Single-Story: A Narrative Analysis

“I’m gonna go after Sarah!” Luke screamed over the noise and without second thought, he took off running. My eyes went wide as he was immediately lost in the crowd of walkers.

In group 2 all the members shared some very good recounting and accounting stories. Just by reading them I can tell most of them were sentimental with a meaning behind them. In Kelly DaCruz recounting story she basically loved waking up on Saturday morning with her dad watching her favorite cartoon the Rugrats. Kelly’s accounting story her grandmother was a very special woman but with her not physically being here her mother carries the spirit of a gold heart just like her grandmother. In some cases, not all families celebrate holidays on their actually calendar day. Tracie Hester recounting story was very familiar; I know some people to celebrate Thanksgiving or Christmas either a few days before or after. Tracie parents had busy schedule so they made sure on the day after Christmas they spent it together with no interruptions.

Every story has two sides. We need to learn to look it from both point of views to get the full picture. The dangers of reading a single story include stereotypes, false image, and prevention of the mind expanding. In 2009 the Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie gave a lecture of the dangers of a single story. In the speech she stated, “The consequence of the single story is that it robs people of dignity. It makes our recognition of our equal humanity difficult and it emphasizes that we are different rather than how we are similar.” In this quote, she explains how the dangers of a single story create initial thoughts towards people that may or may not be true, which ultimately leads to stereotyping, when we are most nearly the same.

In Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie ted talk“ The Danger of a Single Story”, she gave an address on her accomplished with writing as an African in her life. Through her improvement as a kid, her involvement with her roommate and different Americans, and her revelation and making of African writing Adichie creates logos in her discourse so the group of onlookers can understand the nature of universe which is “stereotyping”, what she calls, a solitary story. Universe is fill of people with different conceptualizations and theories, and that how they start to adapt a certain way of behaving and there believes represent their thoughts. Adichie depicts these single stories as perilous and that they ought to be kept away from no matter. The nature of

Whether people are aware of it or not, stories make up a huge part of life. Everyone grew up hearing stories about a shady neighbor that might be a serial killer or how someone we knew accomplished an amazing feat that was impossible. These stories were told around the camp fire or at the dinner table to scare us or leave us with our mouths wide open wondering how in the world the character in the story fought off a ferocious beast. Either way, everybody loves a good story. Stories spark curiosity and get imaginations running wild. Some are true, others are stretching the truth a bit, and some do not have an ounce of truth in them. Stories have been around since the beginning of time. How else would we know what happened in the past? All the events were written down or passed down through generations through word of mouth. Stories can represent a time period. John Updike’s short story “A&P” represents the 1960’s perfectly. John was talented at incorporating issues into his stories. He was an excellent writer that received multiple awards for his works. Some would say all but the Nobel prize (Cooper). Rebellion, chivalry and the incorporation of issues from that time period make Updike’s story represent the 1960’s to a tee.

Ordinary, innocent individuals tortured for simply being Jewish. Sage Singer’s grandma has blue numbers tattooed on her arm because she is a Jew. Because Sage is Jewish, she feels segregated from the rest of the world. Sage works night shifts creating freshly baked goods for customers to indulge in at Our Daily Bread. Ms. Signer feels at home behind a counter kneading bread dough nightly. She prefers night shifts, so she doesn’t have to socialize with customers. One night Josef Weber starts showing up at night to chat with Sage. Josef shares his guilty past with Sage, and it affects her significantly. I am reading The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult. In this journal, I will be predicting, questioning, and visualizing.

Story telling has always been an imperative part of cultures throughout history; recently in the last few decades there has been an incredible advance in social media and ingenuity that has made travel convenient and affordable; hence, enabled authors and journalist to travel and create cross cultural stories that spark interest in their readers. However, this advancement has its strengths and weaknesses given that it provides people with more opportunity to read a wider range of topics that reinforces or relinquishes the stereotypes believed about other cultures; this is the foundation of Chimamanda Adichie compelling speech that has a clear message throughout her speech on “The Danger of a Single Story”; furthermore, her presentation is filled with personal accounts that give her speech credibility; she does a tremendous job of not making her audience feel defensive, she uses humor to draw in her audience, and she has a powerful conclusion that ends with a challenge.

