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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who is Roger Barnsley?

2. What does Gladwell address before he finishes the story about Chris Langan?

3. What group of people founded Roseto, Pennsylvania?

4. What does Oppenheimer succeed in getting himself appointed as?

5. Which country's public school system has a similar effect to that found in Hungarian and Czechoslovakian soccer leagues?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does IQ stand for and who developed a test to measure it?

2. What does Gladwell say a surface examination of the Canadian hockey league system would suggest?

3. Who is Robert Oppenheimer and what does he accomplish?

4. What is the 10,000-Hour Rule?

5. What does Anders Ericcson learn in a study he makes of musicians?

6. What does having a high IQ give a person?

7. What table of data does Gladwell insert in his book at this point?

8. How are students in the hockey leagues grouped and what is the way the children move into other leagues?

9. What does Gladwell say Langan does not seem to be able to do?

10. Describe Chris Langan's childhood and college years.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Gladwell opens his book with a dictionary definition of the word "outlier." It is "something that is situated away from or classed differently from a main or related body," and also "a statistical observation that is markedly different in value from others of the sample." His first example of an outlier is the town of Roseto, Pennsylvania in the first half of the 20th century.

1. In your own words, give a definition of an outlier. Use examples from Outliers to support your answer.

2. Discuss the reasons you think outliers are valuable for research purposes. Use examples from Outliers to support your answer.

3. Explain, in your own words, why the town of Roseto, Pa. is an outlier and make-up another example of a town that would be an outlier. Use examples from Outliers to support your answer.

Essay Topic 2

Gladwell gives the example of Harlan, Kentucky to introduce a discussion of how a person's cultural legacy can affect their success.

1. Define cultural legacy in your own words and give an example of it that is not in Outliers.

2. Discuss two examples of cultural legacy that are beneficial to an individual. Use examples from Outliers to support your answer.

3. Define, according to the values of honor, integrity, hard work, response to authority and honesty what you think your cultural legacy is. Use examples from Outliers to support your answer.

Essay Topic 3

Gladwell in writing about Joe Flom cites anti-Semitism as part of the reason for Joe's success. Discuss one of the following:

1. Define anti-Semitism and give examples of it from both Outliers and other sources.

2. Do you think anti-Semitism still exists in the United States? Explain.

3. Discuss the ways in which racism influenced Malcolm Gladwell's family. Use examples from Outliers to support your answer.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 922 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample