Problem
• Gustave Le Bon describes the way a single member of a crowd can change the disposition of an entire group as "mental contagion." It is as if the behavior of human groups is subject to a kind of viral infection, such that a violent, paranoid, or hysterical individual can infect an entire group, and produce a mass hysteria. Consider whether you see any examples of group behavior in the world around us that could be well described using Le Bon's idea of "mental contagion." If so, describe the behavior and draw attention to the mental contagion you see in it.
• Paranoia. Draw attention to a form of paranoia in the world around us that you think resembles the paranoia visible in one of our literary texts (The Crucible, A Scanner Darkly, or Bodily Harm). Cite language from the literary text at least once, and then explore the comparison between the literary text and our own world.