Malcolm Gladwell: The Tipping Point

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This activity contains 3 questions.

Write a summary of Gladwell’s essay. Be sure to include the three types of reasons he offers for an event or situation to “tip” over into epidemic: the “Law of the Few,” the “Stickiness Factor,” and the “Power of Context.” Include an example of each in your summary.

To create paragraphs in your essay response, type at the beginning of the paragraph, and at the end.

Write an essay in which you explain the different types of causes of a social phenomenon, such as the rise of teenage smoking; the popularity of a best-selling book (the Harry Potter series, for example) or movie (The Lord of the Rings series, for example), or the success of a current fashion trend (low-riding jeans or body piercing, for example).

To create paragraphs in your essay response, type at the beginning of the paragraph, and at the end.

Do some research on the topic of Internet dating or reality TV. Then write an essay that accounts for different kinds of reasons why Internet dating or reality TV has become popular (or why it is declining in popularity)—or both.

To create paragraphs in your essay response, type at the beginning of the paragraph, and at the end.

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