In the short excerpt from The Matthew Effect, we learn a new perspective from Malcolm Gladwell’s on success. Success is usually labelled as the gift you receive after you've worked hard and gained your pathway, but in Gladwell’s opinion this isn't the case. Gladwell argues that many cases of success are because of the placement we have in society and where were born into in this world. He uses examples such as sports and education to prove his point about this.
Gladwell begins the essay with talking about Hockey and how its players are drafted into the Major Junior Hockey League. He proved in his writing that most of the successful hockey players were born between January and March making them almost a year older than players who were born in December. For many coaches it is seen as an advantage to draft someone who is more physically mature then somebody who is a year younger. Gladwell proves that from a young age these hockey players are given a pure advantage in their hockey careers because of their birthdays. From the beginning these players come out as stronger because they are almost a year older then some of the players which would explain how they are physically more mature then some. Since this starts off so early in hockey it automatically gives these children the chance to have better coaching and skills because of the ongoing attention on them as players. This small factor is what determines their success in the hockey world.…show more content… Gladwell again explains that the age difference between children can effect how the do in school at a young age. He explains that children are often favoured and picked out as advanced students when their older versus the children who are ten months younger. This advantage can determine how well they do in the future and the careers they
