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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 many lives does Gladwell say Reynolds feel like he saved?

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

3. What does Gladwell say kept the Nazis from trying to subdue the Huguenots in Le Chambon?

4. How does Gladwell say Leites and Wolf characterize the problem of establishing order, in their report Rebellion and Authority?

5. What does Gladwell say about people who have “emerged from some kind of trauma” (161)?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was the effect of the Three Strikes law in California?

2. Where had Kellen gotten his background for the RAND job to consult on the Vietnam war?

3. What were the effects of the Three Strikes law that turned public opinion against it, and led to its being “radically scaled back” (248)?

4. What does Gladwell say would have happened had the Nazis killed André Trocmé?

5. How does Turtle win the race with Deer, in the Brer Rabbit story Gladwell relates?

6. What was Mike Reynolds’ reaction when his daughter Kimber was shot and killed by a meth addict?

7. What does Gladwell credit Bill Hudson’s photo of Walter Gadsden being attacked by the police dog in Birmingham with having done?

8. How did the women of Ballymurphy break the curfew in Lower Falls?

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

10. 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?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

Essay Topic 2

Malcolm Gladwell uses one particular mechanism to great effect in David and Goliath: He says This phenomenon is exactly the same as That phenomenon, then pulls out the law or reason or pattern that unites them. Sometimes this is highly effective, but sometimes it creates some unusual comparisons or elisions. Where in David and Goliath is this similarity effect most illuminative, and where is it most troublesome to whatever point it is that Gladwell is trying to make at the time?

Essay Topic 3

In addition to being a writer, Gladwell is known for his podcasts. Compare and contrast Gladwell’s book with a podcast episode. How are they similar, how are they different? Is Gladwell making podcast literary, or making books more like podcasts? In which genre does Gladwell come into his own?

(see the answer keys)

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