Chase Rathgeb
Dr. Jamison9/27/15
Honors 9th Literature
9/27/15Dr. Jamison
Nonfiction Book Assignment
Isaacson, Walter. Steve Jobs. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2011. Print.
In the biography “Steve Jobs” by Walter Isaacson, Isaacson goes into a full analysis of the life of the great Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple. In this nearly 600 page biography, and the 40 interviews for the book, Isaacson reports on how Jobs’ life developed him into the man that created Apple. Jobs was a business man, one of the best in history, and a mastermind, even though he dropped out of community college. Most of all, he was dedicated to his beliefs and ideas. Jobs stated in the story, that he was dedicated because "There's some notion that because I was abandoned, I worked very hard so I could do well and make parents wish they had me back, but that's nonsense" (16). Jobs realized he was given up and it was nonsense that the parents didn’t want him, but according to his friends, “It bothered him greatly” (27). Jobs was also smart, but his grades didn’t show it. Jobs became bored very quickly as he was done with his work much quicker than the students around him. He was transferred to a different teacher, and she unlocked the key to Jobs’ potential. “She figured out the best way to handle him was to bribe him” (13). Jobs enjoyed the reward and the satisfaction he received upon completing his work. This extended to more rewards than perhaps a lollipop. Jobs imagined the greatest rewards possible for his work in the future. Jobs was a business man, one of the best at it, because of his unique attitude and style towards it. Upon hearing he was unique, Jobs stated, “I’ve always felt special” (extras). Isaacson identifies how Jobs’ parents did whatever they could to provide for Steve, even in their state of poverty, and how that worked out for him. Jobs grew up in California, and attended Reed College in Portland, Oregon. He dropped out within the first Semester, but education overall was still important to him. He believed in the long run his parents would respect his decision, even though his parents had been saving for tuition almost all of Steve’s life. Isaacson quoted, “He liked being at Reed, just not taking all the required classes” (40). Lastly, how Isaacson developed Jobs in the story was Jobs’ social abilities. Having social skills makes you good at business, and gives you friends. Jobs had these skills and these friends. In middle school, he was the “loner” (32) but only because he didn’t connect with the other children. In high school and college, Jobs met “Woz” or Steve Wozniac, and the rest of his group. They participated in yoga, and high risk drugs like LSD, and some lower risk remedies for his stress like marijuana.
Walter Isaacson, the CEO of the Aspen Institute is an accomplished writer of biographies like “Einstein: His life and the universe” and “Kissinger.” As an experienced writer, he knows how these books work, and how to make them successful. He uses certain words that just seem to stick to the reader. In the chapter, “What goes up…” Isaacson seemed to want to use the word beaming quite a bit. Beaming in this case means a radiant smile or strong sense of pleasure. They described a very proud Steve Jobs, a “beaming Steve” (181). In the chapter, “NeXT” Isaacson comes across a middle aged Steve, still full of ideas with a slight sense of anger. Isaacson developed a lot of the tone just through these few developing sensory words. He said that Jobs “spewed some derogatory things” (215). He said spewed in such a way, it made it seem like he was just rushing to get it out and he was full of emotion in the delivery of terms. Isaacson also described Jobs as “Manipulative” (54). Manipulative, meaning to influence the behavior or ideas of another person. He said that being manipulative was one of his darker traits, but also one of the most helpful in modern business. Isaacson displayed Jobs as a “spiritual” (39) person. Jobs was very strong through the ways of Buddhism, yoga, and techniques to find Zen. This term seemed to match Jobs perfectly, as he was a strong believer and had strong emotions. Another term Isaacson used was rebellion (19), or resisting authority. Jobs was a rebel, no doubt about it, from doing electronic pranks as a child, to not letting his parents join him in college, to breaking the barrier of thought, thinking differently.
"Steve Jobs." Biography.com. Biography.com, n.d. Web. 27 Sept. 2015.
Between the book “Steve Jobs” and the article “Steve Jobs” they both seem to have the correct information, but a key difference is the personal levels. Walter Isaacson actually met Steve Jobs and had over 40 interviews to ensure he had the most reliable and personal information. The online articles stated the basics, like birth date, college, inspirations, and overall history. Isaacson interviewed Jobs and heard stories only Jobs could have experienced. Jobs stated in an interview that some of the stories he had never told anyone before. Another key difference between the two is that one is an online article, making it possible to add photos and videos. There are 25 photos and a “mini biography” at the bottom of the article, adding a visual effect to the story. The book did not include pictures which made it harder to imagine some of the scenes or large presentations Jobs did for Apple.
Non Fiction Assignment
Steve Jobs was one of the most respected inventors in his time. Most people know him as just the creator of Apple, when truthfully he was much more than that. He took part in creating Pixar and helped Atari and started out from dropping out of community college. Not that Jobs was distracted, but when he was twenty, his main objective was not working, he participated in serious vegetarian diets and did multiple drugs. He turned his life into creating technology while remaining the man he was before.