CHAPTER 4: THE POWER OF
CONTEXT
Presented by:
•
Joey
Luke
• Diego
•
•
Dakota
POWER OF CONTEXT
The power of context is best explained, by
saying that an action carried out by another,
in a certain situation can prove to be
powerful, while on the other hand in other
situations that same action can be near
useless or non-relevant.
THE GOETZ CASE-DISAGREE
On December 22, 1984, Bernhard Goetz
was on a subway train in New York, New
York, and was seated next to 4 black kids
when one of them approached and
demanded $5 whole dollars. Goetz then
proceded to pull out .38 mm, 5 shot hand
gun and shot, all 4 kids. Later recognized
as a hero.
“The Goetz case has become a symbol of
a particular, dark moment in New York
City history, the moment when the city’s
crime problem reached epidemic
proportions.”(Gladwell 135)
This argument is illogical, Gladwell uses
the slippery slope rhetorical argument by
completely blowing the case out of
proportion.
The Zimmerman-Martin Case is much like
the Goetz Case, in the sense that it was a
large Scale news story and then
eventually everyone forgot about it.
Gladwell played the Goetz case
like it made everyone that lived
in New York open their eyes to
something that had been
problematic for a while, but in
reality did very little, and
almost 20 years later cases like
Goetz & Zimmerman continue to
happen.
IF YOU WE'RE BEING MUGGED WHAT
WOULD YOU DO ? WHY ?
THE BROKEN WINDOWS THEORYAGREE
The broken windows theory is a
concept brought up by criminologists
James Q. Wilson and George Kelling.
The idea is that if something is broken
and left unrepaired , it makes others
think that it’s ok to break more things.
“Something else clearly played a role
in reversing New York’s crime
epidemic. The most intriguing
candidate for that ‘something else’ is
called the Broken Windows
theory.”(Gladwell 141)
Gladwell uses logic in these
statements by inserting the broken
windows theory into why New York’s
crime problem continued to decline.
A near perfect example of the broken windows
theory is Detroit, Michigan. Since they did not
enforce this, the city continued to diminish from
the great place it once was. July 18 of this year,
the city filed for bankruptcy, hoping to start
anew.
IF THE COMMUNITY YOU ARE LIVING IN
WAS BEING CLEANED UP, HOW DO YOU
THINK THE ATTITUDES OF THOSE AROUND
YOU WOULD CHANGE? WHY?
HUMAN INSTINCT-AGREE
Psychologists believe that we act the way we
do because of our genetics, or what makes
you the person that you are. Thus, influencing
the power of context to amplify and the
actions that take place to mean more than in
other situations.
 “…there are certain times and places and conditions
when much of that can be swept away, that there
are instances where you can take normal people
from good schools and happy families and good
neighborhoods and powerfully affect their behavior
merely by changing the immediate details of their
situation.”(Gladwell 155)
 Logic is used to describe that if you take a good kid
and put him in a bad situation it may change his
behavior from good to bad.
 Money and fame changes everyone’s attitudes. Two
perfect examples of that are: Miley Cyrus and Justin
Bieber. Both started off as typical pop stars that little
kids look up to, but once fame and money got in the way
of that it put the 2 in situations they weren’t used to.
Justin Bieber was recently accused
of getting in a fight outside of a
NYC nightclub and could face
deportation if found guilty of
assault or battery.
Miley Cyrus has strayed from her
Disney roll model status and took to
twerking, setting great examples
for all the little children out there.
IF YOU WERE PUT IN A SITUATION THAT YOU
WEREN’T USED TO BEING IN, WOULD IT CHANGE
WHO YOU ARE AS A PERSON? WHY? WHY NOT?
PROMPT QUESTION:
What is your perfect example where
the power of context was crucial to how
things went down? Why?
FIN