Rosemarie Garland-Thomson Analysis

I have chosen two authors who catch my attention both in the mainstream and academic fields: Malcolm Gladwell and Rosemarie Garland-Thomson. Gladwell has written several books including, Outliers: The Story of Success (2008) and Garland-Thomson is a Critical Disability academic who wrote Disability, Identity, and Representation: An Introduction (2009) among many other such publications.

What I find attractive about Gladwell’s style is his intentions are clear, he weaves a story that draws us in, and finally as he challenges existing conventions he introduces us to different persepectives. In his first chapter, he clearly states his intentions, "I want to convince you..." so we know he is out to persuade us (2010, p.19). He engages us with familiar stories: jr. hockey championships, the Beatles, and personal stories. He is skilful in drawing us in and then hitting us with questions about conventional wisdom while introducing us to counterintuitive perspectives.

I also enjoy Garland-Thomson’s writing …show more content…
The first characteristic that informs my writing is their clear intentionality. Both Garland-Thomson and Gladwell are clear about the direction of their discourse. As a writer I have to remind myself that readers cannot know my mind so I need to contextualize my discussion as I lay them out in an orderly manner. Second, both writers are skilful in how they strip away existing knowledge as they question, challenge, and trouble accepted 'wisdom'. As a reader and writer I question everything I read so as a writer I must also be cognizant that there are many sides to a construct, notion and theory. I must respect and encourage the reader to question my argument, my discourse, and my evidence. Finally, both writers are excellent story tellers as they engage readers. I must consider how to flavour facts with stories or notions that engages the

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