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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. How does Gladwell say “Stella” has lost her class’ attention in the video of her classroom from the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia?

2. What western capital does Gladwell say Saigon resembled in the 1960s?

3. What does Gladwell say led to the “unexpected freedom” that Wyatt Walker felt, in stirring up trouble with Bull Connor (173)?

4. How does Gladwell characterize Wyatt Walker?

5. How was police officer Joanna Jaffe trying to show the community of Brownsville that the police were on their side?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Stella get wrong about teaching in the video Gladwell refers to, from the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia?

2. What is Brer Rabbit’s secret power, According to Gladwell?

3. What is the flaw in Nathan Leites and Charles Wolf’s report Rebellion and Authority, According to Gladwell?

4. Why does Gladwell say that it took the British so long to understand that they were applying too much force in northern Ireland?

5. In what way does Gladwell say Hudson’s photo is “trickery” (192)?

6. What does Gladwell say were the circumstances that led to Freireich’s father death?

7. What was Leon Gouré’s approach to American strategy the war in Vietnam?

8. In what way does Gladwell say that northern Ireland is just like a kindergarten classroom?

9. How does Gladwell explain Freireich’s wife’s bond to him?

10. What does Gladwell say happened in Montreal when the police went on strike?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What topics would you like to research further, after reading David and Goliath? Describe why additional research or reading would be beneficial to an understanding of this book. Propose a list of articles or books you would read in order to get a better handle on David and Goliath.

Essay Topic 2

In many of Gladwell’s stories, Gladwell attributes a person’s success to the one trait he (Gladwell) is talking about—but this approach blinds us to the thousands of other variables that affect people’s careers and decisions, which in many cases are tied to other factors like the times, or simple luck, or the privileges of class and race that kept Dr. Freireich from being jailed for DWI, for instance (137).

How are Context and Privilege eclipsed in Gladwell’s stories, how does he try to account for them, and how successful is he? Does his refusal to include compounding variables ultimately compromise his examples to two-dimensionality?

Essay Topic 3

Write an evaluative review of David and Goliath. What is this book’s place in our culture? Who will find this book most useful? What are its uses? What are its limitations?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,137 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample