Adie's Short Story

“Stories can break the dignity of a people. But stories can also repair that broken dignity” (5). This quote from Chimamanda Adichie’s TED talk in “The Danger of a Single Story” portrays the damage and the power a single story can have on one’s judgement and perception of others. In other words, only knowing one story leads to stereotyping the unknown stories that fall behind. Adichie executes a helpful job at illustrating the encounters that she as a minority had to go through, and explains the thoughts and stereotypes that she had on others as well.

William, Rachel’s three year old son is crying standing over her as she is slowly regaining consciousness. Her boyfriend, Daniel, was gone; their bedroom door was left cracked open and Rachel was on the couch in their room. Pained around her neck from where he choked her, she tries to wrap her head around how she got to this point. Why does Daniel hate her? What did she do this time? Can she, should she, just leave with William? Rachel realizes she has to get out of the house before Daniel gets back. When she arrives at her mother’s house, her mom is alarmed. Rachel has bruises around her neck and marks around her hairline. Rachel’s mother tells her “You come here every week and you go back to that monster every week. I see these bruises but you must not feel they are a problem since you keep going back to him.” Rachel’s mom walks out of the room frustrated.

A single stories’ “power is the ability not to just tell the story of another person, but to make it the definitive story of that person” found in the speech “The Danger of a Single Story” by Chimamanda Adichie. Adichie tells of single stories she has witnessed against others and herself throughout her life, being from Nigeria, coming to a university in America, and traveling throughout her life. Brent Staples’ personal essay “Just Walk on By” provide examples from his own personal experience, of single stories that have been raised against him as an African-American male. Both express how believing in only things heard can demolish truths that have not yet been proven. Single stories may cause not only empowerment, but also a negative stigma to a person, group, or a place. There are many possible dangers that come along with a single story pertaining to the start or continuation of a story heard as well as the act of believing in it. Everyone has been in the same place as Adichie and Staples; been a victim or believed in the oppressors

In October 2009, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie shared stories about her transition from Nigeria to the United States in a TED talk entitled, “The Danger of a Single Story” (Adichie). In her talk, Adichie comments about the perception that others had of her when she immigrated to the States. This inherent cultural misunderstanding transcends time and ethnicities. Take for instance Brent Staples, a young black man tired of being profiled on the streets of Chicago. His 1968 essay, “Black Men and Public Space” (Staples), paints a bold picture of racial stereotyping at its core. In the essay, Staples remarks that the perception a young lady had of him was enough to send her “…running in earnest” (Staples 1). Staples’ and Adichie’s stories, though different in nature, share one thing in common: they both show the effects of uninformed perception.

Learning to fight for your life was easier than this. Though the life was difficult in itself nothing came close to the difficulty of watching someone you love walk away, it seemed to only get harder even if it was your fault in the end. Pushing people away was a specialty of his and when it actually worked it was earth shattering. The silence pointed out the flaws that he’d managed to go without noticing with her by his side but now they screamed at him yet again. He was back to the self-destructive, sacrificial, self-loathing creature he always was. Though he always knew his family was broken it wasn’t even close to this damaged. He wasn’t the only one that felt the loss, his brother had lost someone as well. It was a feeling in the air

Her whole world was crashing down. It what seemed like only a split second, her best friend’s father had been condemned to death. Someone who she considered to be like a father was going to be taken away, ripped away from her.

“Fine,” she looked up as a man with a scar running down his cheek smiled sinisterly. She didn’t trust him, she moved to try to get out of his reach but he pulled his arm out. Her eyes widened in horror as his fist came forward, she had stopped crying, watching the fist as if it was coming at her slowly. When it hit her face she barely registered it, it didn’t hurt, only stung and sent a shock through her body. Another fist came, then another. Her vision was going blurry, she heard them say something but she couldn’t make out what it was as her body fell limp against the seat and her eyes shut, unable to handle the pain in her

The author was seeking justice against her father’s shooter. Though her father had let the ordeal go, she chose infiltrate the attacker’s privacy and live with their family as a journalist. As she learned more about them, her thinking shifted towards the shooter. She did not forgive him but when he was not released with all of the other prisoners, she felt sorrow for the family and herself. She has learned from the family about the attacker and felt sorry that she had ever tried to seek vengeance against him. He was already shown justice but after talking with the family, she only wanted his forgiveness, forgetting about seeking

Chimamanda Adichie gives audience examples in order of time. She begins with her impression on British and American literature, compared with that of Nigera together with her experience with Fide’s family. Chimamanda then mentions her interaction with her roommate and university professor, presenting the fact that other people feel sorry for her as she is an African. Those proves the fact that stereotype can rob people’s dignity and hurt their hearts. Though there are great amount of catastrophes, a great many people failed to see the positive side of Africa. In addition, she shows her guilty after she finds that she was deceived by notorious stories about Mexican. Chimamamda reasons that a stereotype is created through consistent repeat on only a single story, which makes people unconsciously generate

It had been twelve days since the accident, and with every minute that had passes Jordan thinks he’s getting closer to losing his mind. His chest had constricted when he had seen her limp, doll-like form stretched out on the operating table, the beep of the machine the only thing giving any sign of her still living. The doctors’ faces had been grim, telling him that she had a chance, but it was a slim

Her mother was tied across a bloody table, whimpering and begging. The table was covered in deep crevices created by the swinging of an axe. Her father kept repeating, “ You knew the consequences” to Eva. Allie searched for a way to escape the ropes she was held down by, but she soon came to realize that there was no way out. On the walls of the basements, there were countless knives, scythes, and machetes, all dark red in color. Eva muttered something that infuriated the man that Allie once called her father. Tears streamed down Allie’s face as her mother squirmed on the table in the center of the room. He grabbed the axe and faced Allie, the man yelled, “This is for you!” He raised the axe above his head and swung.

First of all I would like to say how much I loved each and every discussion board I got to participate every week as we learned more about the issues faced with women of color in the US. This class truly makes you open your eyes to the world and view differently how we interact and judge.

The sound of a loud sob tore Josie out of her memory, pushing her blanket to the side; she tiptoed over to the top of the stairs. Her little brother was already there, hiding behind the rails. Without looking up at her he whispered, “Momma’s crying.” Her brother wasn’t any taller than the rail so he had no problem hiding, Josie

Internships are where higher education meets employment; they allow students to gain experience working in an organization while studying at university. They can be paid or unpaid and allow you to work in an organization for a set period, which could be anything from one intensive week, to interning once a week for twelve months. In some courses, such as medicine, nursing and education, which require access to hospitals and schools, industry placements are standard and are organized by the university. Other courses, such as those in the arts, business, engineering, law, information technology and science fields, vary between institutions and may or may not include industry placements or internship

She thought of her son’s friend from Powers, poor little Mark, staggering out of the woods just last week as she drove by. What a shock it was to see him drenched in blood, looking confused, looking, perhaps for his mother. How could anyone be so heartless?