How to Rule the World: An Education in Power at Stanford University

What rhetorical devices or literary techniques does Baker use to balance a coming-of-age story with an institutional exposé?

Compare and contrast How to Rule the World with other journalistic procedural narratives such as Woodward and Bernstein’s All the President’s Men or Ronan Farrow’s Catch and Kill?

Baker ends the book by saying, “It is precisely because I love Stanford that I wish it to be better” (300). In what ways does his book balance his love for the university with his critique of its ethics?

How does Baker’s first-person narration impact the narrative? How would the story be different if he had chosen a third-person POV?

In what ways does Baker’s portrayal of MTL reinforce his commitment to journalistic objectivity? In what ways if any does it reflect personal bias?

Despite their important role in Baker’s story, what are the limits of the scientific sleuths when confronting the combined forces of institutional and corporate capital?

Conduct additional research of the 1980s Savings-and-Loan Crisis, how does Steve Neal’s involvement in both scandals inform the book’s critique of legal power?

Does Justin’s How to Rule the World seminar represent a corrupting external influence on Stanford’s culture or the logical culmination of its most prized values? Cite specific examples from the text to support your argument.