Directions: Please view "The Danger of a Single Story" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and comment on the ways in which we judge others/authors/characters by a single story. Think about people that you have judged by one moment. How do you define them? Now, think about novels. How have you judged authors/characters by a single reading? Have you had any experiences where your opinion changed for people and authors?
Next, peruse my global website. Please comment on something you found interesting and would like to ask me for more information.
"The Danger of a Single Story"
by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Culture. The word originated with the definition"to cultivate land," and evolved into a "cultivation of the mind." Today the word is ambiguous, referring to our attachment to a place, traditions, and beliefs. It also has ominously been used to discuss an "otherness" through stereotypes.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie shares her experiences with the notion of culture in "The Danger of a Single Story" in an important TED Talk that will explain the importance of global intelligence.
"Mr. P. Goes Global"
by Eric Pellerin
A comment Adichie made that resonated with me is that the media is responsible for many of the “single stories” we associate a group of people with. Many of the misconceptions I have and generalizations I make are the result of an easy access to news articles, podcasts, literature and television from sources that I can identify with, and that inherently begin with our nation’s involvement in the issue. According to Adichie, the beginning of a story determines whose opinion it will reflect, or who has the power. In order to widen my perspective beyond the single story, I need to be able to recognize instances of “nkali,” or superiority, and to be critical of that literature.
ReplyDeleteThe controversy surrounding illegal immigration was an example Adichie particularly referenced. While reflecting on my perception of Mexican immigrants I remembered reading Esperanza Rising in elementary school. In the book, a girl from a wealthy family flees Mexico to join a camp for farm workers in California after they are taken advantage of by relatives seeking their property. If all I knew about Mexican immigrants was from this novel, I would have one story, but would still be lacking many others. Even with the conflicting opinions I have heard in the news and in discussions with other people, I cannot say that I have a “balance” of stories with which to make a statement about them. However, unconsciously, I draw conclusions about them often.
Something that I found interesting on the site was the idea of seeing the world as a “singular place.” On the blog, Mr. Pellerin talked about the connections we have the ability to make with people through technology. Technology bypasses borders and time zones. It is a platform that can help us discover commonalities others through stories, discussion, and communication.
I agree with your thoughts on the media's somewhat negative influence on our perception of other places. Oftentimes stories from places such as countries in Africa or the Middle East are largely ignored by the press in the United States so that the little information we do get about these places ends up defining our entire viewpoint and becoming a "single story" that can be so damaging.
DeleteIt was really interesting that you said a lot of single stories that you may have formed came from articles and literature that you could identify with. I think many people want to understand things from their own point of view, and so we look for how it would make sense in our own life, which is not always how it is in reality.
DeleteThe single story is something that is almost impossible to recognize in the moment as you are experiencing it. It is only after the fact, whether that be a minute later or a year later, that someone realizes how their single story shaped their opinion of something before they really learned about it. Adichie says that her roommate “felt sorry for me even before she saw me.” This is because she had the idea that Africa was poor, no matter where you went, or who you talked to. One thing that she said that really stood out to me, was the a single story robs people of their dignity. I think this goes for both the person who believes the single story, and also the victim of the assumption. The person who believes something about someone else from one single story does not have actual information to back up their claim, where the person being stereotyped, feels “less than”, because single stories rarely actually apply to people. Another point that she made that I found really interesting was that there are so many different versions of a single story. For example, Adichie’s college roommate had a very specific single story about people who lived in Africa, while someone else maybe had another view of African people, but it is a completely different story. This is because people form their single stories from all different sources, most often the news, or literature, or just stereotypes that we hear.
ReplyDeleteA time that I created my own single story in literature is from A Tale of Two Cities. Because I really disliked reading this book in school, I longer had interest in reading Charles Dicken. Upon learning more about him, and what kinds of things he writes about, I think it would be interesting to read some of his other novels. Before that though, I had no interest in Charles Dickens because one one experience I had.
In the blog, I really liked the short film, “the world is as big or as small as you make it”. I really got me thinking about what everyone thinks about our society, and how two people can look at the same exact thing, and see it in two completely different ways.
I really like your comment about how the person that believes the "single story" loses their own dignity in the process of degrading other people's. Although Adichie didn't explicitly state that, she implied it when speaking of her roommate, and the audience perceived the roommate to be misinformed and naive rather than superior and dignified. But Adichie's point was that the roommate resembles each of us at one point or another.
DeleteI found it interesting how you highlighted the fact that we often don't recognize the single story when we experience it. Often times it takes us a long time to understand how the single story created the preconception, and it is fascinating how even if you keep an open mind, you will fall into the trap at some point.
DeleteA point that Adichie brought up that I think is very relevant in our political climate now is the way she viewed Mexicans before she actually visited Mexico. She remarked upon how she thought of Mexicans as poor immigrants who illegally came to the United States, but when she actually traveled to Mexico she realized that there were many Mexican people who were middle class, had well-paying jobs and led lives that weren’t all that different from hers. I think that a lot of Americans may think of Latino people in the same way because of the way they are portrayed by the press and in entertainment. I think that to a certain extent many Americans believe the negative stereotypes about immigrants and much of that is because of the government’s anti-immigrant stance at the moment.
