Dangers Of A Single Story By Adichie
Response 3
In "The Dangers of a Single Story" by, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, The speaker, (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie), explains how reading various children’s books opened her mind to how all cultures could be represented in literature. Adichie Then brings her reasoning to a broader matter of how a single story can divert our awareness of other persons. Adichie read mostly European books that she found were different from her culture, but when Adichie found African stories she then realized that people like her could be in the stories she read about. She spoke on the assumptions that her family made in the example of the house boy servant, the assumptions she made personally, and the assumptions and biases of people around the world. Her lecture
combined travel, reading, and literature. Primarily, her main objective is that many people believe what they believe about people from marginalized backgrounds or foreign places because they are subject to a “single story”, versus a story with multiple viewpoints. I observed that “the danger of a single story’ corresponded with the educational measures between the performances of groups of students, especially groups defined by socioeconomic status; in the western world, Africa, and throughout the world. Cultures are scaled down to abstractions and this must be eradicated instead of stereotyping an entire country or continent. For example; how Adichie mentioned the attendant on her flight calling Africa a “country”, instead of researching it and knowing that it’s a continent.
Her points on generalizations and stereotypes are mundane. She expressed that they weren’t new assumptions and biases, and read some of John Locke’s excerpts to prove so. I feel that due to social media and the abundance of digital data, that people don’t take the time to research and separate the facts from the assumptions. It’s easy to spread assumptions and lies than it is to spread the truth. Adichie stresses that we should stay away from the “single story” and learn to research and accept different views and not what is assumed by people. I find that her argument isn’t flawed, but that may just be my biased ways due to me hailing from Nigeria like the speaker. Being Nigerian I feel where she is coming from but also being American I feel that not only is she right, but that I find myself assuming and being biased more times than often.
In "The Dangers of a Single Story" by, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, The speaker, (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie), explains how reading various children’s books opened her mind to how all cultures could be represented in literature. Adichie Then brings her reasoning to a broader matter of how a single story can divert our awareness of other persons. Adichie read mostly European books that she found were different from her culture, but when Adichie found African stories she then realized that people like her could be in the stories she read about. She spoke on the assumptions that her family made in the example of the house boy servant, the assumptions she made personally, and the assumptions and biases of people around the world. Her lecture
combined travel, reading, and literature. Primarily, her main objective is that many people believe what they believe about people from marginalized backgrounds or foreign places because they are subject to a “single story”, versus a story with multiple viewpoints. I observed that “the danger of a single story’ corresponded with the educational measures between the performances of groups of students, especially groups defined by socioeconomic status; in the western world, Africa, and throughout the world. Cultures are scaled down to abstractions and this must be eradicated instead of stereotyping an entire country or continent. For example; how Adichie mentioned the attendant on her flight calling Africa a “country”, instead of researching it and knowing that it’s a continent.
Her points on generalizations and stereotypes are mundane. She expressed that they weren’t new assumptions and biases, and read some of John Locke’s excerpts to prove so. I feel that due to social media and the abundance of digital data, that people don’t take the time to research and separate the facts from the assumptions. It’s easy to spread assumptions and lies than it is to spread the truth. Adichie stresses that we should stay away from the “single story” and learn to research and accept different views and not what is assumed by people. I find that her argument isn’t flawed, but that may just be my biased ways due to me hailing from Nigeria like the speaker. Being Nigerian I feel where she is coming from but also being American I feel that not only is she right, but that I find myself assuming and being biased more times than often.