The Dangers Of Singles Stories

    In Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's TedTalk she discusses the impact of the "single story." Adichie talks about a single story and says how it can make someone think something that is not true. She talks about an

In conclusion, the interpretations that a Nigerian and a British reader could have on certain passages of the novel Things Fall Apart could be similar and different. The Nigerian receiver could interpret the novel in a positive way, by explaining certain reasons of why their society, politics and economy work. These interpretations could definitely relate to his life because he’s Nigerian. The British reader could also find some positive reasons of why things work in a certain way in Nigerian, by saying for example that they’re unique. However, this person could find their beliefs ridiculous and would want to influence them in believing in whatever the British person believes in. This brings up the question of

Adichie spoke about the literature that is available and its’ strong influence on readers. She told her story about growing up and reading all American and British stories, which she described by saying “ the characters were white, played in the snow, ate apples, talked about they weather, and drank ginger beer (Adichie, 2009). These stories then influenced her writing as a young child, as they were the only things she had been exposed to, although she later realized that the stories did not portray her. Astonishingly, as she grew as a writer and began to write books that reflected her as a woman from Nigeria, she found that many of books did not portray people of different cultures, and the few that did only told “a single story.” Therefore, readers of diverse books many only understood the single story about the cultures, ethnicities, and races being portrayed in that single book, thus creating stereotypes. Hence, the TED Talk: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: The Danger of a Single Story provided great insight into stereotypes, how they are created, and the shed light on how limited amounts of information can influence

Novelist Chimamanda Adichie brings into consideration to Keim discussion, by emphasizing the connection between a “single story” and “stereotypes” regarding the subject of Africa. One of the dangers Adichie includes in her discussion are individuals being denied the opportunity to tell their story. Adichie draws similarities to Keim when discussing her own personal journey to find her authentic cultural voice, and she emphasizes the many misunderstanding that society, including herself, have made. Adichie admits to not only facing stereotypes, but addresses her own opinion regarding the topic. Adichie admits that as a child, she had initial biases regarding a servant that was employed by her family. According her explanation, she believed that the capability of someone “the servants family” coming from a certain background, made them incapable of such artistry. The same misconceptions can be seen in present day society, we often are prejudiced on who or what can be cultured.

The background of an individual determines their approach and consideration of situations. The short story “Where Did You Get That Name?”, by Baratunde Thurston, demonstrates this precisely, when Baratunde, a young Nigerian boy, finds himself explaining the origin of his name to who he refers to as Father Nigeria, saying “I got it from my parents” (Thurston3), only for the interrogation to continue and the man to dismiss his explanation and ruthlessly assume that Baratunde “[had] no history, no culture, no roots…[and] decided to indict, judge and reject all of African America.” (Thurston3). “Father Nigeria”, being marinated in the Nigerian Culture all his life, immediately questioned Baratunde’s authenticity. Because Baratunde was only partially Nigerian, this man reverted to his culturally defensive mentality, and undermined Baratunde’s identity. Father Nigeria had come from purely Nigerian roots, and when a Nigerian exposed to American culture attempted to explain his name, he automatically reacted

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.

Single stories create stereotypes and some people are just too naive to understand that a culture is made up of many different stories. In chapter one of International Communication, by Kathryn Sorrells, it discusses positionality, which “refers to one’s social location or position within an interesting web of socially constructed hierarchical categories, such as race, class, gender, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, and physical abilities”(p.13). This relates to the single story Adichie discussed because a person is not just one thing, they hold many different positions in society. For an example Adichie is African, and a part of the middle-upper class. Her roommate in college had a single story of Africans, assuming they all are apart of the lower class.

Before African writers emerged, the world viewed Africa as “‘the antithesis of Europe and therefore of civilization”(Adeche, 1977, p.3) Joseph Conrad’s idea of a civilized nation is Europe, but his ignorance towards other forms of civilizations, lead Conrad to publish Heart of Darkness. Conrad’s interpretation of Africa in Heart of Darkness, being the only one at the time, created the daunting beastial stereotype of Africa. Though Conrad’s story does not entirely embody Africa today, his opinions still sway the minds of Americans today. Similarly, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie encounter a like situation where she fell victim to the single story of Africa. When arriving at an American Adichie’s roommate immediately feels pity for her. When Adichie questions her assumptions she highlights the impoverishment present parts of Africa based on a newspaper article she previously read. Adichie roommate's lack of knowledge prompted her to form a false opinion about African based on one story. When we only embrace one story, we fail to embrace the stories of

We’ve all experienced a “single story” many times. Whether it’s the belief that all people that are from Africa are poor, all politicians are corrupt, all Mexicans come into this country illegally, or that all illegal immigrants are from Mexico or maybe even that America is just a bunch of lazy, obese people that don’t move. You see, all these are stereotypes that really are just assumed by outsiders because of what they hear from people, the media and other sources. The majority of these principles are from the media. However, with that we need to understand that the media tends to make stories more dramatic, just to get the ratings up, which looks good for them. If it’s just simply receiving these stereotypes from others, these people usually don’t look to investigate these traits and just assume that these sources are right. To simply put this way, they only see the one side of the story because that’s more dramatic, even though the majority of the time these “single stories” are not true. To be honest, I use to believe that all the “single story” principles as a child, but, as I have grown up I tend to realize that these stories aren’t true all the time and that there are other sides too.

whistles, laughter and an oh so "brave" young fellow who is hungry for some action.

Most of what we know to be African Literature, talks about the changes from an un-dignified "lion-chasing" culture to that of a semi-dignified European society. The novel Things Fall Apart by Nigerian-born author Chinua Achebe, tells the story of a Umuofian villager named Okonkwo, and how Okonkwo has to come to grips with the changes that are happening in everyday Ibo life. The novel Things Fall Apart is not your typical "tall African tale." The novel is a story, a story not just about one person, but about an entire civil-society circa 1890's that becomes overwhelmed with the ideas and beliefs of the European colonizers, or as some like to refer, "the white man." Author Chinua Achebe witnessed this "invasion" first-hand, so who better

"The car was idling when I left. I figured he must have turned on the heat because it was so cold."

For example, Chimamanda talks about how even though Africa is a continent full of catastrophes and tragic stories that are important and should be talked about, that these are not the only stories that should be talked about and how both the good and the bad should be mentioned. Chimamanda addresses how an example of this is if for her Mexico trip, she would have followed the immigration debate from both the U.S. and the Mexican side, or if when she was young if her mother had told her that Fide’s family was poor and hardworking, or if her roommate had known the stories of the Nigerian publisher, Muhtar Bakare, the fearless Lagos TV host, Fumi Onda, or of how even though Nigeria possess a failed government people continue to thrive despite the government rather than because of

My first boyfriend was in third grade when dating was simply awkwardly sitting next to each other and people asked each other out with the check yes or no notes. His name was Bryson Love and we actually stayed together until the beginning of 7th grade (when I actually started to realize dating is supposed to be about liking a guy and wanting to kiss and stuff, ew no thanks). It is definitely the most uneventful relationship I had, and the longest, although I think it should be deemed as not a real relationship considering it ended as soon as we began to understand what a relationship actually was. The only thing I can thank him for is when his dog had puppies he gave me one, and that tiny little thing was so cute, I named it Ladybug. We rarely

I don’t know if you remember, but when we were friends, we used to run around play fighting in the school hallways. It sounds strange, but I appreciated that. You were the only person who didn’t treat me like I was too fragile; weak, or at least that’s how I interpreted it.