Watching the TED talk about the single story really hit close to home for me. Growing up people made up their own single stories about me and my family numerous times. These experiences are what caused me to hide a big part of my life and where I came from for many years. As I reflect back on the years where I felt ashamed of where I came from, I am disappointed with humanity and I realize now that so many people nowadays lack common respect and compassion towards others. Although I am hurt to have been affected by a single story, I am also thankful for the experience because I was able to grow from it, learn from it, and now I am able to tell my story and honor the experiences that brought me here today. The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of a single story is a stereotype given towards a large group of people. These stereotypes are given by those who are judgmental and close minded to the idea of anything other than their own opinions. For as long as I could remember I was always a shy person, I like to refer to myself as an observer. I like to watch my surroundings and engage in …show more content…
As an RA one must always be approachable, observant and acceptant to all residents and the events that have made them who they are as a person. The most important thing to remember as an RA is to never create a single story towards someone or a group of residents based on the media or other influences. Getting to know one’s story is important and being an active listener is what makes an RA that much more approachable to others. Being open-minded to everyone’s stories, their culture and beliefs are essential in this leadership role. An RA has residents who are not only Americans but international as well. And so, instead of creating a single story of residents, creating new programs and creating personal connections with residents are actions that make an RA a successful role model and
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
Chimamanda Adichie, in one of her eye-opening speeches, The Danger of a Single Story, provides the audience with a new insight into the negative impacts that can occur as a result of viewing a story from a single perspective and not putting in an effort to know it from all available viewpoints. Adichie in her simple, yet well-grounded speech, filled with anecdotes of her personal experiences effectively puts across her argument against believing in stereotypes and limiting oneself to just a single story using a remarkable opening, the elements of logos, pathos and ethos, repetitions, as well as maintaining a good flow of thoughts throughout the speech.
In 2009 Chimamanda Adichie gave a TED talk about the ‘danger of a single story’. A single story meaning, one thought or one example of a person becoming what we think about all people that fit that description, a stereotype if you will. In today’s America, I believe that we have all felt the wave of stereotypical views at some point or another. Adichie gives many relatable examples throughout her life of how she has been affected by the single story. Her story brings about an issue that all humans, from every inch of the earth, have come to understand on some level. A young child reading only foreign books, a domestic helper that she only perceived as poor. Her college roommates single story about Africans and her own formation of a single
A collaboration of community, cultural awareness, leadership skills and peer helping skills are some of the traits necessary to be a successful Resident Advisor. During the Leadership Workshop, I learned new methods of improving all areas that have changed my outlook on what it takes to be an RA. I will carry all my experiences and the material I have learned in the workshop and use the knowledge I gained whenever necessary.
One risk when we tell these single stories is the idea of stereotypes. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie said “The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but they are incomplete.” This being said, the single story only tells one side of a story. The single story has a limited viewpoint because it is from one person and not from the eyes of many different people. I also agreed with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's idea about how single stories can create a misunderstanding between the individuals in conversation. The person from one culture might have a certain slang that the other person had never heard, and if there is no other person describing the story there might be a misunderstanding involved. Single stories have the potential to be dangerous, especially if we do not strive to learn more about the culture or the individuals in the
In her TED talk, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie talks through the role of perception in her life and the way that it changes social relationships. We have all had plenty of experiences that surprise us in regard to perception, such as the first time we meet someone from another culture, or meeting someone from our past in a new light. We have been inundated with stereotypes and preconceived notions since we were children, through stories, media, parents, teachers, and friends. Moreover, these presuppositions that we carry are rarely, if ever, based on anything substantial, yet they show up in every aspect of our life. Adichie calls the notion of this one-sided preconceived bias the “single story.” This “single story” is interesting due to the fact that even if we can overcome it, we are still affected by it. Adichie speaks about how even though she had become enlightened to this dilemma, she is still subject to it. As for her experience, she states that,
According to the reader the danger of a “single story” is related to how people tend to attribute an image to something regarding to the background information that they have about the thing. In this case having less information or the same information about something is likely to impact on the idea that they will have about something. To support this argument she talked about how during her childhood she used to read book with foreigners characters and about things that she didn’t identify with such as snow and ginger beer. Because of the fact that all her book were similar, she ended up believing that all books have to be same and always include foreign characters with “Blue eyes” and are about things that she couldn’t identify with. Further, she also talks about Fide and how the fact that her mom kept telling her that his family was poor made her think that his family was poor and that it was the only story about them. She couldn’t see them as hard workers or anything else but as poor. Also, she talked about the stereotypes that she had about Mexicans related to immigration in the U.S and how during her trip to Mexico realized that her thoughts were wrong in many ways. Lastly, she talked about her roommate and how she felt pity for her because she was African. Her roommate was surprised to see that she speaks English as well as her and that she knew how to use a stove just because all the information that her roommate has about Africa was a poor conti...
