Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, in a TED Talks presentation titled “The Dangers of a Single Story”, introduces her concept of the single story as having an incomplete perspective on topics such as race, gender equality, and sexual identity that translate to how people perceive each other. People who suffer from a single story rely on their partial judgment to make decisions about others rather than to make decisions on what is factual. Being exposed to various literature is crucial in avoiding the dangers of a single story because literature allows readers access to the immense library of knowledge from millions of writers. Readers have the privilege to see the world from thousands of different perspectives which allow individuals to immerse in a world from the author’s point of view and reflect upon their own lives. Consequently, readers make better decisions and are more open-minded compared to individuals who do not study the literature. Studying different types of literature expose readers to a number of perspectives that help develop critical thinking skills essential to understanding their society and promoting diversity. In addition, literature encourages mindfulness crucial in the workplace because it eliminates cultural bias while eradicating partial thought processes that lead to single stories.
Reading various types of literature, especially multicultural literature, helps people eliminate cultural bias and introduce various perspectives into culture that support
It alters the way that I see my own culture because ofthe way I viewed it when it was put in other words. One may judge and think that another culture is abnormal from what we practice . But it is forgotten that people often view us different. It makes me question how many times not consciously I criticize other cultures. I think this can help us as scholars so that we can be more considerate. In my opinion when reading of a different culture we should put ourselves in there shoes and try to picture ourselves in there shoes. Instead of just being an observant and comparing it to one's own
Chimamanda Adichie is a novelist and a narrator who delivered a persuasive speech on what she calls; "The Danger of a Single Story" but in reality what it means is the danger of stereotyping. Dictionary.com defines Stereotype as “A generalization usually exaggerated or oversimplified and often offensive, that is used to describe or distinguish a group.” Adichie delivered her presentation on a very well-known website called Ted.com, with one objective in mind, to prevail upon everyone to share their personal stories with the world so that there no longer is a “single story” defining any one person or group. Although, Adichie is aware that the damage that has been already created may take some time to undo, she felt that
Literature is known to have a profound impact on people. It can influence their attitudes, behaviours, beliefs and ultimately, their decision-making process. Reading about the thoughts and stories of other people helps one make moral decisions because it develops one's sense of empathy and it makes one learn more about the world, making them a better person in the end.
As Mahatma Gandhi said, “No culture can live, if it attempts to be exclusive” (Mahatma). Our culture identifies who we are and how we behave in social environments and provides us with a foundation in which to live our lives and raise our families. Each individual culture has certain customs and courtesies that are important. Exposure to the cultures of others can be intimidating and can leave a person feeling confused and unsure about how they fit in (Schaefer 60). Culture shock can leave a person feeling out of place in an unfamiliar culture (Schaefer 60). Our diverse societies demand understanding and acceptance of other cultures. Learning and understanding these cultures before being
Literature is the window to realizing the negatives of society and how destructive certain norms can be. Readers are brought into a completely different story than their own, but by using similar issues in today’s world, the readers can actually learn from the story and its overall message. All writers write for a purpose, whether it’s for a new meaning to life, to live a different life than our own, or to impact others on an emotional level by teaching them to see the importance of the little things. As a reader, you search for pieces of literature that interest you whether you find the story like your own, or wish you lived the life in the story. By using issues in today’s within their works, authors are able to grab the reader's attention long enough for them to get across what they wanted to get across. Often in many works of literature, writers use societal issues as their basis for the work’s themes and symbols. By doing so, this allows the reader to question the morality behind social norms and how impactful certain ideals can be in people’s lives.
Cultural immersion is an essential part of the education experience. It has been used throughout time to allow people to understand those whose ideas and beliefs differ from their own. The experiences gained through immersing in an unfamiliar culture allow the mind to grow in ways that are beyond comprehension. Because our nation is advancing, and merging ides from other cultures, this process is more important than ever. Cynthia Kratzke and Melissa Bertolo (2013) state that if we only teach concepts and language from other cultures we are limiting the ability of future generations to be able to work with other cultures (p.1). Cultural immersion is a way for one to reach a new insight they may not have otherwise gained. Jesus Nieto (2006) says there are main goals to these experiences: 1) to interact with people of a different culture 2) to gain insight into aspects of others 3) to be of a minority group in a setting 4) to gain a new perspective on one’s own beliefs and values (p. 77).
