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Summary Of The Danger Of A Single Story By Chimamanda Adichie

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Single Perceptive “The Danger of a Single Story” written and performed by Chimamanda Adichie addresses stereotypes of a culture based on a singular view of a culture. “Show people as one thing over and over again, and that’s what they become,” argues Adichie. Adichie presents the effects of stereotypes through multiple literary devices throughout her speech; her argument is convincing based on her honesty, humor, and mirrored perceptive. Chimamanda Adichie’s honesty throughout her speech allows the reader to see the effects of a singular view of a culture. Therefore, Adichie uses her honest personal experiences to present the negative results that a singular view creates. “I remember first feeling slight surprise. And then, I was overwhelmed with shame. I realized that I had been so immersed in the media coverage of Mexicans that they had become one thing in my …show more content…

Evidence of Adichie’s use of mirror perspective is “I was startled. It had not occurred to me that anybody in his family could actually make something. All I had heard about them was how poor they were, so that it had become impossible for me to see them as anything but poor. Their poverty was the single story of them” (Adichie). Adichie used her childhood self to show how the single story had even affected her young perceptive. Adichie’s mirror perceptive shows just how common and simple it is to be persuaded by a single story. Consequently, using herself as an example allows the audience to relate to Adichie. It also makes receiving the information in Adichies speech easier to be received; instead of placing the blame on the influences causing the miss perception, she takes responsibility. Moreover, by using mirror perspective the audience is also able to take responsibility on how they have absorbed a single story that has evolved their entire perspective of a culture as a

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In her TED talk called “The danger of a single story” Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, speaks about the negative effects, single stories can have on a certain people. A single story is created when the same discourse is being repeated over an over again in books, TV shows or in the news. The single story creates a stereotypical, one sided perception of a group of people. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie tells a story about how she, came to believe a single story in her childhood. When she was a child she read many American and English books, about people, with whom she had very little in common.

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If she has faced the dangers of her own single story, then she has the authority to speak about the subject. Her life stories then become evidence that contributes to the logos of the speech and proves the genuine dangers of a single story. This danger is also made real through Adichie 's use of literary allusions. Adichie references authors from the 16th century all the way to present day. These allusions provide a historical context, proving the timelessness of stereotyping.

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