ReplyDeleteIn my life, there have been instances in which I judged a larger picture based off of a very narrow perspective I had. I was very turned off of reading plays for a while because I really disliked some of the ones I had to read in school such as The Crucible. I had read several plays and none of them really clicked with me so I was slightly opposed to reading any more of them because I had a few bad experiences with them.
While I was looking at the website, what stood out to me was something the blog entry from the first day of school in Indonesia. The fact that the question “why do Americans hate Muslims?” was asked repeatedly by the students was very sad to hear. It is sad that so many Americans are blinded with ignorance that so many of the kids truly believed that their religion is hated by all Americans.
Sarah, I too was struck by the students’ perception that ALL Americans hate Muslims. This was reminiscent of Adichie, who in her “fit of irritation” with the student, who ludicrously generalized about a character in her novel, commented that after reading American Psycho that “(i)t was such a shame that young Americans were serial murderers.” One “single story” sadly created a stereotypical portrait of all Americans for these students, but this is not only a flat and incomplete portrayal, but also degrades both sides of the global conversation.
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DeleteIan, it seems that you may have misunderstood my message. The point I was trying to make was not that all Americans hate Muslims because that is most certainly untrue. I wanted to shed light upon the harmful effects that Islamophobia had on these students because of the ignorance of some, but not all, Americans. Like Nadia mentioned, these students are not unjustified in feeling that all Americans hate Muslims because of the prevalent anti-Muslim attitude in this country. On the other hand, discrimination against Muslims is based on pure ignorance and racism. My intent was to express how horrible it is that anyone should ever feel or be hated simply because of who they are. I never was trying to make any generalizations about Americans or anyone else.
DeleteI agree with you that forming opinions solely based on stereotypes can be damaging and counterproductive to making real progress. Something that resonated with me from Adichie's speech was that "the problem with stereotypes is not that they aren't true but that they are incomplete." It is important to remember that yes, the stereotype of Americans being anti-Muslim is not completely untrue because some Americans do indeed are prejudiced towards Muslims, but there are many others who fight to end this discrimination. Yes, it is true that there are terrorists who are Muslim, but it is important to remember that "the terrorists [who are Muslim] are only a very small few."
As Adichie said, “So that is how to create a single story, show a people as one thing, as only one thing, over and over again, and that is what they become.” The main source of these single sided stories come from the media and books. For example, the news does not report all the positive things that are happening around the world, yet instead they talk only about the bad things. This is why I think it is so easy for us to believe just one thing we hear. If all we hear about a place is how bad a country is doing or how people don’t have jobs and people are dying, we never hear about the other things like how they have good schooling systems, people have jobs, and there are modern technological advances like open heart surgery happening too. When one thing about someone or something is emphasized so much, it eventually is hard to imagine anything else about that person or place.
ReplyDeleteA time when I have judged a character by one moment is in “Unaccustomed Earth”. In “Only Goodness,” I probably judged Rahul with his addiction. His sister was studying to be a doctor and he was going an Ivy so I probably assumed that he had his whole life together, yet my assumptions were wrong. He was struggling with something that I would not have been able to tell if not for Sudha explaining it. There was actually something going on in his life that he didn’t like or want to share and he was not the perfect kid that I had assumed he would be.
Something I found interesting on Mr. Pellerins website is “what stories represent the heart of Indonesia?”. I noticed that it said “stories” in the plural form to show that it isn’t one story that defines Indonesia, there are multiple stories to tell in order for someone to actually understand a little more about a country. I probably only noticed this because I had just watched the video about Adichie.
I felt the same way when reading about Rahul. It seemed like he would be fine, and even after Sudha explained his addiction, I assumed he would overcome it and we were led to believe this until the very end when he relapses. I feel like many of the characters in "Unaccustomed Earth" could have been real people because of how difficult it was to define them and figure out what they would do next.
DeleteWe know from novels such as “In The Lake of The Woods,” that well written characters are not static. They are made up many different experiences, many stories. These personal stories are what make them human to us, why we can picture these well written characters as living people.
ReplyDeleteThose we judge on a first impression, those we judge without knowing, are not made human to us. They themselves become a first impression, our uninformed opinion. With our minds as our own, we cannot see each story contained in those we pass every day. While our initial words and actions seem to define us to others, no one can be truly judged until you understand them beyond our own experience. The translation between simply existing among others in our own mind and understanding them can be simple. Just as one moment can cause one to pass judgement, initial judgement can be changed by a single moment as well, similar to Adichie’s thoughts on stories: “Stories have been used to dispossess and malign, but stories can also be used to empower and humanize.”
The individual is complex. People are not a single impression, group, or world they inhabit. As Adichie says, “All of these stories make me who I am.” Individuals themselves are stories, many different and unique experiences forming them into an individual yet understandable human being and “to insist on only these negative stories is to flatten my experience and to overlook the many other stories that formed me.” In order to define someone, people must be willing to not only know these stories but recognize how each part contributes to the creation of an individual.
