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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. What was the occasion that brought the British army into Northern Ireland?

2. How did police find the man who killed Derksen’s daughter?

3. What was Birmingham’s reputation in America at the time Hudson took his photo?

4. How much does Gladwell say the odds increase, that a child of an incarcerated parent will have a psychiatric disorder?

5. What does Gladwell say was the result when Montreal police went on strike for 16 hours in 1969?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How did Freireich compensate for the isolation that came from experimenting in the way he did?

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

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. How dos Gladwell distinguish between geniuses and prodigies?

6. What is the lesson Gladwell derives from the video of the third-grade classroom from the Curry School of Education?

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

8. How does Gladwell say successful dyslexics typically feel about wishing dyslexia on their children?

9. How does Gladwell see Wyatt Walker setting up the photo of the dog attack as evidence of the same law he see in dyslexics succeeding in spite of their condition?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In many cases, you have to step back to a certain distance to share the values Gladwell espouses, overlooking, for instance, the sufferings of children with cancer, in order to see the value of Freireich’s cure, or to say that “You could kill André Trocmé” but “another André Trocmé would rise in his place” (274). How would you characterize the distance one has to have from things in order to see what Gladwell sees. Is it the distance of a scientist? An anthropologist? A statistician? A historian? What are the advantages and disadvantages of that intellectual/emotional distance?

Essay Topic 2

Identify the most important points in David and Goliath. How is the book organized? How does this differ from how a novel is organized with plot points?

Essay Topic 3

Evaluate the ending of David and Goliath. Does it ring true to you? Does it successfully resolve the problems and tensions that preceded it? What would you change, if anything? What are you left wishing for closure on, if anything?

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