Outliers talks about cultural legacies that can easily give way to problematic generalizations and stereotypes. It's important to remind students that culture generalizations are not an ironclad predictor of how an individual from that country will behave. Malcolm Gladwell admits, “I'm totally engaging in cultural stereotyping, no question about it…So long as the stereotype is used as a way of understanding how to fix the problem as opposed to demonizing a people or writing them off, then I think it's OK.”
The thought questions in this lesson plan provide material and ideas that students can use to write short original essays and to develop their powers of analysis.
The questions...
