Discuss the persuasive advantages of planting a naysayer in your text. How does Gladwell plant a naysayer in chapter 9 of David and Goliath, his story about Pastor André Trocmé and the Jewish refugees in Le Chambon?

The naysayer in Chapter 9 (David and Goliath)

In chapter 6 of They Say / I Say, Birkenstein and Graff discuss the persuasive advantages of planting a naysayer in your text. How does Gladwell plant a naysayer in chapter 9 of David and Goliath, his story about Pastor André Trocmé and the Jewish refugees in Le Chambon? How does he answer this naysayer, and how does it work to support Gladwell’s point that, to paraphrase Trocmé, the Nazis could never get to the end of the resources of the Huguenots?

To answer this question, you’ll first want to make sure you have a good understanding of what Birkenstein and Graff mean by the phrase naysayer. Then, you’ll want to identify how Gladwell uses this technique and explain how and why it’s effective in strengthening his argument.