Summary Of The Danger Of A Single Story

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1. What is a single story? A single story is many things: an assumption, a prejudice, and even a single-sided point of view. It is a way of sharing information that implants a preconceived notion about a place or a group of people in the minds of others. Single stories “…show a people as one thing, as only one thing, over and over again, and that is what they become” (Adichie “The Danger of a Single Story”) in the minds of those subjected to the stories. It highlights differences, and fails to truly convey what a place or a group of people really is. An American’s assumption that all of Africa is a tribal, poverty-stricken, uneducated area is an example of a single story, but many only believe that because it was all they were ever told. A …show more content…

She gives examples about how she had fallen prey to believing single stories—such as when she was taken aback when she discovered that her live-in domestic help’s family was not just poor but also hardworking. More often than not, she argues, single stories only highlights differences between people, therefore supplying groups with false images and expectations of others. Single stories also provides us with a disbelief that different groups of people can be more similar to us than we imagined, which can cause discontent, like when Adichie’s roommate was disappointed that Asichie’s “tribal music” was a CD of Mariah Carey. Adichie also states that stories are determined by those who hold power and “…How they are told, who tells them, when they're told, [and] how many stories are told” (Adichie “The Danger of a Single Story”) is all decided by one group of people. This one group of people may produce a story that is true in no way, shape, or form but is widely accepted because there is no other choice. Overall, Adichie is trying to argue that single stories provide us with false perceptions of reality, but stories in general, when told correctly, can do more good than harm. She concludes with an argument that “…Stories have been used to dispossess and to malign, but stories can also be used to empower and to humanize. Stories can break the dignity of a …show more content…

Unfortunately, my father’s family was completely out of the picture, but I never really resented that because my mother’s family more than made up for it. In fact, I cannot remember a weekend when we weren’t at my grandparent’s house in Brooklyn, watching old movies with my grandmother or playing cards with my grandfather. Throughout my childhood, I was unaware of that fact that my family wasn’t well off in any way, shape, or form. My father worked as a line-striper (and still does) and my mother stayed at home with me and my sisters. My parents lived paycheck to paycheck, but I couldn’t tell because we always had food on the table and my parents always found a way to make me and my sisters happy. Our financial situation caused us to move a few times when I was younger, so I never possessed a lot of stable friends until we moved back to New Jersey in 2006. My childhood remained uneventful until I hit seventh grade, which is when I experienced the first death in my family. Unfortunately, my one and only grandfather passed away and my life was shattered, resulting in a long bout of depression that lasted until my time in high school. Instead of going to my town’s high school, I chose to enroll in a Culinary Arts program at my county’s Vocational School. I excelled both in the kitchen and the classroom, and felt that I had found my purpose in life. By the time I graduated, I was

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