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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 characterize the procedures Freireich was performing on his patients?

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

3. How many children does Gladwell say were in jail after the first day of Wyatt Walker’s protests in Birmingham?

4. What kind of officers does Gladwell say were attracted to K-9 duty?

5. How does Gladwell characterize the Brer Rabbit tales for the people who told them?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

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

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

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

5. What does Gladwell say allowed Wilma Derksen to forgive her daughter’s murderer?

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

7. How does Gladwell explain the trait that allowed Londoners to go about their business during the Blitz?

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

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

10. How dos Gladwell distinguish between geniuses and prodigies?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare and contrast Gladwell’s work with other public intellectuals like Christopher Hitchens or Chris Hedges. How are they similar, how are they different? What are the unique features of Gladwell’s book, compared to the others? What kind of public intellectual is Gladwell?

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 1,133 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample