Tyler Doral, Diamond Holmes, Avery Maslowski, and Olivia Skierski

Ms. Parent

2nd hour

Why Records Fall

Introduction:

Records for competition events often fall. Sometimes it is obvious to why they fall and

sometimes not. “Peak Performance: Why Records Fall” by Daniel Goleman reveals the reason to

why they fall: not getting enough practice. In short, the essay explains that in order to excel in

competitions, individuals need to be willing to put in the practice, starting at a young age. Daniel

Goleman was born in 1946 in Stockton, California and gained an education from Amherst

College and Harvard University. Goleman has worked as a psychologist and science journalist.

After working as a psychologist professor for many years, he eventually became an editor for

Psychology Today​. Goleman’s works include ​The Creative Spirit​, ​Emotional Intelligence​, and

The Meditative Mind​.

Structure:

“Why Records Fall” by Daniel Goleman is an essay about why every old record just

keeps on getting broken. The writing is very concise. Goleman uses the first few paragraphs to

introduce how records are set. The first two sentences of the essay introduce the topic, “THE old

joke -- How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice -- is getting a scientific

spin. Researchers are finding an unexpected potency from deliberate practice in world-class

competitions of all kinds, including chess matches, musical recitals and sporting events.” After

the initial few paragraphs, Goleman spent most of the time offering evidence. He brings up
evidence as soon as the third paragraph saying, “World records have been falling inexorably over

the last century. For example, the marathon gold medalist's time in the 1896 Olympics Games

was, by 1990, only about as good as the qualifying time for the Boston Marathon.” “Why

Records Fall” is consistently organized in a “cause and effect” manner for every piece of

evidence provided. Goleman did this by first explaining who researched the topic and then a

brief overview of the topic. Next, he explained the data collected, and then the outcome of

practice, often resulting in new records. Goleman uses the cause and effect structure when

talking about how Dr. Ericsson taught college students how to memorize as much as 102 sets of

random digits, “After 50 hours of practice with differing sets of random digits, four students

were able to remember up to 20 digits after a single hearing. One student… was able to

remember 102 digits. The feat took him more than 400 hours of practice.” The consistency of the

excerpt is true to all of the evidence brought up, first saying how much time spent practicing, the

cause, and how many numbers remembered, and the effect.

Perspective:

“Why Records Fall” by Daniel Goleman writes strictly in third person, never referencing

himself or the audience. Goleman only references the researchers in the article based on their

name, never using pronouns such as him, his, or he. For instance, in every sentence where he

references Dr. Ericsson, he then only refers to him as “Dr. Anders Ericsson” or “Dr. Ericsson,”

even when no other person is brought up. Since the author only references the researchers using

their name and credentials, it creates a more professional perspective. In the essay, based off the

amount of studies by different researchers Goleman references, the author is very emotionally

invested in this topic. The amount and variety of sources showed how much research and time
Goleman put into the essay. Throughout the article, the author uses eight different researchers to

help prove his point of why records keep being broken. Some of which include Dr. Anders

Ericsson, Dr. Neil Charness, and Dr. Herbert Simon. Throughout “Why Records Fall,” Goleman

references all eight different researches only by their names, keeping a consistent, professional

perspective the whole time.

Tone:

Throughout the essay, Goleman portrays his tone through words and evidence. The tone

can be found toward the subject and toward the audience. Starting with the subject, Goleman’s

tone toward it is factual. Every statement made is backed up with a piece of evidence. For

example, when talking about the views of mind ability on page 414, a study by Dr. Ericsson and

associates is explained to further the view. On the other hand, the tone toward the audience is

objective. Goleman never has a moment where he somehow tries to digress readers’ views from

facts to his personal belief. For instance, after telling a reason for records dropping, he chooses a

doctor’s view rather than his own to clarify meaning to the reasons. All in all, finding the tones

help justify the author’s purpose for the article and what views he wants to receive. For this

article, similar tones are used for the subject and the audience.

Imagery:

“Peak Performance: Why Records Fall” by Daniel Goleman uses descriptions to create an

image of how practice affects people. Goleman uses sense of sight when he states, “...the most

experienced players in racquet sports like squash and tennis are able to predict where a serve will

land by cues in the server’s posture before the ball is hit” (Goleman 415). The posture and how

the player hits the ball can be visualized. Also, “...the all time best hitters typically started
preparing for games by studying films of the pitchers they would face, to spot cues that would tip

off what pitch was about to be thrown” (Goleman 415). The reader is able to picture how the

players look. However, the imagery is not vivid because not all of the senses are appealed to. In

addition, the author uses figurative language when he says, “Memory is like an index; experts

have approximately 50,000 chunks of familiar units of information they recognize” (Goleman

414). Goleman compares memory to an index using a simile to help the reader understand how

much experts recognize. The author includes many details about age, such as, “...swimmers who

achieved the level of national champion started their training at an average age of 10, while those

who were good enough to make the United States Olympic teams started on average at 7”

(Goleman 415). Dr. Anthony Kalinowski found this from research of star athletes’ training. In

addition, the author adds factual details. One example is, “...the marathon gold medalist’s time in

the 1896 Olympics Games was, by 1990, only about as good as the qualifying time for the

Boston Marathon” (Goleman 412). It is evident that more practice and dedication lead to athletes

becoming significantly faster over time. The author also uses details about how practice affects

the inside of the body. For example, “Longitudinal studies show that years of endurance training

at champion levels leads athletes’ hearts to increase in size well beyond the normal range for

people their age” (Goleman 417). Scientific details make the author seem credible which inclines

the reader to believe him. The author uses these details to help prove his point that practice helps

people specifically. The author leaves out details on the negative effects of practice and

overworking because they might overshadow all of the positive points he made.
Language/Vocab:

In​“​Peak Performance: Why Records Fall” by Daniel Goleman, the audience reacted

favorably to Daniel Goleman’s language and vocabulary because it gets to the point. Goleman

uses language and vocabulary that is not extensive, but rather straight to the point and simple.

