I truly enjoyed watching both Miracle Rising South Africa and The Danger of a Story Single Story. Both videos were extremely enlightening and thought-provoking. There is so much to the world and its history that we as people do not know and understand, due to a lack of direct knowledge. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie said, “Why did people ask ‘What is it about?’ as if a novel had to be about only one thing." This quote resonates so well with me because this question defeats the purpose of a novel, a story, and history. To understand the magnitude of a story, you have to understand that it is not about single thing.
The danger of a single story is that you miss out on the full picture. When a single story is told, there are many more stories, beauties, and knowledge that is left out. A single story will put individuals in an ignorant mindset, where they only know what they have been fed. This relevant to my study abroad because there is more to Cape Town, South Africa than one story. The one story mindset eliminates curiosity and the yearn to learn. It is a diminishing and dismissive mindset. We should not have
…show more content…
There is so much to apartheid and the fight that I do not know. Prior to watching the video, I had no clue who Ruth First was. The life and death of Ruth First is a vital part of the history of apartheid. The way she fought for black people and how she was killed shocked me greatly. The gruesome violence and hatred was not only directed towards blacks, but any whites that supported blacks. Although the video focused greatly on her life, I would love to learn more about the other black South African leaders that fought against apartheid. Many blacks lost their lives in this battle and have not be remembered in the history books and videos we watched. I hope to interact with individuals in the actual communities and learn more about their leaders and individuals that fought on more of a micro
Stories are the way humans share, create, and explore their many experiences and identities with each other. When a story is told, the original content lingers depending upon how the storyteller recalls the content. Once the story is retold, it often takes on different details and meanings, because each storyteller adds their own perspective, experience, and meaning. The story then begins to have its own life. Each storyteller has a connection to the beginning and the end of the story.
"Following Antigone: Forensic Anthropology and Human Rights" video that we saw in class was one of the most culturally interesting video's I have seen in a long time. Although being aware of what goes on in the outside world with regards to human rights, but it is a totally different ball game when looked at through an anthropologists view.
As an ignorant Western society, we use single stories as a way to educate others on cultures that we don’t even know about. They are the false pictures we have of foreign cultures that our societies
Stories are a means of passing on information, acting as a medium to transport cultural heritage and customs forward into the future. In his essay titled "You'll Never Believe What Happened," King says that, "The truth about stories is that that's all we are” (King Essay 2). Contained within this statement is a powerful truth: without stories, a society transcending the limitations of time could not exist. Cultures might appear, but they would inevitably die away without a means of preservation. Subsequent generations would be tasked with creating language, customs, and moral laws, all from scratch. In a way, stories form the core of society's existence.
The documentary I decided to analysis is the Dakota 38. I decided to go with this one because I felt a better emotional connection with the story they told. It made me feel like I was part of the tribe in the 1860s. While having an emotional connection, there are also several items that I learned from class that I am able to contribute to the movie at some points. Being Native American, I never really knew all the terrible atrocities that were brought upon them for no reason. Learning about this history will help progress the prevention of this ever happening, again. We need to be able to learn from our own mistakes and show future generations what forgiving and remembering is. It was a powerful documentary that brought together after selected
After watching and listening to the lecture on “Good Country People” from a Wheaton college scholar a statement that stood out for me is “The best story did not explain everything and sew it all up. It leaves it to expand in our minds and hang on to the story.” This statement brings a thread of connections in
The single story is created because people do not try to go past the single story and find out what truly is happening. The human race can inherently be judgmental and so the single story is created. If people were to put their judgments aside and take the time to learn the stories of the people then the issue would be prevented. People and societies are so complex that it is morally wrong to say that there is a single story because once one says there is a single story then the stories of thousands of people are forgotten. This made me realize how much our society in the US really does create single stories for the smaller and less fortunate countries because that is all we see them as. This will definitely make me think more about if a single story is really true and dive deeper into stories to get the full story because the full story deserves to be told. Another insight gained is that everybody can fall victim to a single story because sometimes we only see one side of the story in the news and it can be hard to find the other
The importance of a story is to have a purpose and meaning, through this, people are able to engage and learn with what is being told to them, it has to have a connection to the past, bringing it to the present and to involve both the body and mind senses. Through storytelling the audience should gain an understanding and have a sense of emotion touched and come alive, they should also be able to explore the possibilities within their culture and feel a deep connection to country.
What does the speaker refer to when speaking about the danger of a single story? What are examples she provides?
The purpose of the speech provided by Chimamanda Adichie is to portray the various impacts a single story can have on both an individual and a society. This is because of the usage of stereotypes provided by the media which creates an overall image, that everyone believes to be true. This is prominent when she says “A single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete.” Having a single story also confines the world to generalized outlooks on cultures, religions and nationalities. Due to this, individuals must seek for diversity and different perspectives, in which everyone should be able to see the world as it is, not just the aspect that the media portrays. Through
When most people think of South Africa, the first name that comes to mind is Nelson Mandela. Born in 1918, during a time when white men held most of the power, there was a system of segregation against ‘colored people’ called apartheid. Throughout his life, Mandela worked to fight against this segregation and endured extreme human rights violations. Nelson Mandela is a hero because his efforts were a contributing factor in bringing an end to apartheid and he influenced major changes within the county of South Africa.
Many stories would be told orally with gestures, songs, and often adapted a particular tale to suit a certain culture. One adaption that was told often by a storyteller was repetition of things that had happened. The effect of stories depended on the narrator that there were many versions of the good tale. The stories varied with limits of traditions for plot and cultural background of the one telling the story and the listeners. There is still so much to be discovered because of the telling of the sane story by the same
Through the perspective of an unconventional college professor, J.M. Coetzee’s Disgrace addresses the transition into post-apartheid South Africa, societal acceptance and rape through David Lurie and Lucy Lurie’s complex father-daughter relationship. While living in his daughter’s countryside home, David Lurie’s experiences reveal that despite the powerful political reform, crime continues to dominate the African people. Aspects of South African history are used to emphasize racial tension and the shift from a white to a black dominated South Africa. Coetzee also suggests the instability of the African society through constantly depicting his characters as emotionally unable to adapt to adverse situations. Although David and Lucy were initially introduced as polar opposites, their value of privacy and refusal to endure public humiliation and shame draw a parallel between the predator and prey of the novel. David Lurie ultimately evolves from his sexual encounters with Soraya, Melanie and Bev Shaw by realizing the traumatizing implications of his actions after the Lucy’s rape.
Was Nelson Mandela considered a hero to South Africa? He displays his heroic characteristics as being very wise, a brave leader and highly respected and loved nationally. People think of Nelson Mandela as the South African version of Martin Luther King Jr. This is correct. He is known for bringing peace to South Africa, which was racially segregated and believed in participating in human rights globally. No one was ever as brave and confident as Nelson Mandela was. It is not easy changing a world for the better without the chaos and difficulties, but Mr. Mandela did it because of his strong belief in his country, which was a slowly degrading country at the time.
The liberation of Africa was a slow, often violent, process. The continent, having been torn apart by colonial powers was fraught with ethnic and tribal divides. This made liberation movements complicated because of the necessity for non-existent nationalization. In most countries this caused the movement towards liberation to be a violent struggle, often resulting in war, mass murder, and in one instance, genocide. Even in some of the semi-successful transitions, warlords or autocratic dictatorships. The liberation of the Congo is one such example. Few countries were able to transition fully without violence or major issues. The country of Ghana was the first to gain independence in Africa, also being one of the only successful liberation