A person can learn a tremendous amount about an individual by exploring their culture. Culture is the doorway to the foundation of a person’s make-up. An individual can obtain a broader perspective on obvious concepts by gaining knowledge. Recently there have been a tremendous amount of publicity because of racial indifference, justice, and knowledge.
The article helped me to understand that multicultural counseling plays a major part in the understanding of the client. Understanding my own biases regarding multiculturalism based upon my own racial group and identity will fundamentally impact my counseling approach. My Way of Being with the client in the counseling session will be directly affect by my ability to understand his or her cultural differences.
This Ted Talk served as a basis for all our essays. Chimamanda Adichie is an African writer who is from Nigeria, but studied in America. In this talk, there is a lot of information about, what she calls, the curse of a single story. This means that if you only have one story about a certain subject, then you have only a limited view of it. Adichie talks about how dangerous this can be, because you are perceiving something hat is most likely more complex and has more information to it, as something that is simple and has one view towards it. I used this to compare my main topic of gap years to. I used
Popular culture is often a reflection of society; both literature and the media have the capacity to cement ideas in the minds of readers and viewers. In many cases, the notions and stories glorified by the media refrain from sharing a true depiction of society and are narrow-minded in their focus. Recently, the feminist movement has denounced popular culture for its ignorance, fighting for a more realistic portrait to be painted by those with the power to reach millions. Specifically, both Roxane Gay’s Bad Feminist and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s “The Danger of a Single Story” share how the classic gender stereotypes seen in popular culture are unable to capture the full spectrum of stories that define society, and are limiting in their portrayals of women. Moreover, both authors share personal stories, reference prominent world figures, and cite relevant statistics in their works. Therefore, in both Bad Feminist and “The Danger of a Single Story”, Roxane Gay and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie appeal to readers pathos, logos, and ethos in order to construct the argument that the single story of women in popular culture is stereotypical and restrictive.
In her 2009 TED talks presentation,” The Danger of a Single Story,” Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie explains how a single story presented by the media and books can affect the way a person may perceive others, places, and cultures (Adichie). She goes into details explaining her point through personal experiences where she falsely misunderstood someone based on a single word she heard numerously, and how she was a victim of a common stereotype. According to Adichie, there is never a single story and that people can go through a mental shift of their perspective if they considered various alternatives that differ from the same story that is commonly told.
From the TED Talk video “The Danger of a Single Story,” I think that the speaker Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie wanted to tell us that we need to read more and know different stories about one place because there are more than one story exist. We should not judge other without knowing themselves. Furthermore, she said that we should not easily believe everything we heard from media because they only give us one impression. I especially felt close to her when she described how she felt after she realized her American roommate teetered her as African not Nigerian. (4:13) Moreover, she had only a single story about Africa. (4:49) Those paragraph remind me when I was in college in New York, my American classmates did not know the differences between Japanese and Chinese or
Studying of cultural literature will promote an individual to become open-minded. Learning about other cultures and their development, which would be impossible to understand by simply reading the pieces of work, will allow the individual to see and appreciate new
Through the use of empathetic language rather than anger,the well known-award winning author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was able to capture and represent her personal ideas to those who haven 't been exposed to feminism and to those who constantly slanders it.In her twenty-first century short essay,We Should All Be Feminists,Adiche addresses feminism and sexism as unsettling issues that all of humanity should be majorily concerned and aware with.She prosposes a solution to the detrimental and negative cyclical persectives that society has imposed on of feminists and women in general based on her previous experiences.By narrowing in on her very own life experiences and her deep understanding of the often covered up realities of the treatment of women and their reputations,she zeros in on what it means to be a woman in the present day, exposes the injustices they frequently ecounter and ultimately explains why we should all be feminists.She focuses on the idea the everyone including both men and women are both the problem and solution to the controverisal and sensetive topic of what is called feminism.By taking these necessary steps and raising our children to understand these steps , Adichie proposes this can finally end the cyclical problem.
Multicultural literature is a way of increasing cultural awareness. Through multicultural books many young readers are able to make a connection with their own culture