Summary Of Malcolm Gladwell's 'Criminal Profiling Made Easy'
Arah Yim
10/5/12
Expository Writing
Gladwell Essay
Ê
Criminal profiling-also known as Criminal Investigative Analysis-has longÊbeen admired since its conception in the early 1800s. Even now, shows like "Law and Order", "Criminal Intent" and "Profiler" glorify criminal profilers as delphic seekers of truth that use almost god-like investigation skills to bust criminals. In November of 2007, Malcolm Gladwell had an article published in the New Yorker titled, "Dangerous Minds: Criminal Profiling Made Easy". At first glance, this is a typical piece of literature that worships the feats of notable criminal profilers. The article begins with the story of the elusive Mad Bomber and the futile effort to catch him. That was until they consulted …show more content…
He continues on with cases in which criminal profiling had been off by a mile and was basically useless. We then later hit page eleven which finally states the thesis. Gladwell keeps us running to the right and then slingshots us to the left after pages of supposed admiration for criminal profilers. On page 11, he writes, "...if you make a great number of predictions, the ones that were wrong will be forgotten, and the ones that turn out to be true willÊ make you famous. The Hedunit is not a triumoh of forensic analysis. It's a party trick." Readers get caught up in the fast paced and exciting world of profiling only to be told later that it is all a "party trick". From there on out, the party's …show more content…
But instead, Gladwell decides to humor the public on their false notions about criminal profiling until it leads him to a case in which criminal profiling proved ineffective in crime solving. Indeed, this piece is a prime example of the Òrules of writingÓ being broken. However, despite the unusual format, Gladwell proves to be entertaining and interesting. His anecdote in the beginning of the essay about the Mad Bomber was extremely well written and caught the attention of readers. In fact, all of his criminal profiling stories (including those refuting criminal profilers) were entertaining and kept the reader wanting to know more. His easy to read language and writing style was a breath of fresh air with the myriad of typical criminal profiling stories
10/5/12
Expository Writing
Gladwell Essay
Ê
Criminal profiling-also known as Criminal Investigative Analysis-has longÊbeen admired since its conception in the early 1800s. Even now, shows like "Law and Order", "Criminal Intent" and "Profiler" glorify criminal profilers as delphic seekers of truth that use almost god-like investigation skills to bust criminals. In November of 2007, Malcolm Gladwell had an article published in the New Yorker titled, "Dangerous Minds: Criminal Profiling Made Easy". At first glance, this is a typical piece of literature that worships the feats of notable criminal profilers. The article begins with the story of the elusive Mad Bomber and the futile effort to catch him. That was until they consulted …show more content…
He continues on with cases in which criminal profiling had been off by a mile and was basically useless. We then later hit page eleven which finally states the thesis. Gladwell keeps us running to the right and then slingshots us to the left after pages of supposed admiration for criminal profilers. On page 11, he writes, "...if you make a great number of predictions, the ones that were wrong will be forgotten, and the ones that turn out to be true willÊ make you famous. The Hedunit is not a triumoh of forensic analysis. It's a party trick." Readers get caught up in the fast paced and exciting world of profiling only to be told later that it is all a "party trick". From there on out, the party's …show more content…
But instead, Gladwell decides to humor the public on their false notions about criminal profiling until it leads him to a case in which criminal profiling proved ineffective in crime solving. Indeed, this piece is a prime example of the Òrules of writingÓ being broken. However, despite the unusual format, Gladwell proves to be entertaining and interesting. His anecdote in the beginning of the essay about the Mad Bomber was extremely well written and caught the attention of readers. In fact, all of his criminal profiling stories (including those refuting criminal profilers) were entertaining and kept the reader wanting to know more. His easy to read language and writing style was a breath of fresh air with the myriad of typical criminal profiling stories