Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance Analysis

In her book, “Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance” (2016), Angela Duckworth
asserts that grit, which is a mixture of passion and perseverance, leads to success more often than
talent or “natural abilities”. Duckworth supports her claim by using research on grit that she has
accumulated with her fellow researchers, such as studying the grit of people at West Point,
children studying at the National Spelling Bee, and high achievers. Duckworth’s purpose is to
show what grit is, examples of grit, and how to develop grit in order to set the reader for success
and how to become successful through being gritty. Duckworth establishes a formal relationship
with her audience of students, parents, educators, adults, and people in general who are interested
in learning how to become successful through grit.

Angela Duckworth also uses the three pillars of rhetoric in her book which are ethos,
pathos, and logos. Duckworth uses ethos by establishing herself as the 2013 MacArthur
Fellowship “genius” award in the preface of the book making her credible because she was
awarded for being a genius. This quote from the preface supports this, “I was fortunate to be
awarded a MacArthur Fellowship, sometimes called the “genius grant.” (Duckworth vii) Being
awarded with a “genius grant” makes Duckworth credible and her audience know that she knows
what she is talking about. Duckworth is also credible because she is a professor at the University
of Pennsylvania, has a PhD, and has mentored many people throughout her career. Next,
Duckworth uses logos by using research she and her colleagues conducted, research studies from
other researchers, and statistics. The research Duckworth and her colleagues conducted include
her theory in talent and achievement, her research study at West Point and the National Spelling
Bee, and interviewing many high achievers. Duckworth also used research from the likes of
Carol Dweck, a Stanford psychologist who discovered the growth mindset, Dan Chambliss, a
sociologist, and Steve Maier. Duckworth also used statistics to convince her audience on the
power of grit and its effects. Duckworth asserts, “After graduating from high school, students i
our sample ended up at dozens of colleges throughout the country. After two years, only 34
percent of the 1,200 students in our study were enrolled in a two- or four-year college… the odds
of staying in school depended heavily on Grit Grid scores: 69 percent of students who scored 6
out of 6 were still in college. In contrast, just 16 percent of students who scored 0 out of 6 were
still on track to get their college degrees.” (Duckworth 232) Duckworth uses pathos when
explaining how people give up because other people are more talented than them. Duckworth
claims, “I think Dan is right. If we can’t explain how an athlete, musician, or anyone else has
done something jaw-droppingly amazing, we’re inclined to throw up our hands and say, “It’s a
gift! Nobody can teach you that.” (Duckworth 37) Duckworth explains that people give up when
met with talented people and when they can’t explain how they get there logically, they appeal to
their emotions by saying they give up. Duckworth uses appeal to pathos in order to explain that
emotional appeals should not be the conclusion when looking at talent. In conclusion,
Duckworth uses the three forms of rhetoric to convince her audience and support her claim.

The secondary source that I selected is a blog on Grit vs. Talent by Philip Latter. This
article is related to the book I am reading because the article discusses the differences between
grit and talent in several scenarios and it also mentions and has ideas from the book that I am
reading. Latter starts off his article by comparing two high school runners who are running in the
state championship, one is talented, and the other has worked hard to get to where he is. The
talented runner beats the hard working runner because the talented runner is talented. Next,
Latter talks about how it is fine to be gritty and that the best athletes are both talented and gritty.
Then, Latter compares the Beast, an intense bootcamp by the United States West Point
Academy, and running, and how they both involve perseverance, sacrifice and devotion. In the
same section, Latter talks about grit being genetic and how motivation and work ethic can be
genetic. Latter revisits his story he introduced his article with, the one with the talented and the
hard working runner. The runners go to college and the talented runner begins to struggle
because his talent no longer matched the talent of his peers. On the other hand, the hard working
runner was already used to what the team practiced because of all the hard work he had done in
high school. A quote from Duckworth’s book supports this, “Talent- how fast we improve in
skill- absolutely matters. But effort factors into the calculations twice, not once.” (Duckworth 42)
This example is related to my book because it shows how putting effort and hard work beats out
talent because although talent is skill, effort harness and uses that skill to its potential. Latter
finishes with some of the big ideas from Duckworth’s book in order to teach his readers how to
increase their grit. Overall, not only does this book refer to my book, but it also incorporates the
big ideas in Duckworth’s book and applying it to running.

My comment on America is about failure regarding topics such as school and life. Failure
is a big problem in the United States because people don’t know how to move past or overcome
failure. In schools, the letter grade “F” is represented as failure. “A” students and schools often
view the letter “F” with negative stigma. “A” students see those who get “F’s” in a negative light
and often feel superior in intelligence. Schools see these students as a bad thing for their schools.
Students who get “F’s” often feel that they are less intelligent than their peers and a failure.They
often make excuses that they are not smart in a particular subject, but in all honesty, everybody
has the same potential, it is just how this potential is used. Duckworth states, “Our potential is
one thing. What we could do with it is quite another.” (Duckworth 14) Duckworth basically says
that we all have the potential to do something but what we do with it sets us apart. A core idea in
Duckworth’s book is grit. If we remain gritty even through failures, we will become successful.
Failure is just a learning step in order for us to fix our mistakes so that we can succeed.
Overcoming failure also requires a change in mindset. Having a growth mindset is key when
overcoming failure because when you believe in yourself, you can make all things happen.
Failure is not meant to bring us down, but it is for us to motivate us to get better and grittier and
become successful.