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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. Who are the Borgenichts?

2. What does a feudal lord take from his farmers?

3. What do the pilots instruments indicate?

4. What do farmers of the Middle Ages do in the summer in Europe?

5. What does Korean airlines realize is a large part of their problem?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who is Joe Flom?

2. What does Suren Ratwatte say about a Colombian airliner that crashes in New York?

3. How is a work ethic related to growing rice?

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

5. Why is Flom willing to work proxy wars?

6. What is the second lesson of Joe Flom?

7. What are proxy wars?

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

9. What is the third lesson of Joe Flom?

10. What is Gladwell's interpretation of Cohen and Nisbett's experiment?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Gladwell gives the reader an overview of his ideas about success in Outliers. Discuss one of the following:

1. Discuss Gladwell's opinions of three topics he discussed in relation to success. Do you agree or disagree with him? Why? Use examples from Outliers to support your answer.

2. Compare and contrast Gladwell's opinions from Outliers with what you might imagine Gladwell's opinion might be had he lived 100 years ago. How do you think his opinions would change? Would they remain the same? Explain fully. Use examples from Outliers to support your answer.

3. Discuss how you think Gladwell's view on several topics from this essay informs his life as a researcher. Use examples from Outliers to support your answer.

Essay Topic 2

In the essay, "My First Impressions of the U.S.A., Einstein talks about what he calls the "cult of individuals." Gladwell states that Americans do not feel the need to obey authority. Discuss the following:

1. How would a "cult of individuals" explain why Americans are not intimidated by authority? Use examples from Outliers to support your answer.

2. Discuss ways in which Koreans' response to authority was partly responsible for the dismal accident record of Korean Airlines. Use examples from Outliers to support your answer.

3. Discuss the pros and cons of a society based upon a "cult of individuals." Use examples from Outliers to support your answer.

Essay Topic 3

Titles often play a vital role in making a person decide to read a particular book. Discuss the following:

1. Fully explain why you think Outliers is titled as such. Do you think it is the best title for the book? Why or why not? Can you think of a better title? Why would you choose it?

2. How important is a title in influencing you to consider reading a book? Explain your answer.

3. Do you think a title needs to have direct relevance to a book's content? Explain your answer.

4. Have you ever read a book that when you finished, you do not understand the relevance of the title? Does it discourage you from "trusting" that particular author again?

(see the answer keys)

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