If stories are the soul of a person, this is likely the reason we are so quick to judge authors we do not connect with initially. I’d like to read something else by Shakespeare in the future because I had several bad impressions with his work in the past but want to move beyond these. I have been able to move past negative first impressions. After reading “A Tale of Two Cities” and “A Christmas Carol” and liking neither, I was surprised that I enjoyed reading “Hard Times,” and am no longer as opposed to Dickens.
On the website, I liked the video, “The World Is as Big or as Small as You Make It,” and how the program looks at the individuals of countries in order to teach about other cultures, rather than just looking at the country as a whole. I think it would be interesting to do something like this in our own class if we ever got the chance.
I really like your view on characters as being made up of many different experiences and stories. While reading, I do not really think about a novel as just one part or one story in their life and give us just one impression.
DeleteWe all have our preconceived notions about people, places, religions, and ideologies. We even extend these notions to other elements found within a culture – music, literature, art. Where do these ideas, dare I call them prejudices, come from? In her TED Talk, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie suggests that these misperceptions can be traced to a “single story,” whether literary or real life. I have reflected on this proposition and would respectfully offer a qualification: our preconceptions and predispositions come from a single thread that weaves its way through a series of stories all told from one perspective, one myopic view. It is a subtle yet important distinction, in my view, because in the telling and retelling of this viewpoint, what the media calls a narrative, that the single story emerges. For example, we heard a lot about the "wall" that the president claims will keep out immigrants. This creates an image of unwanted, despicable Mexicans. And I must admit that I was initially swayed to see every immigrant as a stylized version of the characters on “Narcos.” Even Adichie had this bias before visiting Mexico and seeing and learning to appreciate that culture first hand. I too have come to see the issue of immigration differently and with more compassion, and consequently, I have broadened the lens through which I once so narrowly judged an entire population.
ReplyDeleteAdichie astutely points out that a story can “break or repair” a people. However, the
power of a single story can be challenged when the underlying misunderstandings that drive that story are dispelled. That is the brilliance of “Mr. P Goes Global.” It is in the personal connections with the people you have met in your travels that the reader can begin to develop “global competence.” It provides a different side of the “single story” that may be guiding, or more accurately, misguiding our opinions. Each installment provides yet another thread to the “single story” that will help us weave a new global viewpoint and “regain a kind of paradise.” After all, as your experience in Indonesia taught, “we have a great deal in common. People are the same everywhere, and that goes for teenagers, too.”
I think it's really interesting how you talk about how we all carry "one myopic view". I agree with you in the idea that we often get one strictly painted image like the unwanted immigrants and I believe that many people don't bother to think outside of these images.
DeleteIan, I like your current day connection to the immigrants of Mexico and the "single story" we subconsciously have of them. I especially like the connection to the popular Netflix show, Narcos. As a fan of this show, the crime, drug trade and murder definitely makes great tv, but does not define Mexico as a whole. Thank you for highlighting a specific example of how one viewpoint can wrongly represent the perspective of a whole nation.
DeleteI agree with Emma’s point on the media’s ability to influence our knowledge and fuel misconceptions by focusing on a “single story” or point of view. Adichie sees power as an essential to the story’s ideas. I agree that the author’s view or perception can create a bias in how they write the story.I think of this in relation to the prevalence of photoshop in our magazines, social media, as well as other media outlets. I have read many articles on how the media uses photoshop to distort the truth and create an “ideal image” to aspire to. In this example, the media holds power and their work reflects their ideas and opinions of the writers and other contributors. It is so common in our society to see the norm to be a flawless person with perfect proportions, even though it is not what is reality. I think that by setting this example has an effect on how we judge others, and gives us expectations not only on looks of others but how we view ourselves. By seeing one picture in a magazine that can be edited to be perfect, we are shaping the minds of children to grow up and feel pressured to fit into the small box that is portrayed in the media. But this one picture only shows a snapshot of a life, it is a single story and yet this portrayal shapes the way we see the world.
ReplyDeleteI liked Adichie’s point that if you start a story at a different part, it entirely changes, especially looking at it from a new perspective. This reminded me of The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins. The main character, Katniss at the first read seems like a hero. She is a skilled archer who is forced into an inhumane game and rebels against the cruel people of the Capitol to save her fellow citizens and return to feed her family. But, after watching the movie and re-reading the novel, I started to notice new things. For example, if you look at it from the perspective of the Capitol, she is a violent rebel who is trying to overthrow the government. To defeat the evil Capitol, she in a way becomes evil herself, killing people to create change. Now I am not saying she is not a hero, but the shift of perspective allows you to look beyond the classic idea of a “single story” and see Katniss in a new light.
I really liked your blog entitled Atmajaya University Visit, that talked about the differences between “Big C Culture" and “little c culture". I thought it was really interesting to really think about a word’s meaning and how our emphasis on physical aspects such as location, artifacts, and clothing may distract from the learning of a full identity.
I really liked your point that we are often given a single story through things like photoshop and news articles. The stories are not about events in countries across the world, but rather about things that are going on right around us. We still fall into the trap of the single story, because we have no other outlet that is providing that information that we can look to. Photoshop can give us false perceptions, and without even realizing it, many people form assumptions.
