Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Rice Paddies and Outliers

Haley Scholar Reading Groups 

In chapter eight, “Rice Paddies and Math Tests,” Malcolm Gladwell continues to explore his claim that cultures can have significant impacts on various aspects of success. He takes an in-depth look at the work ethics of farmers in southern China and reveals how rice cultivation can be an intricate, laborious, and, if done well, rewarding process for an entire family. And over long periods of time, the processes and culture of rice cultivation appear to yield benefits to a people well beyond the farms.

According to Gladwell, rice farmers, the majority of whom have limited resources, improved the returns on their labor by “becoming smarter, by being better managers of their own time, and by making better choices.” In other words, more than simply working hard, they worked intelligently and strategically. Gladwell proposes that cultures “shaped by the tradition of wet-rice agriculture and meaningful work” tend to produce students with the fortitude to “sit still long enough” to find solutions to time-consuming and complex math problems, for instance.

You’ll recall the proverbs Gladwell cites that emerged in southern China such as “No one who can rise before dawn three hundred sixty days a year fails to make his family rich.” Help us come up with local remixes to that saying. In no more than 10 additional words, compose useful and creative insertions to complete the following sentence:

No one who can __________________________________ throughout a semester fails to achieve academic success at SIUE.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

put their necessities before their everyday wants-Ashley Garrett

Jacquelene G. said...

No one who can make a goal and stick to it throughout a semester fails to achieve success at SIUE.


No one who can receive help until they understand what they did not before throughout a semester fails to achieve success at SIUE.

Jacquelene G.

Nicholas M said...

No one who can spend 2 hours outside of class studying, for every hour in class, every week throughout a semester fails to achieve academic success at SIUE.

Nicholas M said...

No one who can spend two hours outside of class studying, for every hour in class every week, throughout a semester fails to achieve academic success at SIUE.

Dylan P said...

No one who can study effectively and efficiently throughout a semester fails to achieve academic success at SIUE.

Robin Huang said...

No one who can pick themselves up, brush themselves off and keep going through the thick and thin throughout a semester fails to achieve academic success at SIUE.

Vanessa C. said...

No one who can wholeheartedly do their best in everything throughout a semester fails to achieve academic success at SIUE.
-Vanessa C.

Sable said...

No one who can find peace with themselves and their surrounds fails to achieve success at SIUE.

Michelle E said...

No one who can avoid becoming the stereotypical version of a college student throughout a semester fails to achieve academic success at SIUE.

Nathan S said...

No one who can effectively learn from his or her mistakes throughout a semester fails to achieve success at SIUE.

Ashley Rosales said...

No one who attends every class and meets professors throughout a semester fails to achieve academic success at SIUE.

Candace P said...

No one who can place his/her academic priorities above social activities throughout a semester fails to achieve academic success at SIUE.

No one who can steadily work to accomplish their goals throughout a semester fails to achieve academic success at SIUE.

Jamila M. said...

No one who can seek assistance when faced with something they may not understand throughout a semester fails to achieve academic success at SIUe.

No one who can study as hard as they wished to party throughout a semester fails to achieve academic success at SIUe.

Jessica L.W. said...

No one who can avoid putting social activities above academic priorities throughout a semester fails to achieve academic success at SIUE.


No one who can dedicate the appropriate time to study for classes throughout a semester fails to achieve academic success at SIUE.

lance13 said...

No one who can study hard and attend class fails to achieve success at SIUE.

Justin Jones said...

When people faced adversity of course they either adapt to it with their limited resources or fail. Just like being college, you either have to use the resources you have around you to or fail and dropout of college. It's impossible for someone to not study outside of class and hope to achieve success outside of class. It's apart of life and that's just how it is.Hard work pays off in the real world if you do it

mburchett said...

No one who can put their academic needs before their social wants throughout a semester fails to achieve success at SIUE.

Justin Smith said...

No one who can put school first and parties second throughout a semester fails to achieve academic success at SIUE

Evan Lawler said...

No one who can maintain the determination to succeed

Zachary Kadri said...

No one who can place their academic priorities in order throughout a semester fails to achieve academic success at SIUE.

Sean Pettiford said...

No one who can use all possible resources to expand their knowledge and also effectively use this knowledge to reach self-actualization throughout a semester fails to achieve academic success at SIUE.

Anonymous said...

No one who can really put an effort into succeeding in their classes throughout a semester fails to achieve academic success at SIUE.

Marta A.

Yasmyn K. said...

No one who can put God first, keep focus, and demonstrate humility throughout a semester fails to achieve academic success at SIUe.