Paijen Joy Q.

Alas
HIS003 A7-4
Assignment

The Danger of a Single Story

Directions: As you watch the video, respond to the following questions:

1. How does Adichie describe herself at the beginning of her talk? What words and phrases might she put
on her own identity chart?

From one of the TED Talk series, speaker Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie introduced herself as a storyteller, a
person fond of literature. She started to learn reading when she was four and started writing when she was in the
age of seven. She grew up in Nigeria and recognized herself as a girl of “color”. Stating that she belongs to a family
with a status categorized as middle-class. Had a happy childhood. Over the time, normalized political fear invaded
their lives. She grew up under repressive military governments that devalued education.?

2. Later in the story, we learn how other people view her. How do those views differ from how she
describes herself?

As the speaker shared one of her stories, she talked about her roommate expressing that she felt pity
towards Adichie because she had a default position towards her as an African. The views and perspectives of other
people towards Adichie were based on their limited knowledge and their prejudices/misconceptions. The
unfamiliarity of their experiences results them to view a person’s identity with no possibility of feeling more
complex than pity and no connection as human equals.

3. According to Adichie, what dilemmas can arise when others view us differently than we view ourselves?

When we compare the views of others from our own, we can observe that people tend to focus more on
the differences, negatives, and darkness of the story. It fails to deliver authenticity.

4. Do you think it is a natural behavior for people to sort and categorize the things and people they
encounter in their lives? If so, when might it be useful? When does it become a problem?

In my opinion, I believe it is innate for people to sort and categorize things and people they encounter
with. For some, children grew up in an environment where their parents teach them to be capable of becoming
conscious and wise when it comes to judging a person’s character or situations. For the main reason of ensuring
safety and becoming aware of their surroundings. On the other hand, people who did not grew up with that kind
of training and environment learns to sort and categorize things and people as they venture in life. I guess this
kind of behavior is useful only when our intentions of using it is for a greater purpose and a positive approach. It
becomes dangerous when we use it for selfish benefit and with an improper mindset.
 5. What does Adichie mean by a “single story”? What examples does she give?

Adichie said that single stories represent something. As she shared her experiences, I have come up with
a list of factors of how we share a single story. First, in our childhood stage, the capacities and the knowledge that
are taught to us are limited. Secondly, our exposure to certain one-sided stories is relevant to the accessibility that
we have to our resources. Third, the cases of a mental shift of perception arises because we learn to read and
consider other references. And this is how single stories are made.

6. How did Adichie learn “single stories” about others? How did these stories impact her understanding
of herself and of others? How did these single stories impact the choices she made at home and in her
travels?

During Adichie’s travel to Mexico, Adichie had an outlook towards the people living there (a chaotic POV
of Mexico’s lifestyle and people) because she was immersed in the media coverage about Mexico. When she
arrived, she was an abject immigrant who felt overwhelming shame because of how differently she viewed
Mexico.
Adichie overcame “single stories” and shared her learnings of how single stories are influenced. She talked
about an Igbo term nkali which has a loose definition that meant “to be greater than another”. That stories are
also affiliated with power structure. How they are told, who tells the stories, when they are told, and how many
stories are told. These could impact one’s choices and decisions and help understand others.

7. What enabled Adichie to change her “single story”? What are other ways for these types of stories to
change?

Having an open-mind and the willingness to widen her knowledge by reading and comprehending other
resources enabled Adichie to change her “single story”. In addition, she quoted an important lesson in the end of
her talk, “When we reject the single story, when we realize that there is never a single story about any place, we
regain the kind of paradise.” Adichie said that stories have been used to dispossess and to malign. That stories can
break the dignity of the people, but stories can also repair that broken dignity. She tells us to focus on telling
stories to empower and humanize.
Personally, I think having the correct and intentional mindset enables us to change our single story. We
should be able to become sensitive whenever we speak about other diversities and to not allow ourselves to
become ignorant. According to Chinua Achebe, we should learn to balance stories.

8. According to Adichie, why can “single stories” be dangerous? What is the relationship between “single
stories” and stereotypes?

In reference, Adichie mentioned that single stories create stereotypes. The problem with stereotypes is
said that they are not untrue but rather they are incomplete. She added that stereotypes make one story become
the only story. She shared about one of her students commenting on her novel that generalized men in Nigeria
having abusive personality. Single stories tend to generalize people as a whole and believe it is their true and
dominant identity as beings. Insisting on only the negative stories causes to flatten our experiences and to
overlook the many other stories that forms us. The consequences of a single story could rob people of dignity, it
could make our recognition of our equal humanity be difficult, and it could emphasize more on how we are
different rather than how we are similar.
 9. Why is it that people sometimes make the same mistakes that they so easily see others making?

I would like to reason my answer to this question using the Law of Attraction. I have this substantial belief
in the power of Philosophy and Psychology when it comes to understanding people. In definition, the Law of
Attraction is the ability to attract into our lives whatever we are focusing on. It is believed that regardless of age,
nationality, or religious belief, we are all susceptible to the laws which govern the Universe. Meaning, whatever
the environment or things we are exposed to (repeatedly, consciously, or unconsciously), we tend to imitate and
attract into our lives. Just like what Adichie mentioned in before travel to Mexico, she had overlooked their
lifestyle due to her exposure to media coverage talking about news reports on how poorly they are governed. She
used her experience that media coverage exposure is a medium that influenced her thoughts and perspective.
She said, “show people one thing over and over again, and that is what they become”. When we have become
exposed, immersed, or manifested to things, we tend to be influenced. That is why we see ourselves doing what
others are likely to do.