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DeleteThe story as portrayed through the media really stuck out to me when Adichie stated “I was also an early writer, and when I began to write...I wrote exactly the kinds of stories I was reading…”. The way we read influences how we think and thus, what we write. In magazine articles and books we see one point of view and shape our own thoughts around that. I had this same idea when I was reading books about Africa, I, like her roomate had an image of “‘tribal music’” and a sense of poverty which does exist but is not the whole continent. This was not our intent, but in a way we “overlook[ed] the many other stories” that make up the entire continent, by picking out one specific impoverished part.
As many people have touched on, Adichie's experience in foreign education offers a valid insight on an underlying dilemma we face. In society, we intrinsically seek a definitive form of resolve established off whatever information we have. Though typically not with ill-intent, these conclusions we create for ourselves are often negatively impacting and wrong. Ian brought up a good point in how simple everyday things such as politics and media play a huge role to this image we build. Similarly, I think Mr. Pellerin's global endeavor aims to resolve this underlying issue. Educating people to get a better sense of inclusion and understanding helps in a great many ways as the website touches on. Much like how dictatorships restrict political rights and a castle's walls restrict people, a lack of proper unbiased "full picture" knowledge and general understanding of the world leads us back to this issue presented. While I don't know any perfect resolution, I definitely think that projects such as this one aid in largely mitigating the presence of such misinformation.
ReplyDeleteOliver, I agreed with your point that as humans we look for an answer or a conclusion based off of the information we have been given, it is just in our nature. I also agreed with your point that often there is no bad intent to create a conclusion that is false. Creating false conclusions or pictures is based simply on the information that has been provided.
DeleteOliver, I love your commentary. I also feel as though the only way to solve the issue of a single story is to educate ourselves. Bias is a major issue in our society today, as it affects the clarity of media, literature, as well as the passing along of general information between individuals.
DeleteChimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TED talk truly resonated with me as I never thought how novels often create single stereotypes of a group of people. With the various cultures that exist around the world, it is tough to have a strong knowledge of each of them. As a result, individuals often take the information in the media or stories to create preconceptions of entire groups of people, and everyone is guilty of it some way or another. In Adichie’s case, she often pictured her house boy, Fide, to be in major poverty as the only story she knew of him was from her mother, who told Adichie of his destitute condition. To her surprise she found the beautifully patterned basket he created, and she was shocked since, “all I had heard about them was how poor they were, so that it had become impossible for me to see them as anything else but poor. Their poverty was my single story of them”. This and all the other stories Adichie touches upon all cover one idea: One story can take away the dignity of a person or a group. As a result, it is paramount to keep an open mind in regards to cultures and people instead of using preconceptions to understand a group.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading “I am Malala”, I fell into the danger of a single story. Throughout the novel, the ideas of gender inequality, poor education, and constant war were touched upon when discussing Pakistan. This gave me the notion that this entire nation was struggling, and I felt bad for students who had to study under these conditions. However, I later met a Pakistani medical student at Beth Israel Hospital who told me more about the education system there, and I realized that I fell into the single story trapped discussed by Adichie. Similarly, I was volunteering in a soup kitchen in Lawrence where I saw many struggling individuals who I assumed were homeless based on stories I’ve heard about people who go to soup kitchens. However, I later found out that many of these families have homes and jobs but are struggling financially, so they can’t afford three meals a day, and it is shocking how I unintentionally stereotype them based on brief stories I have heard.
After reading some of the blog posts you wrote while in Indonesia, I was interested in the education systems you experienced there. You mentioned that when you were in south Kalimantan, you noticed that the classrooms were equipped with technology, but did not utilize it the same way American systems do. I was just wondering if you could elaborate on what the classroom setting was like in Indonesian schools, and how technology was used in class.
Rishi, I think that connection to "I am Malala" was really interesting. Definitely shows how even great books with great messages and truth to them can often times be interpreted the wrong way.
DeleteI completely agree with Ian about how single stories are perpetuated, however, I found the origin of the single stories to be more ambiguous. When Adichie described the concept of nkali, it seemed to me there must be someone at the top who has crafts a single story and it gets discriminated for there. While I do not think I have the exact answer as to why people would create a false and harmful narratives about massive groups of people, and expand their power and influence to promote it, my best hypothese boils down to simplicity. While I agree with Kathleen that the media’s idolization of certain things can harmfully warp reality, I think their emphasis on darker stories has a greater effect. Today, every news outlet, website, and app are in fierce competition for our attention and in order to get clicks they need to convey a message in the matter of seconds they have our screens. As such, they reduce a spectrum of stories, a complex web of people to a single thread everyone is interested in and can easily understand in a few paragraphs, which often is a tragedie. It is well known in media that catastrophe and conflict attract the most viewership, and so it is exploited constantly.
ReplyDeleteAs such, the blame does not rest upon manipulative news executives, but circles back to us, the consumers who just want entertainment and do not give the time to learn about other people. Reiterating Emma’s point, just like I might skip a hard problem on my math homework, I need to work on not doing the same for the difficult problems of the world. Even while reading the assignment, I realized that I maintained a single story of Indonesia. I had always associated Indonesia with natural disasters, but looking at the pictures of Mr. Pellerin's visit to Atmajaya University in Jakarta, it is clear that the flooded streets and collapsed buildings we see on the news are a far cry from the real indonesia.
