Exploring the Text

1. Most of Malcolm Gladwell’s readers are familiar with the lunch counter event at Woolworth’s in Greensboro, North Carolina, that catalyzed the civil rights movement. Why, then, does he begin by retelling it and providing such detail in the opening section? How does this serve as a foundation for the argument he develops? Consider both what he tells and how he tells it.

   Question

   uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7

   Chapter 6 - Small Change - Exploring the Text: Most of Malcolm Gladwell’s readers are familiar with the lunch counter event at Woolworth’s in Greensboro, North Carolina, that catalyzed the civil rights movement. Why, then, does he begin by retelling it and providing such detail in the opening section? How does this serve as a foundation for the argument he develops? Consider both what he tells and how he tells it.
2. What does he mean when he writes, “Where activists were once defined by their causes, they are now defined by their tools” (para. 7)? Do you agree or disagree with this idea? Explain why.

   Question

   uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7

   Chapter 6 - Small Change - Exploring the Text: What does he mean when he writes, “Where activists were once defined by their causes, they are now defined by their tools” (para. 7)? Do you agree or disagree with this idea? Explain why.
3. What is the key point Gladwell makes in the paragraph beginning, “Some of this grandiosity is to be expected” (para. 9)? How does he connect his statement “Innovators tend to be solipsists” with the assertion that ends the paragraph, that “we seem to have forgotten what activism is.”

   Question

   uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7

   Chapter 6 - Small Change - Exploring the Text: What is the key point Gladwell makes in the paragraph beginning, “Some of this grandiosity is to be expected” (para. 9)? How does he connect his statement “Innovators tend to be solipsists” with the assertion that ends the paragraph, that “we seem to have forgotten what activism is.”
4. How does Gladwell define “high-risk activism” (paras. 11–12)? Why does he believe that activism based on today’s social media cannot qualify as “high risk”? Consider the contrast between “weak ties” and “strong ties” as part of your definition.

   Question

   uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7

   Chapter 6 - Small Change - Exploring the Text: How does Gladwell define “high-risk activism” (paras. 11–12)? Why does he believe that activism based on today’s social media cannot qualify as “high risk”? Consider the contrast between “weak ties” and “strong ties” as part of your definition.
5. What is the purpose of the example of Sameer Bhatia, who found a bone marrow donor through social networking (para. 17)? Do you find it persuasive, or is it too exceptional?

   Question

   uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7

   Chapter 6 - Small Change - Exploring the Text: What is the purpose of the example of Sameer Bhatia, who found a bone marrow donor through social networking (para. 17)? Do you find it persuasive, or is it too exceptional?
6. What is the distinction between increasing motivation and increasing participation that Gladwell makes (para. 19)? Why is this distinction important to his argument?

   Question

   uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7

   Chapter 6 - Small Change - Exploring the Text: What is the distinction between increasing motivation and increasing participation that Gladwell makes (para. 19)? Why is this distinction important to his argument?
7. Throughout this essay, Gladwell relies heavily on expert testimony. He cites scholars and researchers as well as business analysts and State Department officials and security advisors. Choose two examples, and discuss how Gladwell uses one to support his argument and the other to examine a counterargument.

   Question

   uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7

   Chapter 6 - Small Change - Exploring the Text: Throughout this essay, Gladwell relies heavily on expert testimony. He cites scholars and researchers as well as business analysts and State Department officials and security advisors. Choose two examples, and discuss how Gladwell uses one to support his argument and the other to examine a counterargument.
8. In order to make his argument against the belief that the “new tools of social media have reinvented social activism” (para. 7), Gladwell must delineate precisely the central qualities of social activism. What are they? Refer to specific passages in the text to support your analysis.

   Question

   uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7

   Chapter 6 - Small Change - Exploring the Text: In order to make his argument against the belief that the “new tools of social media have reinvented social activism” (para. 7), Gladwell must delineate precisely the central qualities of social activism. What are they? Refer to specific passages in the text to support your analysis.
9. Gladwell does not entirely discount the power of social media. What benefits or positive impacts does he grant to social media? Do you find his term “digital evangelism” (para. 8) a critical description, a particularly apt one, or simply a colorful one? Why?

   Question

   uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7

   Chapter 6 - Small Change - Exploring the Text: Gladwell does not entirely discount the power of social media. What benefits or positive impacts does he grant to social media? Do you find his term “digital evangelism” (para. 8) a critical description, a particularly apt one, or simply a colorful one? Why?
10. Gladwell uses many examples from fairly recent history, such as the fall of the Berlin Wall and protests in Moldova and Tehran, yet he repeatedly returns to the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Why? Does doing so strengthen his argument by adding coherence and depth, or weaken it by over-relying on a single example? Explain your viewpoint.

    Question

    uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7

    Chapter 6 - Small Change - Exploring the Text: Gladwell uses many examples from fairly recent history, such as the fall of the Berlin Wall and protests in Moldova and Tehran, yet he repeatedly returns to the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Why? Does doing so strengthen his argument by adding coherence and depth, or weaken it by over-relying on a single example? Explain your viewpoint.
11. Compare the opening example at the lunch counter with that of the closing one about Evan and Ivanna in terms of such rhetorical strategies as narrative pacing, sensory detail, setting, dialogue, and point of view. Are they more similar or different? In what ways?

    Question

    uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7

    Chapter 6 - Small Change - Exploring the Text: Compare the opening example at the lunch counter with that of the closing one about Evan and Ivanna in terms of such rhetorical strategies as narrative pacing, sensory detail, setting, dialogue, and point of view. Are they more similar or different? In what ways?
12. At key junctures in the essay, Gladwell makes sharp personal comments. In fact, his ending “Viva la revolución” could be read as downright sarcastic. What others do you notice? Do these editorial comments add vitality and voice to the essay, or do they undercut the argument with a mocking tone? Explain your response.

    Question

    uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7

    Chapter 6 - Small Change - Exploring the Text: At key junctures in the essay, Gladwell makes sharp personal comments. In fact, his ending “Viva la revolución” could be read as downright sarcastic. What others do you notice? Do these editorial comments add vitality and voice to the essay, or do they undercut the argument with a mocking tone? Explain your response.
13. Choose one of the following assertions that Gladwell makes, and challenge it by referring to an example of social activism in the United States or abroad during the past five years:

    • “Our acquaintances—not our friends—are our greatest source of new ideas and information” (para. 16).

    • Networks “can’t think strategically; they are chronically prone to conflict and error” (para. 24).

    • “The things that King needed in Birmingham—discipline and strategy—were things that online social media cannot provide” (para. 28).

    • “The instruments of social media are well suited to making the existing social order more efficient. They are not a natural enemy of the status quo” (para. 32).

    Question

    uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7

    Chapter 6 - Small Change - Exploring the Text: Choose one of the following assertions that Gladwell makes, and challenge it by referring to an example of social activism in the United States or abroad during the past five years: • “Our acquaintances—not our friends—are our greatest source of new ideas and information” (para. 16). • Networks “can’t think strategically; they are chronically prone to conflict and error” (para. 24). • “The things that King needed in Birmingham—discipline and strategy—were things that online social media cannot provide” (para. 28). • “The instruments of social media are well suited to making the existing social order more efficient. They are not a natural enemy of the status quo” (para. 32).