For generations, we as a population have been held victims by stereotypes. Society has taught us to look at certain groups of people with pre-conceived ideas, even though they aren’t completely true. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a novelist from Nigeria, gave a persuading speech at TED Global in 2009. “The Danger of a Single Story” follows Adichie’s personal experiences of having “single stories” (stereotypes) of others, as well as experiencing them towards herself. Throughout her speech, she stresses that the hearing of a single story about another person or country, can lead to confusion between different groups or cultures. Adichie explains how stereotypes are created and what everyone can do to help avoid this dilemma. Although stereotypes are a common topic, Adichie’s speech makes it worth hearing all over again due to the choices she made in her writing. She effectively reaches her audience and inspires them through a good use of: rhetorical appeals (logos, ethos, and pathos), repetition, humor, anecdotes, and many others. Along with the rhetorical devices, Adichie organizes her speech into three different sections that greatly impact the deliverance of her message.

In the final project that Juan created, thinking over the entire semester that he had returned. He questioned and wondered what kind of project he should create. Juan went through several idea’s. From creating a music piece of his wonderful memories created here at the college. To the idea of creating one of the tracks to his songs he wrote over the semester. Many went though Juan’s mind until he decided on the final one. This idea he wanted to portray was his climb through the semester. From when he first came into Synths&Midi class, to the end of the long and amazing adventure. His ideal wanted to show, was how much this class meant to him, He had but one dream. Learn everything he could, so that he could apply it to his dream of becoming a Rap & R&B artist. Sounded silly when he first thought about it, but Juan was determined to create this piece and show his appreciation for getting a chance to learn.

“Sir, we are losing control,” Sgt. Billis Nilily franticly stated to Cpt. Franklin DaRoosevelt. “Is there anything we can do to increase our chance of survival?” Cpt. DaRoosevelt questioned. “We could attempt to crash into the cushiony vegetation of the nearby planet, Earth,” suggested Lt. Robert Linkenstein. “If that’s our best chance, then let’s go for it,” Cpt. DaRoosevelt declared.

I then spoke with Bombard. I asked Bombard what had happened. Bombard said since last night her store had been receiving harassment phone calls from a 323----- telephone number. Bombard estimated the harassment phone calls to be around 15 times.

The gears of my five-year-old mind started churning. Letters and numbers covered the paper. I tested out of classes before it was cool. Back then, I didn’t necessarily consider the eventual consequences that would result from this single test.

According to the novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in the article, “The Danger of a Single Story”, she proclaims that when there is just one single story of someone or something, it can be detrimental to said subject. It can be detrimental to a group of people, because that one single story can make great people seem horrible. Having one single story about a beautiful place can make it sound terrifying. The world is multidimensional and having just one explanation of something, can make something sound like it is not. Adichie has fallen subject to believing in just one single story herself and she admits the negative repercussions it can have. In the article the author gives examples of how people tend to speak on things in just one way. People tend to talk about just the positive or just the negative and not include both ends of the spectrum. The author also describes examples of how these one-sided stories can be more harmful than helpful to those reading them.

Discuss the author’s development as a story teller in “The Danger of a Single Story”. The speech “the danger of single story” by Chimamanda Adichie shares few personal stories that related to stereotype. Generally speaking, the author developed as a storyteller through her literary experience in childhood and interact with friends in adults life. Firstly, the author acquired a relatively better telling skill in her childhood. The author “[begin] to write, at about the age of seven”(page 1 ). Therefore, the author started reading and writing at very early age, and she even wrote “about things [she ] recognized”(page1), so that she possessed a better ability to tell and write. In addition, books with “people like [her]”(page 1) not only shifted

The use of narrative view are important for an author. It determines how the reader interpret the story and ultimately understanding the theme. In the work of “Hills Like White Elephant” Ernest Hemingway uses third person objective point of view to present the conflict of a young couple over the difficult decision of whether to have an abortion. In comparison to Hemingway’s work, “Great Falls” by Richard Ford, tells the story of the breakdown of the parents’ relation through the eyes of the protagonist Jackie. The authors of the two short stories use these different points of view, to allow the reader understand the overall themes of the stories; which are the essence of a good story.