The Danger Of A Single Story, By Chimamanda Adichie's Society

Stereotypes are a form of prejudice everyone will once experience in their lifetime. Stereotypes are centered around an individual's race, gender, social class, religion, and age. They have been known to be elements people use to make judgments and subjectify people to one key feature. As Gordon Allport states, “ To state the matter technically, a noun abstracts from a concrete reality some one features and assembles different concrete realities only with respect to this one feature”(364). Mr.Allport’s words can be summed up to say stereotypes have been used as key fundamentals to associate one feature or aspect of a person with a group that represents it, typically in an unfavorable way.

First of all, stereotypes are destructive and prevent or discourage individual growth because it can cause violence and harm. For example,

Stereotypes and generalizations have negatively depicted the image and character of individuals and groups throughout time. In making these stereotypes we forget about the true character of the individual or group. Somehow throughout time what we have gathered and decided through stereotypes has created the everlasting image we have of one another, it's been hard to change the viewpoint ever since. Through the reading of this article and attaining continuous information of the harm of stereotypes are placing in our world we can start to move away from these unfortunate depictions.

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

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 certain situations, stereotypes can be negative, which in hand, can harm certain ethnicities, racial groups, religions, and other backgrounds. This often alienates certain groups from mainstream societies, as if they are an "other." This further in hand can, lead to heated friction and division among groups, which is not a good thing, and is the "cancer" of a benevolent, developed society. Certain examples of negative (falsified) stereotypes are that African-Americans are violent, Asian-Americans are bad drivers, Latin-Americans can't speak English properly, Middle Easterners are misogynic, White Americans are racist, etc. Of course, these stereotypes in all cases are NOT true, yet sadly the general population tends to seek them as true.

In life, there is a common ground on which most every person can relate. At one time or another, we have all been promoters of or victims of the unremitting nature of stereotypes. According to the Webster’s dictionary, a stereotype is defined as “a simplified and standardized conception or image invested with special meaning and held in common by members of a group.” Most stereotypes take on a negative form and are based on characteristics such as age, gender, race, status, and personal beliefs. Generally speaking, the greatest problem that arises with stereotypes is that they judge group of people by the characteristics and actions of their ancestors, rather than on an individual basis. More often than not, these assumptions will

Today we live in a world that is a multicultural society. More commonly America is said to be a “melting pot”, meaning that our countries populations are made up of many different cultures and ethnic groups. As people with different cultures come in contact with each other there are external aspects such as food, dress, and language that becomes very evident. Using our own cultures lens we view everything from our cultures perspective thus narrowing our views of others and aiding in the difficulty of communicating with individuals of other cultures and backgrounds. Stereotypes exist within every culture all around the world, this includes, African Americans and White Americans within the United States. When thinking of stereotypes the first

Have you ever heard someone say that all Asians are smart, or African Americans are always late, or girls can’t play sports? All if these are called stereotypes. Stereotypes are widely held beliefs for certain groups, and it can be positive, negative, or neutral. In the story “Girls Can’t Play”, Hazel faces a stereotype that girls can’t play ball. However, that is disproved in the story itself and in the article “Why Women Should Play” by Jennifer Shotz.

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

The dictionary defines stereotypes as “a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing.” Our world today is run by an infinite amount of stereotypes. They affect every aspect of people's’ lives. Members of society let others’ opinions affect their own, and people who go against stereotypes are frowned upon. Some stereotypes include those surrounding African Americans, people of Asian descent, and transgendered people. Most people look at an African American male and either get scared of him, assume he raps, our plays sports. However not every single black male in the world partakes in those activities. Some people look at Asians and assume they are all smart, and good at every subject in school, but that

Stereotypes are harmful for the people which power does not favor, and are used as a tool used by people in power to show and state their authority over the people of lesser means.

Nina Barrett Film Analysis Paper AP English P2 Rushmore, The Graduate, and The Breakfast Club: How Existentialist Jumps Lead to the Breaking of Stereotypes and Categorization It is no question that from the time we are born, we are placed into categories based on stereotypes defined by our gender, our race, and our social class. As we grow up, these categories come with a specific list of rules and expectations. These rules and expectations are forced upon us, and sometimes, this leads to unhappiness and loneliness. As shown through popular movies such as Wes Anderson’s Rushmore, Mike Nichols’ The Graduate, and John Hughes’ The Breakfast Club, to achieve happiness and meaning in one’s life, an existentialist revelation and, subsequently, an existentialist jump is needed to break free from these confining categories.

Although prejudice and stereotype seem similar, they actually have two different meanings. While stereotyping involves the generalization of a group of people, prejudice involves negative feelings when “they” are in the presence of or even think about members of the group. “Prejudice comes from direct intergroup conflict, social learning, social categorization and other cognitive sources” (Ferguson). Not all stereotypes are negative; there are also positive and neutral stereotypes. Some stereotypes do not slander a race, culture, gender, or religion, but nonetheless generalize a group of people that may or may not be true. For example, some people say that all Asians are smart or good at math. Though people of Asian descent may often be more studious, not all Asians do equally well in school (Floyd, 62). Another common example of a positive stereotype is that all black people are good athletes, dancers, and singers. Though these are positive stereotypes, when people believe them, they don’t take into account that every person is an individual and different. A neutral stereotype

The presences of stereotypes are overwhelming and are developed by both the environment a subject is raised in and their family. Stereotypes, which are pervasive throughout different societies, become intertwined in the collective values of the society as justification for all forms of social, economic, and political inequality among groups (Devine and Elliot 2000;Kaplan 2004; Operario and Fiske 2004). As people become more exposed to stereotypes they start to become a permanent part of a person’s life, they begin to stereotype themselves almost always involuntarily.