The same applies for literature. My least favorite book is unequivocally Out of the Dust, a required text in eighth grade, and I have been using my hatred of it to justify avoiding poetry ever since. While I have yet to fully come around to enjoying poetry, the obligatory poetry section in subsequent english classes has worn me down to seeing there can be some advantages to not using full sentences, or logical plots. It is false to think all of poetry can be summed up by as text as arduous and dry as Out Of The Dust, or that an entire continent can be summed up by a series of news headlines.
I think that you make a lot of great points, and to bring one possible answer to your question of why people create false narratives, it could be because of this belief that one group is superior to another. For example, the history of Africans and African Americans living in the US specifically is a very disturbing one because of the violence and racism targeted to that group. This is because the white race felt that they were above them, making sure to carry that belief throughout the proceeding decades.
DeleteA very relevant point that Adichie brought up in the TED Talk was the fact that the true stories of minorities, or groups in general that are underrepresented are very unlikely to be heard. They are telling their stories, however many people only listen to the perspective of people who have more power. At one point Adichie says “start the story with the arrows of the Native Americans and not with the arrival of the British and you have an entirely different story.” If you don’t learn about a person or group from that person or group, you are getting a view of them that is incomplete, biased, or even a lie. Many times, only negative stories of a certain group are shared such as Adichie's experience with people only viewing Africa as a place where everyone is homeless and fighting in wars that don’t have a purpose. “To insist on only negative stories is to flatten my experience,” she says at one point. The single negative story made people that the speaker encountered think as if Africa belonged to a completely different universe from the United States, and that no one in Africa could have money or live in a big city, or even listen to popular music. It is important to talk about more than the negative stories because they take away from people’s accomplishments and could make them lose pride in their culture.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a sophomore, I had the opportunity to host an exchange student from France for ten days. I had so much experience seeing or reading about negative French stereotypes in books and especially on TV, that I and the rest of my family were really worried about having to live with someone who was snobby and rude and thought all Americans were stupid. However, my exchange student ended up being one of the kindest people I have ever met and we think of each other like sisters now rather than friends. I still feel bad about falling into the trap of stereotypes, but we don’t really hear about nice French people like the ones I had the privilege of meeting. With all of the influence of the TV and media coming at us, it is difficult not to stereotype, even if you don’t mean to.
Something that really struck me in the blog post was when the students asked “why do Americans hate Muslims, don’t they know the terrorists are only a small few?” We don’t tell the stories of the Muslims who are just like the rest of us. No one hears about the kind hearted, peaceful kids like the ones you met in Indonesia. No one hears about the fact that there are 1.8 billion Muslims in the world and that only a tiny percentage of them have ever, or have ever wanted to hurt any of us. When they tell their own stories no one hears them, but when the media covers the story of a few radicals it grabs the attention of the world.
It's interesting how you brought a personal experience into this. This really highlights how we often let TV and books define someone for us
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ReplyDeleteI thought your perspective on books like “The Help” and “To Kill a Mockingbird” was really interesting. I had always thought about those books as showing the importance of equality, the civil rights movement, etc. However when you look at them beyond the surface level, the message might not actually be that great.
DeleteI really like your point about how we have been told our whole lives that we as Americans are lucky to live where we do, acting as if other countries aren't as fortunate and that we above them. It's crazy how something as minor as a phrase like that can influence people to truly believe that we are superior and should be grateful we are American. It is narrow-minded thinking.
DeleteOne thing that struck me was when Adichie told the story of her roommate and said that her roommate asked her where she learned to speak english so well. I believe that this is a negative tendency that many people follow. I think often people manage to ask questions like this because they believe that their language belongs to them. When you think of Africa and what language they speak there many people would wrongly assume that somehow they are limited to ancient languages that were made up in tribes when in actuality they speak a wide range of languages, from French to Portuguese to Arabic. We are left with an oddly misconstrued image of places like Africa, believing them to be undeveloped and often times people believe them to be uncivilized. When we’re stuck in this closed off mindset that something we use is completely our own we discount the history of it and its global use. This language ownership is a metaphor for the many things that we often attempt to “gate keep” things, as we consider them to be a part of ourselves, but my favorite color is blue and I’m sure that there are a million other people in the world whose favorite color is blue too. In novels we can make the same assumption, the same as with stereotypes many people believe about normal people. I’ve found myself believing that there would be nothing good about a certain character because of their background story, whether its that maybe they had treated someone negatively or if they had simply not contributed anything thus far. I’ve been able to change my opinions as the people change, if you judge someone at face value you lose the often better parts of them that you don’t immediately see. This is the same with Adichie’s roomates negative assumptions of her and Africa as a whole.
ReplyDeleteOn the website “Mr. P Goes Global”, there are many interesting facets but what I was most interested in is where you’ve actually been and what you’ve learned. As young people many of us have not had the chance to travel very far or to experience different cultures so we often stay in the general mindset of the people around us. As much as we can read things in the news or watch videos, we often can’t talk to people from these places or see the places ourselves. I’d like to know what experiencing different cultures has actually been like and how it has changed your perspective.
