View a FREE sample

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

Short Answer Questions

1. When is Harlan settled?

2. How many crashes has Korean Airlines experienced in the past twenty years at the time of this study?

3. What do the pilots instruments indicate?

4. What is the most important thing in the type of culture Gladwell examines in Kentucky?

5. What are people quick to do in the type of culture Gladwell examines in Kentucky?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the crash of Flight 801 fit a pattern for Korean Airlines?

2. What is the third lesson of Joe Flom?

3. What experiment do Dov Cohen and Richard Nisbett conduct in the 1990s?

4. Explain the term "Power Distance Index" and who coins the term.

5. What is entailed in growing rice?

6. What does Gladwell think is the cause of families feuding?

7. Where is Harlan, and who settled it?

8. What is Gladwell's general premise about the connection between growing rice and the success of Asian peoples?

9. Why is Flom willing to work proxy wars?

10. Why doesn't Joe Flom work for a large, prestigious law group when he graduates from law school?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Often, authors will write about "what they know," and sometimes knowing a little about the author makes the books more interesting. Discuss the following:

1. Research and give a brief biographical sketch of Malcolm Gladwell.

2. What in Gladwell's background may have helped him in writing Outliers? What may have influenced the way he depicts various characters and scenes?

3. Do you think there is always some of the author's own life in his/her novels? Why or why not? Give examples.

Essay Topic 2

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.

Essay Topic 3

Chapter 5 is called "The Three Lessons of Joe Flom." Joe Flom is a partner in a very successful New York law firm.

1. Discuss, in depth, the three lessons of Joe Flom. Use examples from Outliers to support your answer.

2. How do you think the lessons of Joe Flom might relate to the idea of fate or destiny? Use examples from Outliers to support your answer.

3. Do you think Joe's success, in his circumstances, was because he was Jewish or do you think any discriminated against minority might have fared the same? Why or why not? Use examples from Outliers to support your answer.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,208 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample