she adds, “She reads the Forbes report, listens to Wall Street Week, converses daily with her stockbroker, reads all of Shirley MacLaine’s books with ease — all kinds of things I can’t begin to understand.” She goes from explaining her mother’s Englishes to say “all kinds of things I can’t begin to understand” in which she transforms into a casual tone.
Jessica Do
Mrs. Allan
AP Language
15 June 2018
Assignment #2: If Hitler Asked You to Electrocute a Stranger, Would You? Probably
Philip Meyer’s essay, “If Hitler Asked You to Electrocute a Stranger, Would You? Probably” analyzes an experiment carried out by a social psychologist, Stanley Milgram proving that Germans were different and more obedient. Meyer discusses the human flaw of how one easily exhibits obedience under stress and authority. He specifically wrote this article for a magazine read by primarily “college-educated, fashion-conscious men.” But overall it is intended for the general public which is seen when he lists that Milgram “worries about you, and me, and, perhaps, himself a little bit too.” (pg. 320)
The strategic use of detail by Meyer constructs a realistic and personal feel between him and the audience. Throughout the essay, he uses the word “you” to put us, the audience into the action and the shoes of the “teacher” in the experiment. This is shown when he says “If you were an innocent subject in Milgram’s melodrama..”(pg. 321) or “You do not know that the drawing is rigged” (pg. 321). Meyer’s picturesque diction fulfills his realistic intentions with the continuous use of “you” and the onomatopoeia such as “Zzumph.”
Along with his personal use of detail, he proceeds to go deep into detail in explaining the developments and outcomes of the experiment adding vivid imagery of the subjects groaning, protesting, fidgeting, arguing, and agitated giggles. He even takes the direct quotes recorded from Milgram’s experiment for the audience to empathize and envision how it feels to be a victim. “The protests of the victim were strong and vehement, he was screaming his guts out, he refused to participate, and you had to physically struggle with him..,” showing the aggressiveness and hostility present.
Throughout the article, Meyer paves the way into the audience mind the idea of disinclination and doubt. When one reads the title “If Hitler Asked You to Electrocute a Stranger, Would You? Probably,” one must argue and think to themselves that they would never do such a thing. Nevertheless, Meyers unambiguous tone demonstrates his certainty about the unethical actions humans do without knowing about their own capability. This is distinctly shown when he ends the article off by adding, “Now that his research results are in and you thought about it, you get this funny feeling too… A glance in your own mirror may serve just as well” (pg. 326), in which Meyer implies that everyone will naturally act on ego and submit to Hitler’s orders if asked to.
Meyer often uses short and direct sentences such as “It wasn’t,” “Nothing else,” or “Just so” which usually interrupts and breaks the text. It also adds emphasis to the sentence prior to it. This can be seen when Meyer quotes Stanley Milgram, “I thought that would be the limit of obedience that you would find in the laboratory” and follows it with “It wasnt.” He also includes imperative sentences with his repetition of the word “you.” An example of this is when he tells the reader to “Draw one and you will see which you will be” or “You listen to Jack Williams” (pg. 321) By commanding the audience what to do, it builds up strong and serious emotions.