The part where you say "people manage to ask questions like this because they believe that their language belongs to them" is really powerful and I agree with you. It's almost subconscious because it is a part of one's identity, but it is also narrow-minded thinking.
DeleteWithout equal representation for people of all races/sexualities/genders/etc., there can be a loss of individuality and identity. What made this conclusion evident was when Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie described the stories she wrote in her TED Talk. There, she mentioned how she would make all of her protagonists white "with blue eyes", often "talking about the weather" and such. Never did she create stories featuring African American heroes, seeing how she only saw caucasian protagonists in literature. This, of course, was influenced by the "single story", or lack of diversity that often plagues literature, movies, TV shows, and other forms of media. With this, people begin to neglect what aspects make them themselves, instead identifying themselves with the "norms" that they constantly see. As Adichie demonstrated, it is difficult to relate to literary characters of your culture as they are often misrepresented as stereotypes. At one point, Adichie describes it as there being "no possibility of africans being similar to her...no possibility of a connection." This, unfortunately, causes others to view you as *that* stereotype as it is so often projected in media. Adichie also addresses this constant misconception, especially when recounting the memory of her professor. Here, Adichie's professor commented on her story being "not authentically African", stating that her "characters were too similar to him." From this, one can see how these stereotypes can obscure one's views, considering them the "experts" on others when, in actuality, they know very little of them.
ReplyDeleteNeedless to say, it was very refreshing seeing your blogs from Indonesia. This made me realize that truth is usually gained from shared experience. In contrast (as Rian mentioned), the news offers only a dim perspective on places and people. Unfortunately, some tend to let one bad event shape their view on an entire community. Of course, these perspectives are not correct and are sprung from ignorance.
I like what you said about how "people begin to neglect what aspects make them themselves, instead identifying themselves with the "norms" that they constantly see". I think this is very prevalent, especially with such a heavy use of social media in today's society. When we look at images of people online or in movies it is easy to compare ourselves and forget about the qualities that make a person unique.
DeleteI thought it was interesting how you talk about when Adichie says that she felt there was "no possibility of africans being similar to her...no possibility of a connection" because I think that for different reasons many of us can also feel this way, that they can't connect with the people around them. We often don't show our true selves at first, you can make the assumption that you're not the same as other people just because you don't see an obvious connection. In actuality there are often unseen connections through most or all people.
DeleteAdichie's story proves how ignorant American society truly is, having a distorted image of Africa that stems back to John Locke’s encounter of the continent, “beasts without houses...people without heads having their mouths and eyes in their breasts.” It is horrifying how these descriptions have been carried through centuries to leave Western civilization pitying a continent that they know little about. The fact that this assumption has stuck with people is another example of Americans feeling like they are superior to other societies. Adichie also brings up the point of how she was confused by how she was treated all because of where she was from, “Before I went to the U.S I didn’t consciously identify as African, but in the U.S whenever Africa came up they looked to me, even though I didn’t know anything about places like Namibia.” It’s ignorant to have this altered perception about anyone who wasn’t born in this country, categorizing them as a place rather than a person. Why is it that Americans assume she knows everything about the entire continent of Africa as if they are expected to know everything about the entire continent of North America?
ReplyDeleteA time that I can recall where I had a predetermined notion about something was when I read "The Great Gatsby." When I heard that it was “the Great American Novel,” I assumed that my life would be changed from this book and I would fall in love with it. To my dismay, that didn’t happen. I did enjoy the novel, but I wasn’t wowed. This then made me feel like I was missing something because I wasn’t in awe of the piece. All of the praise surrounding this novel puts it on a pedestal that I felt underwhelmed by because of the high standards surrounding it.
After going through your website, I found your idea about introducing global studies into international classrooms rather than make it a requirement or a necessity to graduate quite brilliant. This way, there is no added pressure, just simply acquiring new knowledge. I am curious to know if the English department at AHS will incorporate any works from other countries, perhaps even some that students study in Indonesia?
Delia, I think this is awesome. I agree with your points made about the Great Gatsby, honestly was one of the most over-hyped books in the curriculum in my opinion.
DeleteWhen you said that it made you feel like you were "missing something because I wasn't in awe of the piece", I agree that I almost felt obligated to like it because you hear so many people adore it and find it a "classic". It's unfortunately part of the reason of how we only believe single side stories. Society's pressures compels us to always be in the majority regarding views.
DeleteI also agree that the Great Gatsby is very over-hyped. Like you said about how you thought you were missing something, I have felt that same way about many books over the years. Because of this I have assumed that it is because of my reading comprehension rather than the book itself, although that is probably not be the case.
