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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 does the author consider to be the third of the three rules of epidemics?

2. Lois Weisberg was responsible for the establishment of what renowned program, which gathered youths to a vacant block downtown to make art?

3. On what date does the author describe a young boy overhearing news of the British invasion in Chapter 2?

4. Kitty Genovese was stabbed to death in what neighborhood of Queens, New York?

5. In Gladwell’s rough quiz to test the number of people a person may know, a typical score comes in around what number?

Short Essay Questions

1. What example does Gladwell use first in illustrating a super-connector in Chapter 2?

2. How does the author describe mavens in Chapter 2?

3. Who was Gaeton Dugas? What was his role in the spread of HIV?

4. How does the author use cigarettes to illustrate the Stickiness Factor in Chapter 1?

5. What popular parlor game does the author use to describe connectors in Chapter 2?

6. How does the author describe Lois Weisberg in Chapter 2?

7. What is the typical score for the author’s test for connectors described in Chapter 2?

8. Who was Darnell McGee? What role did he play in epidemics, according to the author?

9. How does the author relate the tipping point to weather in the Introduction?

10. Who helped to increase the “sticky factor” for Columbia Records? How?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the crime statistics in New York City and their dramatic drop from the 1980s to today. When did crime begin to decline? What experts cite changes in crack use, age and economy? When was crime at its highest point?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the needle exchange program instituted in Baltimore, Maryland. What did researchers expect the outcome of the program to be? How were they wrong? Who are the innovators in this scenario?

Essay Topic 3

Describe and discuss the murder of Kitty Genovese and the bystander effect. Who coined the terms “bystander effect” and "Genovese syndrome"? What are more recent examples of this phenomenon? If Genovese had been in a different environment, would it have affected her murder? How does the Power of Context apply to other situations similar to the Kitty Genovese murder?

(see the answer keys)

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