Nick Stryker
Expository Writing
Bill Mabe
November 11, 2002
Final Draft
Paper 5
In "The Power of Context," Malcolm Gladwell explains how situations influence the behavior of human beings. In the essay "Second Proms and Second Primaries," Lani Guinier discusses some of the causes of low voter turnout among the black population in Phillips County, Arkansas. Finally Eric Schlosser, in the essay entitled "Global Realization," offers a ranging explanation of McDonalds' expanding global reach. Gladwell would explain the cause of low voter turnout in Arkansas and the obesity in the United States with the broken windows theory. The broken windows theory can be explained using this example, "If a window is broken and left unrepaired, people walking by will conclude that no one cares and no one is in charge. Soon, more windows will be broken..."(Gladwell, 289) This means that if there is a problem that is left unresolved it will continue to spread until it has caused a sense of anarchy within the scenario.
English: Malcolm Gladwell speaks at PopTech! 2008 ...
Malcolm Gladwell
English: Phillips County courthouse in Helena, Ark...Gladwell would then try and solve these problems by fixing the situation in hopes of fixing the problem.
Gladwell would explain the low voter turnout in Phillips County, Arkansas by stating that the black population is unequally represented because blacks are unable to make it to the polls because of their lack of transportation and communication. To understand why Gladwell would make this statement one must understand Gladwell's view. He believed in the idea that little things can make a big difference, and they set the foundation for big problems to come. The little things in Phillips County, Arkansas all contribute to low voter turnout. Some of these problems are: "...42 percent of blacks lack any vehicle, while only nine percent of the white population is similarly handicapped; and 30 percent of blacks...