The Danger of a Single Story Essay Sample
The Danger of a Single Story – A address that was said by Chimamanda Adichie that inspired me to compose this study.
Chimamanda Adichie began speaking about this thing she liked to name “a individual narrative. ” The Danger of a Single Story is about holding a one sided position on different civilizations and states. She explains that she originally had a individual narrative of authorship because as a child. all she had read were children’s books from America or England and all the characters in these books were stereotyped white kids. Adichie said that this one and merely perspective she had of books reflected on her personal authorship as a child because all of the characters in her narratives were stereotyped white kids. She goes on to give other illustrations of individual narratives or individual positions and how they can act upon people’s ideas of a civilization of a state. ’
I can hold with Adichie when she says a individual narrative is a speedy manner to misinterpret person. or someone’s civilization or state. I know I. myself. make that along with everyone else in this universe and possibly this is the ground for so many differences within our civilization ; people being excessively speedy to judge. From this picture. I learned to non hold merely a individual narrative: to non believe the one position I have seen or heard. We need to see other people’s narratives before we make a decision on a individual narrative. All in all. believing a individual narrative could so intend danger. We can non hold a “single story” . or a individual idea of anyone because if we do. we will ne’er see the “paradise” . or the good things that is alive behind that individual idea.
I think the intended audience for this picture is Stereotyped Americans who believe Africa is a topographic point of disease. poorness. and nil good. This picture serves for an audience who are stereotype towards any group of people or society. As above. the danger of a individual narrative is that we will non see that there is more to people than we think. We will lose the chance to larn something new from person else or widen our manner of thought and spread out our position points. This picture truly opened my eyes.
Chimamanda even added that even she is guilty of believing in a individual narrative. A few old ages ago ; she visited Mexico. she was a small surprised in what she saw at that place. At the clip of her trip. there were a batch of narratives about people mousing across the boundary line and being arrested. But when she got at that place. she saw that the people in Mexico acted the same manner people did back place. She elaborates with a narrative about coming to the United States. as a in-between category girl of a professor and an decision maker. and run intoing her college room-mate. Adichie says that her roommate’s “default place toward me. as an African. was a sort of sponsoring. unthreatening commiseration. My room-mate had a individual narrative of Africa ; a individual narrative of catastrophe” . Adichie besides tells how turning up in Nigeria reading merely American and English children’s books made her deaf to her reliable voice. As a kid. she wrote about such things as fair-haired white kids easting apples. believing brown tegument and Mangifera indica had no topographic point in Literature.
That changed as she discovered African authors. I believe that if we. as pupils were exposed to both point of views of controversial and of import issues that occur. and so we would be able to do a more accurate judgement of what is really happing in the universe. If the media continues to poison us with distorted information. we may stop up doing incorrect premises about of import issues in our society. The truth is that we are all human. and we make errors. If American. or every state for that affair. told their narrative every bit candidly as possible. without seeking to set themselves in a good light… our universe would be wholly changed. We would non hold merely a individual narrative. but an surplus of them. so we would be able to do accurate judgements refering the province of our universe. As worlds. we are ever influenced by what we hear. read. what we tell one another. so sometimes without recognizing. we take that. so we make it our ain sentiment. We create our position based on what the society says or the media. What about the other side of it all? The narratives of the other people involved? On Television. we sell all the negative facets of certain state of affairss go oning in certain topographic points. yet what about the positive sides of those? Everything in this universe: state of affairss. people. and even things. have a light and dark side. You can’t have one without the other. Ever.