Vocabulary is used and gives detail when the specific tasks were done. Goleman manipulates

vocabulary by skillfully placing it where it suits his purpose. The author's tone is greatly built up

of his vocabulary and word choice. On page 412, Daniel Goleman states, “The old joke -- How

do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice -- is getting a scientific spin and explains

vividly.” In the following sentence, dashes are used to emphasize the importance of repetitive

practice. Using the power of certain words over others creates a stronger passion for the topic.

Boleman states, “But new studies are beginning to reveal the sheer power of training itself,” on

page 413. By skillfully placing words like “reveal the sheer power,” the author illustrates how

much you can be impacted by training consistently. Also, Goldman successfully states his

opinion and full beliefs in full depth to make the audience better understand. For example, on

page 417, “...Dr. Ericsson thinks self-training may be one reason virtually all top athletes today

begin serious practice as children or young adolescents, though some events, like weight

training, may be exceptions because muscles need to fully form before intense lifting begins.”

Action verbs are used throughout portions of the article, like “thinks” and “begin.” Goleman’s

writing is technically sound by making sure the reader is caught up on all knowledge needed to

know before reading the article. Goleman describes, “For example, the marathon gold medalist’s

time in the 1896 Olympics Games was, by 1990, only about as good as the qualifying time for

the Boston Marathon,” on page 412-413. Painting a picture for the audience is very important to
Goleman to specifically describe and share what exactly it is he is explaining. Although there

was a thorough way of specifying details, no jargon, or colloquial language, used or expressed.

Syntax

In​“​Peak Performance: Why Records Fall” by Daniel Goleman, the audience reacted

favorably to Daniel Goleman’s language and vocabulary, again, since it is straightforward.

Syntax:

In “Peak Performance: Why Records Fall”, syntax makes the essay powerful. For

example, “Practice, practice, practice--is getting a scientific spin” (Goleman 412). The dash adds

emphasis on the fact that practice is getting a scientific spin, which powerfully introduces

Goleman’s discussion. Also, Goleman uses loose sentences like, “A 1992 study of baseball

greats like Hank Aaron and Rod Carew by Thomas Hanson, then a graduate student at the

University of Virginia in Charlottesville, found that the all time best hitters typically started

preparing for games by studying films of the pitchers they would face, to spot cues that would tip

off what pitch was about to be thrown” (Goleman 415). The loose sentences contain a significant

amount of information, which is a powerful way to discuss and prove that practice helps people.

After selecting a complete page of the essay, the use of different sentence types varies,

and the page has a total of 16 sentences. Simple takes up most of the page-50 percent, compound

takes up the least amount-6.25 percent, complex is 31.25 percent, and compound-complex is

12.5 percent. Looking at the lengths of sentences as well, the shortest sentence of the essay is

“Practice, practice, practice-is getting a scientific spin.” The longest sentence is “A 1992 study of

baseball greats like Hank Aaron and Rod Carew by Thomas Hanson, then a graduate student at

the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, found that the all-time best hitters typically started
preparing for games by studying films of the pitchers they would face, to spot cues that would tip

off what pitch was about to be thrown.”

Goleman’s writing style is based on facts. He follows an expository cause and effect lay

out by including examples and supporting detail for each reasoning. Examples usually include

medical studies and/or physiological changes.​ Goleman uses parallel construction effectively

throughout the passage, outlining how important practice time means to people who want to

achieve their involved activity. Structure throughout the passage shows significance on how

functions can have similarities for the same task. For example, “The sizes of hearts and lungs,

joint flexibility and bone strength all increase directly with hours of training.” Different organs

jobs show the same pattern of words to show two or more words or ideas are of equal

importance. Overall, the essay uses loose, parallel structure to keep the facts straight forward.

Conclusion:

Before studying this essay carefully, our group did not have background information

about why records have been falling. We learned that practice is the worldwide source of

bettering yourself as a whole person. Along with that, we learned time and age play a major

priority for getting enough practice done. Many sources were used throughout “Why Records

Fall,” which we saw as Goleman’s strongest trait. Finding reliable sources to back up the topic of

discussion is sometimes hard for writers, but it did not seem to come too hard for Goleman. Of

course, with a strength usually comes a weakness. A weakness for Goleman is not too prominent,

but something we noticed is using a lot of words in his sentences. Although Goleman is always

straight to the point, some sentences contain at least thirty words or more. Because of that, we

had to re-read sentences to fully comprehend what he was saying. All in all, Goleman’s essay is
a well put together piece that includes factual evidence, a clear perspective, and a good use of

syntax.