... child no matter what. I feel like this story has helped me to be open-minded to the various situations that people may face and to not make assumptions. I also feel somewhat prepared for the situations that I may face in the field of social work as I continue to unpack my baggage.
Doing this narrative has made me look at my own biases and assumptions have had against people from different cultures. It has made me understand that my attitudes and beliefs of other cultures was
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
Plotner, A., Trach, J.,(2010), Leadership development perspectives from community rehabilitation program directors, managers, and direct- service personnel, Journal of Rehabilitation, 76(3), 3-9, Retrieved from EBSCOhost on August 10, 2011.
In The Truth about stories, Thomas King shares a Native perspective on Native issues. In fact, this sentence alone suggests some of the problems he deals with throughout his book. King 's book covers topics as diverse as racism and stereotyping, basketball, and coping with life 's sorrows, but it looks at all of these issues through an exploration of narrative in the forms of stories that we tell ourselves and others. The book 's main message is one that discusses the importance of seeing people for who they are, and not trying to classify them as one particular race or culture. I think this is a message that is especially important for social workers to keep in mind as they struggle to help those who are not a part of the dominant culture or socio-economic class.
Throughout the world, people have always and will always judge each other based on their skin tone, their accent, their home country or other obvious features that we immediately see or hear about them. We often formulate our opinions of these people based on our first impressions of them. In 2009, Civil rights activist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie uses her time on her Ted-Talk to deliver her resonating speech “The Danger of a Single Story.” During her world-renowned speech, Adichie discusses human relationships, how we, as humans, interact with one another and treat each other. Adichie establishes her argument with one powerful metaphor describing common stereotypes as ‘single stories’ to demonstrate how people are affected by being judged based
I stared at the blinking cursor, unbelieving at what I had just done. I was indeed done; done with a paper I agonized over for 6 hours. The paper was due in a scant 4 hours and I had all week to do it. The radio had stopped working because my brother got on the Internet and thus cut off my connection. That was the least of my problems working on this paper. I got it done, though. My life changed with one trip of a teacher to the chalkboard and one phrase, narrative essay. God, I hate narrative essays.
Split Review Dissociative Identity Disorder, better known as Multiple Personality Disorder, has fascinated the general public and perplexed clinicians in the mental health field for decades. While little is understood about this complicated disorder, those who suffer from it exhibit behaviors of alternating personalities or identities with gaps in memory not explained by ordinary forgetfulness. After a series of relative box office flops, M. Night Shyamalan capitalizes on this rare and intriguing disorder and finds his groove again with his new movie, Split, which takes the viewer inside the tortured mind of Kevin and his 23 personalities, who with the help of his trusted psychiatrist, Dr. Fletcher, unlocks his final, most dangerous personality yet. Written and directed by Shyamalan, Split, is a sinister and sentimental tale with a twist of fate with the introduction of each new character. Shyamalan has built his career on surprising audiences as demonstrated in his first major hit, The Sixth Sense.