DeleteI really enjoyed Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TED talk as it is something that I have thought about frequently in the past. However, I have never looked at it through the lens of literature, as Rishi also said. I liked the point Adichie made when she said, “So that is how we create a single story; show a people as one thing, as only one thing, over and over again, and that is what they become.” This reminded me of something that we are all guilty of doing in real life. Not only can the “single story” be atttributed to a group of people, but also individuals. In a school full of about 1,800 students, it is nearly impossible to put yourself into every persons shoes. Often times, we hear stories about someone and believe it as the truth, without even having a second thought. This causes us to have predisposed opinions of one another without having real conversations. I think it is important that we make an effort to talk to our peers and decide for ourselves, for example, if we think someone is nice or not, rather than hearing a single story from someone else.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading some of the blog posts, the one titled “Will this be on the test? Education in Indonesia - Part 1” really stood out to me. It was interesting to hear about life in other countries, specifically life in schools across the world. As someone who has always attended school in Andover, I can’t say that I have a very broad perspective when it comes to education. I especially appreciated the part when you said, “It appears that teachers and students in Indonesia will need to plow through the curriculum regardless of student achievement in order to ensure that everything is covered for the exams. When I go on my field experience next week, I hope to learn more, as it appears similar to the problem facing many teachers in the U.S.” Similar to what was discussed in the TED talk about single stories, it was interesting to see the similarities between school in Indonesia and school here since I have always assumed that they are completely different.
I like how you related this to our school community, because it makes the idea much more real. When we first see or meet someone, I think it's hard not to immediately "judge" them in some way. Thank you for highlighting this because I also think it is important to remember that every story has multiple sides.
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ReplyDeleteAdichie’s TED Talk really struck a chord with me. As Emma mentioned, I really feel as though the majority of instances where I have judged something or someone based on a single story all involve the media’s portrayal. For instance, Adichie touched upon her misconception of all Mexicans as immigrants rather than a diverse and interesting group of people, and I must admit I have been guilty of similar judgements in the past; in my case, they mainly have had to do with America’s history. For instance, for quite a lot of my childhood, all that I knew about Native Americans was their one-dimensional portrayal in my history textbooks; we never learned of their culture or traditions, just their ultimate demise once colonizers arrived. Thus, my view of them was as faceless as these books I read made them out to be.
This is what a single story, or a single representation, rather, does to the reader; it provides them with an underdeveloped, and, oftentimes ignorant, viewpoint.
In terms of people, it often seems as though we create an image in our mind’s of a person’s character without ever meeting them ourselves. We form opinions based on what our friends tell us, on rumors we hear about them, on the activities they participate in. With these false opinions, we never truly gain an honest and accurate representation of an individual - we never truly give them a chance, essentially. This is because, much like a story, we must experience them for ourselves. We must immerse ourselves in many different tales and viewpoints before we are able to conjure up any sort of accurate opinion or image in our minds.
Concerning literature, I have personally been known to judge a character after they make their first appearance, and I am consequently very stubborn to change my quickly formed opinion thereafter. As a well known example, Snape of the Harry Potter series is a character I quickly wrote off as the one-dimensional, secondary antagonist of the series. However, as I read more into the series, his character, while still irritating, became much more multi-dimensional and I began to better understand the motives behind his actions. This is just one example of how reading more stories than one affects our entire outlook on it.
Snape in the Harry Potters series is such a good example of making quick judgments of a character that totally can change throughout an entirety of a series / novel.
DeleteIt looks like we were on the same track in our writing, thinking about a "single story" in terms of the individual. I completely agree with what you said about rumors and false opinions. I also liked how you connected it to individual characters in literature.
DeleteTo add on to my previous points, I would also like to say that I feel as though Adichie's speech demonstrates a very unbiased view; rather than attacking other people for their obstruction of other's, "stories," Adichie also mentions how she has fallen into the trap of the single story before. She states how she believed that all stories, "had to have foreigners in them," as a child and later subconsciously felt as though the media made, "immigration..synonymous with Mexicans,". By creating an unbiased argument, Adichie really made me on her side and see her points clearly, thus understanding the idea of the danger of a single story much better.
DeleteI agree with everyone’s conclusion that the result of all these “single stories” is due to media coverage and their selectiveness on what to publicize. Something in particular that struck me was when Adichie talks about her professor criticizing her work in college that stated, “that [her] novel was not ‘authentically African’”. A professor is deemed a highly-educated person in their dedicated fields that teach students, but a student’s education could be flawed by a professor’s ignorance. It’s discomforting to know that her work was judged solely based off of how “valid” it was to the professor rather than the individuality of her story. Unfortunately, everyone is a victim of these single stories. No matter how educated someone is whether they are a high school student, an author like Adichie, or a professor, you can still be influenced by media and society’s assumptions.
ReplyDeleteIt’s always hard to find sympathy and trust in people who lie or intentionally tries to sabotage someone no matter the reason. This is how I felt when reading “To Kill a Mockingbird” with Mayella Ewell convicting Tom Robinson. The honest lawyer, Atticus, is who readers would support for his courage to stand up against a racial (injustice) justice system. Such a favored character leaves those arguing against him to be disliked, especially for their dishonesty. When reading this book, I nurtured a distaste for all of the Ewell family. This could be seen as a single story, because later analyzing the text, it’s strongly implied that Mayella was physically abused and possibly sexually abused by her father. I slowly started to accept her psychology of being an abused, poor, disrespected girl - she’s willing to wrongfully convict a man to save her from the abuse from her father.
While I was going through your website, I was particularly fascinated by the amount of private schools and their correlation with religion. There seems like a wide variety of schools that heavily base around one religion, though it doesn’t seem as common from what I’ve seen in United States.
