Rhetorical Analysis

In “Nine Things Successful People Do Differently” by Heidi Grant (2011), the author explains that to be a successful person depends on your behavior. She gives examples of different behaviors to point out that being successful is not innate, but something that anyone can do. The purpose of her writing is to inform her readers that success is something anyone can have if they do the correct behaviors. She does not give the other side of the argument, but points out research about goal making, grit, and thought suppression to clearly teach her readers about the behaviors of successful people. Because she is writing for Harvard Business Review (HBR) and using informal language (like layman’s terms and first and second person pronouns), her audience is low- and mid-level managers. Many of the topics in HBR are advice to managers at this level to help them learn about team building, teamwork, and creating success in their department. In this article, Grant effectively appeals to her audience by changing her use of first, second, and third person pronouns to show them how they can be more successful. 

Grant uses the first person when pointing out behavior that she does not think leads to success. She notes, “given how busy most of us are… it’s not surprising that we routinely miss opportunities to act on a goal because we simply fail to notice them,” (para 3) and “Many of us believe that our intelligence, our personality, and our physical aptitutates are fixed--that no matter what we do, we won’t improve,” (para 7). The use of the first person pronouns “we,” “us,” and “our” make the reader feel like this incorrect behavior is normal to have--even the author shares this problem. By choosing these pronouns when she mentions incorrect behavior, it prevents the reader from feeling criticized or like an outsider. Her choice to use these pronouns when mentioning behaviors that prevent success makes the audience understand and accept her ideas more easily.

Second person perspective is used frequently in Grant’s article to create an informal style, which appeals to her audience. For example, she states, “When you set yourself a goal, try to be as specific as possible...because it gives you a clear idea of what success looks like,” (para. 2). The choice to write “you” is more informal than using the third person perspective because it’s similar to having a conversation with the audience. She did not choose to write “When a person sets a goal… it gives them a clear idea of what success looks like,” because that would be more academic and create distance between the audience and the writer. This informal choice is especially effective for her audience, who are managers looking for advice to improve their abilities.The audience is looking for helpful advice that applies directly to their work, and the choice of second person pronouns makes them feel like the author is giving advice to them personally. The informal style makes the audience connect better with the information she gives.

Although it is rarely used, Grant does write in third person when she wants point out serious incorrect behavior and create distance. When discussing willpower, she points out, “... many people are overly-confident in their ability to resist temptation, and as a result they put themselves in situations where temptations abound,” (para 13). The choice of third person for this behavior is different from her previous choice of first person. By using the third person, the author is not including the reader or herself as people who might do this incorrect behavior. This creates a strong effect that this behavior is not allowed at all. It is possible that the reader may have been overly-confident and put themselves in these tempting situations, but because she uses third person, the reader will more strongly understand that this behavior cannot be engaged in. This is effective because it draws extra attention to this point, and it allows the reader some distance from the incorrect behavior. If she had chosen second person, “you” for this negative behavior, the reader might feel they are being attacked or blamed. If she had written in first person, the severity of this behavior would not be noticed by the reader. Therefore, her choice of third person for seriously incorrect behaviors is effective.

By using different person pronouns in her writing, Grant is able to better appeal to her readers while she demonstrates the ways they can be more successful. When pointing out incorrect behaviors that are not very serious, Grant uses first person pronouns to help the reader feel included. The shift to second person pronouns creates the informal language the audience prefers and makes the reader feel connected to the specific advice. Finally, when discussing incorrect behavior that is more serious, Grant writes using third person so as to create a clear distance between this behavior and both the writer and reader. Clearly, a simple choice such as changing pronouns can have a profound impact on the audience.

References:

Grant, H. (2011, February 25). Nine Things Successful People Do Differently. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2011/02/nine-things-successful-people