The Tipping Point Literary Elements

Non fiction

The action described in the book takes place in America starting from the beginning of the 20th century until the present day.

The events are recalled from a third person subjective point of view.

Neutral

There are no protagonists and antagonists in the book as it is a no fiction book.

Because this is a scientific book, the author tries to explain various phenomenon from a scientific point of view. Because of this, there is no major conflict since there is no plot to speak of.

No point in the book can be characterized as being the climax of the book.

Goetz’s action of shooting four black men was foreshadowed by an event that happened to him a few months earlier, namely when he was attacked and robbed by three black men.

In the seventh chapter, the author talks about a child’s development and about the factors that influence him or her during the development process. The author claims that parents do not have as much of an influence as they would like to believe and that other external factors influence a child’s growth much more. This is an understatement however as the author later proves that parents don’t influence at all or very little their children’s behavior and that the children are a result of their environment.

The author alludes numerous time that the environment influences in way we can’t even comprehend and that the environment is the element that shapes us the most. Gladwell points out time and time again that when it comes to a child’s development, the parents have almost no influence at all and that the environment has a much bigger say.

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One of the ideas presented as being paradoxical is the information that in order for information to be sticky and to become popular, it doesn’t need to be exceptionally intelligent or complicated. In fact, what makes a piece of information attractive is its simplicity and its power to keep the attention of those reading or watching it engaged.

In the third chapter, the author discussed two TV shows produced exclusively for children, Sesame Street and Blue’s Clues. Both shows were produced by the same people with the same objective in mind, teaching children practical aspects about life and various educational lessons. The author draws a parallel between the two shows to highlight which advertising methods were more successful and to show which elements made a message be more attractive to the target audience.

When the author talks about epidemics, he usually refers to some idea or belief that affected the society or the people at some time in history.

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