Professor Reeves
EngWr 58
February 6, 2017
The Matthew Effect
In “The Matthew Effect” Chapter 1 of Outlier’s: The Story of Success, Malcolm Gladwell shows a comparison of the scripture Mathew 25:29, as the Matthew Effect referring that the Rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
He wants to convince us that people are not self-made, but that success has to do with when they were born and their cultural legacies, which gives them the opportunity to work hard and learn, that others are not privy to, makes a difference on who succeeds and who don’t.
Gladwell uses hockey as a way of explaining, the advantage of elite hockey players. Those born in January, became successful players, not based on just their talents, but because