Reading Journal

Malcolm Gladwell’s piece, Six Degrees of Lois Weisberg, exemplifies another type of profile that is not only based on an individual, but uses him or her as a platform to dissect a concept. In this case “the concept of six degrees of separation”.

Gladwell is commonly known for this style and uses it effectively in the case of Weisberg—cleverly juxtaposing Lois Weisberg to “the popular parlor game Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon”.

One thing I notice about Gladwell is that he adopts the language of who he’s interviewing, in another profile titled “ The Coolhunt” he profiles two women on the search for cool. He describes their teen-like lingo in a jovial manner that does not detract from their character—“If [DeeDee] mildly disagreed with something I’d say she would say “Maalcolm” and if she strongly disagreed with what I’d said she would say “Maaalcolm”. Also, Gladwell uses DeeDee and Baysie as a tool to define what is cool? Who is cool? By defining their “coolness” he is able to reveal how they define it in others.

Gladwell captures Weisberg’s character by incorporating telling quotes in a similar fashion- “‘I have no idea why I asked you to come here, I have no job for you,’ Lois told Wendy Willrich when Willrich went to Lois's office.”

This quote fits well with Gladwell’s own analysis of her character that Weisberg has an uncanny knack of connecting with people through unconventional meetings. In the case of Weisberg (and the concept he is also simultaneously profiling), he uses primarily quotes from her interactions with others (or her descriptions of them), which actually serves to define not only her character, but also shed light on the people who embody the concept behind the six degrees of separation.