1.

Write an outline that includes:

a. Thesis statement
b. Topic sentences
c. Supporting details (bulleted, not full sentences)

Based on the message of both Ishmael and TTP, can little everyday changes affect the
outcome of social issues?
How Small Things Can Make A Big Difference

Aaisha Al Jabri

Mrs. Hunt

Block D

Essay Writing Assignment

September 22, 2017

 Have you ever heard of the Butterfly effect theory? This is a theory that uses the flapping

of a butterflys wings on one side of the world to explain the occurrence of a hurricane on the

other side of the world. It believes that small changes can make a major impact on our world and

surroundings. Now the question is whether similar theories apply to human social lives and

social issues in particular. Could altering some of the tiny details in our everyday lives be the

solution to many of the social issues that our society faces? To answer this question, one should

first understand the meaning of a social issue. A social issue is a conflict that causes division

between different groups of people in a society. The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell and

Ishmael by Daniel Quinn, are two books that broadly digest the topic of the effect of small

changes on how widespread different social issues become. According to the messages of both

Ishmael and The Tipping Point, minor modifications in the content of the message, that deals

with a particular social issue, the environment, in which the message is being spread, and

peoples perspective of the message can have a large effect on the outcome of a social issue.

To begin with, in The Tipping Point, Gladwell discusses the factors that cause some

products, ideas and behaviors to become popular while others do not. One of these factors, that

could lead to the popularity and trendiness of a certain message, is the modification of the

content of the message. Modification of the content of a message includes making that message

particularly enjoyable, memorable, catchy or otherwise desirable. This idea was known in the

book by The Stickiness Factor. Gladwell gives different examples of how this particular factor

was able to make the kids tv shows, Sesame Street and Blues Clues, unexceptionally successful.

The alterations that were added to these shows werent fancy nor were they special in any way.

They simply made sure that all of their material was based on one simple idea that says that
children dont watch when they are stimulated and look away when they are bored. They watch

when they understand and look away when they are confused. (Quinn 102) Another example of

an alteration in the content of a message that made so much difference in its trendiness was the

addition of a gold box to a mail order music company and the addition of a map to a Tetanus

Shot brochure. All of the changes that were made to the tv shows, advertisement and map were

a subtle but significant change in presentation;..a shift from an abstract lesson to a practical and

personal piece of information [which makes it] memorable. (Quinn 98) As a result, in order to

change the outcome of a social issue, we have to change the way our messages are presented. For

instance, if we wanted to raise awareness on the topic of sexual consent, we would have to think

of ways that would make our message stickier to our targeted audience. This is because changing

the content of a certain message about any social issue can make it stick in the minds of the

public.

Furthermore, the Power of the Context is another factor that Gladwell believes has a

great effect on making a certain message widespread. This concept depends on the conditions of

an environment and how conductive it is in order to maximize the spread of a specific message

or idea. Gladwell writes in his book to further elaborate on the meaning of this concept,

epidemics are sensitive to the conditions and circumstances of the times and places in which

they occur. (Quinn 139) Gladwell lists out a number of examples to support the concept of this

factor. The first example that Gladwell referred to is the decline of the crime epidemic in NYC in

the 1990s. This didnt happen as a result of a major change in the laws or the law enforcement

system. The solution for New York citys subways was simply removing graffiti, and arresting

fare-jumpers. So why were these small actions able to solve a complicated social issue like the
crime epidemic in NYC? Gladwell explains that criminals, just like other human beings, respond

actively to the cues that they receive from the environment around them. He does that by stating,

the criminal... is actually someone acutely sensitive to his environment, who is alert to all kinds

of cues, and who is prompted to commit crimes based on his perception of the world around

him. (Quinn 150) As a result, when the criminals realized that they were in an environment that

discouraged and punished vandalizers, they had less motive to commit crimes. From this, we

understand that if we were ever wanted to change the outcome of a particular social issue, we

should start by changing the conditions of the environment, where the social issue would be

occurring. For instance, take what the nurse, Georgia Sadler, did in order to raise awareness

about breast cancer among women in the black community of San Diego. She changed the

setting, in which she was trying to educate the women, from churches to hair salons. In the

churches, everyone was tired and in a hurry to leave, but in the salons women were more

receptive to new ideas. This change in the environment had a big impact on resolving the social

issue of the lack of health awareness. We could apply this to any other social issue by working

on making the societys environment more receptive to new ideas and information in order to

make any actual difference.

Moreover, Daniel Quinn introduces in his book, Ishmael, a new concept that states

that people are enacting a certain story, that was narrated to them by mother culture, and that will

supposedly destroy the world. In order to change the way people are living, we would need to

change the way they view their role in the story, that they are enacting in this world. We

understand from this that humans perspective of their role in the world can make so much

difference to the way they act towards other living things. An example of this is the way people
believe that the world is made for them and that evolution ended with the creation of man. Quinn

clarifies where the human species believe they stand in the story of creation by saying, Man is

the end product of creation. Man is the creature for whom all the rest was made: this world, this

solar system, this galaxy, the universe itself." (Quinn, 57). If humans changed their mindsets so

that they would start believing that evolution was supposed to continue even after the creation of

man, humans would have been more careful about the way they exploit the sources of this world

and killing other living things. We can conclude from this that changing peoples perspective on

a certain social issue can have a big effect on the outcome of that particular social issue. The

book also talks about how humans believe that they are enacting a story, in which they are

flawed. If people stopped believing in this story, they would start believing that they could

actually change and stop killing the world. People destroyed the world because they broke the

law of life and not because they are flawed. Quinn expresses these sets of ideas by saying,

"There's nothing fundamentally wrong with people. Given a story to enact that puts them in

accord with the world, they will live in accord with the world. But given a story to enact that puts

them at odds with the world, as yours does, they will live at odds with the world. (Quinn, 84)

So if societies were ever faced with any problem, the number one solution to apply should be

changing its perspective on its actions and even the problem it is facing.

In conclusion, dealing with social issues the right way is very important so that the

conflicts and division, that they cause in our society, could be contained as much as possible.

And most of the time, the right way to deal with the problems that our society faces dont really

need that much to be done. Ishmael and The Tipping Point are two books, that introduce new
concepts and ideas, that rely on small changes in the content of the message, that deals with a

particular social issue, the environment , in which the message is being spread, and peoples

perspective of the message can have a large effect on the outcome of a social issue. To get

something right we dont always need the best and the most. Sometimes all that matters are just

the little details.

Work Cited:

An Education Epidemic. EduCred Services,

educredservices.com/blog/2017/5/31/an-education-epidemic. Accessed 22 Sept.

2017.

Quinn, Daniel, et al. Ishmael Quotes and Analysis. GradeSaver: Getting you the grade,

www.gradesaver.com/ishmael/study-guide/quotes. Accessed 22 Sept. 2017.

The Tipping Point | Notes & Review. Vialogue, 23 May 2010,

vialogue.wordpress.com/2009/01/21/the-tipping-point-notes-review/. Accessed 22

Sept. 2017.

What is Chaos Theory? Fractal Foundation,

fractalfoundation.org/resources/what-is-chaos-theory/. Accessed 22 Sept. 2017.