84 pages • 2 hours read
Dale CarnegieHow to Win Friends and Influence People
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1998A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Introduction
How to Win Friends and Influence People
- Genre: Nonfiction; self-help
- Originally Published: 1998 (revision of 1936 edition)
- Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 1020L; adult/college
- Structure/Length: 4 parts with introduction; approx. 288 pages; approx. 7 hours, 15 minutes on audio
- Central Concern: The author outlines a set of principles readers can use to get along with others, win others over to their point of view, and be effective leaders. The principles are based on listening, compassion, and respect, and the author illustrates them with real-life examples of successful interactions.
Dale Carnegie, Author
- Bio: 1888-1955; born on a farm in Maryville, Missouri; participated in debating clubs in high school and college; practiced his speeches while riding to and from college on horseback; worked as a salesman and an actor before finding his calling as a public speaking instructor; founded the Dale Carnegie Institute to allow more students to take his popular classes; his 1936 book How to Win Friends and Influence People became a bestseller that was translated into many languages; wrote other self-help books as well as biographies of successful historical figures; his Dale Carnegie Institute operates today in dozens of countries around the world
- Other Works: The Unknown Lincoln (1952); The Quick and Easy Way to Effective Speaking (revised edition; 1977); How to Stop Worrying and Start Living (revised edition; 1984); How to Develop Self-Confidence and Influence People by Public Speaking (revised edition; 2017)
CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit:
- The Power of Appreciation
- Sidestepping Arguments
- Leadership as Inspiration
STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Unit, students will:
- Develop an understanding of the social contexts regarding leadership that drive the author’s topic.
- Analyze paired texts and other brief resources to make connections via the text’s themes of The Power of Appreciation, Sidestepping Arguments, and Leadership as Inspiration.
- Plan and construct presentations that convey critical thinking about how to have hard conversations and approach difficult interpersonal scenarios.
- Analyze and evaluate the author’s purpose and plot details to draw conclusions in structured essay responses regarding arguments, making friends, and other topics.
