Chimamanda Adichie: The Danger of a Single Story (Video)
Dialectic Reading
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What question did the text/chapter raise? |
How did the text answer this question? |
How does the answer match our own ideas and experiences? |
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How are single stories dangerous? |
This video answered this question by addressing that single stories create stereotypes. However, as Chimamanda Adichie that the problem with stereotypes is that they are not entirely false, though they are incomplete and that causes a single story to become the ONLY story. For example, Adichie’s roommate assumed so much about her before she even met her, such as she believed Adichie probably did not know how to use a stove, or that she could not speak English, and that she probably listened to her “tribal” music. The reason being she had a single story of Africa. In this single story as Chimamanda demonstrated “was no possibility of Africans being similar to her in anyway,” this is utterly untrue as she realized. |
I completely agree with Chimamanda Adichie; single stories can be very dangerous. I believe it is important to view other stories not just one before you consider making assumptions. As Adichie said “stories matter, many stories matter. [They] can be used to empower and humanize. [These] stories can break dignity of people, but [they] can also repair that broken dignity.” I take this approach in many ways in my life. One of which includes: when I’m researching for a paper I look for more than just one story on a topic to avoid stereotypical assumptions. |
tinarandhawa 