Gladwell Small Change Argument Breakdown
Humanities
Structural Analysis
Based on Gladwell’s “Small Change,” answer the questions below:
1. What are the different sections of the text? How does the author divide his argument?
2. What is the author doing in each section?
3. Where in the text does the author introduce the topic or argument?
4 Where in the text does the author provide examples?
Argument Analysis:
Based on Gladwell’s “Small Change,” answer the questions below:
5. Why type of examples does the writer provide? (i.e. personal experience, statistical data, published material, interviews, etc.)
6. What is the author’s purpose in writing the article?
on a separate document
Please respond the the questions below.
1. In his essay, Gladwell tells us about two concepts, strong ties and weak ties, and he contrasts them. What are strong ties and weak ties, and how do they differ? Use one of Gladwell’s examples to explain this distinction in your own words.
2. Pay attention to the ways Gladwell’s use of those terms (strong/weak ties) helps him build his own analysis of the relationship between social media and revolution. What connections does he establish between social media and the idea of revolution?
3. Gladwell writes, “High-risk activism, McAdam concluded, is a ‘strong-tie’ phenomenon” (81). What does this mean? How does Gladwell use this idea of a “‘strong-tie’ phenomenon” to explain “why the revolution will not be tweeted”?
4. Gladwell claims that networks are very different from hierarchies. Why does Gladwell think this difference matters when it comes to social media and social change? What do you think about the difference?