Also during “To Kill a Mockingbird”, there is a single story created around Boo Radley, that he is some terrible person, yet this ends up being the complete opposite of his true character. He proves to be a kind person by leaving gifts for Scout and Jem and then saving them from Bob Ewell at the end of the book, all while carrying the single story of a troubled recluse from his teenage years.
DeleteA point from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TED talk that I would like to emphasize is the effect single stories can have on children. In her talk, she speaks of growing up in Africa while reading western children's books. They depicted light-skinned characters playing in the snow and eating apples. As Adichi aged the stories she wrote included those elements even though she had never seen snow, didn’t have light skin and had never tried an Apple. From her own experience, she took away the idea of “how impressionable and vulnerable we are in the face of a story, particular as children”. I could not agree with this more. As children, we are constantly exploring and learning from the world around us, we take things at face value because, often, we don’t know any better. Kids minds are constantly developing, and when they are being told only one side of the story, they will begin to think that way. In my life, I can say I have definitely experienced this. Think back to elementary school and about what we learned regarding the Native Americans. We were shown illustrations of giant feasts where the British settlers and the Native Americans ate in peace. We were told that we gave the Native Americans new technology. We were told that we treated the Native Americans as friends. However, this was far from the truth. British settlers were indescribably cruel to the natives. We burned their homes, took their land, raped their women and children, spread disease and used our guns to wipe them out. Instead, we were spoonfed visions of peace and prosperity. If as kids we are told lies, they are what we will believe. The danger here lies in the fact that history repeats itself and without knowing and learning from the hard truth, it will.
ReplyDeleteOn your blog, I saw the post about “The Most Iconic Books Set in 150 Countries Around the World”. I think that books that can accurately reflect cultures are fantastic ways to immerse yourself in a new and exciting world. If one wants to become more globally conscious and aware they could be great alternatives for those who may not have the time or the resources to travel. Mr. Pellerin, have you read any of the books on the list? If you have it would be great to know how you enjoyed them?
You mentioned a lot of great points that I agree with. Unfortunately, you're right in the fact that we often repeat mistakes without addressing these types of issues better. Also, the point you brought up about learning about global citizenship without traveling is a great question I'd be interested in knowing about too. If there were a good way, it would definitely help make the solution more viable for a larger population.
DeleteWhen you talk about how "We were shown illustrations of giant feasts where the British settlers and the Native Americans ate in peace" I think that's really interesting because it's completely true and we often ignore this. We take the information we're given and don't often bother to question it at all. This is similar to the controversy on how textbooks relay their information. They have many times wrongly stated information and used nice words to avoid the harder parts of history. Slaves have been referred to as "forced migrants" and they've ignored the racism, sexism, classism, etc. of the past which can continue into today.
DeleteWhen discussing what “culture” means, we must also discuss authenticity. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie spoke about an editor who said her novel was not “authentically African”, but what does that even mean? By definition, authentic means not false or copied; genuine; real. So every person is authentic to themselves, and individual in their own wonderful way. This individuality is important to remember as we discuss biases we place on others, or are placed against us. Furthermore, this individuality should be appreciated as it continuously develops our society and craft a global education. A literary character that comes to mind, regarding stereotypes, is Effie Trinket from the Hunger Games. She is a materialized, member of the Elite class who is obviously wealthier and better off than the protagonist, Katniss Everdeen. At first glance, her pink hair, shrill voice and face caked in makeup portrays her as a self absorbed, shallow individual. Throughout the trilogy, her character evolves into a motherly, guidance figure that supports Katniss through her journey. Effie is a clear example of how the cliche phrase “don’t judge a book by its cover” rings true. These judgements do not only apply to literary characters. As Paige mentioned, even in our school community, judgements are mad constantly based off stories, rumors or biases. However, when meeting and interacting with new people, there are certain stereotypes society has cemented into our minds. These stereotypes register automatically, often before even introducing yourself to this new person. These judgments are not anyone’s fault, but by continuing to teach acceptance and eliminate “single story stereotypes”, we will become a more knowledgeable society as a whole.
ReplyDeleteAdichie states that “stories can be used to empower and humanize.” Despite the negative ripple effect that a single story can cause, literature opens doors for millions of readers to imagine and dream. The Farafina Trust, Adichie’s non-profit organization, is creating educational opportunities for so many young minds by supplying books to public schools. Mr. Pellerin contributed to the power of education by traveling to Indonesia and working with their educators. I hope to become a teacher one day, and the Global Educator program really interests me. Traveling to another part of the world and living in their culture would be an amazing experience that hopefully I can take part in. One question I had was, what similarities were shockingly similar to our classroom and the way we collaborate together? I’d be interested to hear about these similarities because although we are separated by distance, I’d bet that we’re alike in more ways than we realize. The more we continue to collaborate with other cultures, the less power “a single story” will have. The idea of a global education is integral for a deeper learning and understanding of our world, no matter what culture we come from.
You brought up a lot of really good points I didn't think about. The fact that authenticity is unique to each person, not a generalized stereotype offers a valid insight we should be aware of when drawing conclusions. Limiting a culture or person to the minimal description provided to them definitely doesn't offer a complete image. I'd definitely also be interested in hearing about Mr. Pellerin's experience in teaching there as it's a perspective we rarely hear.
DeleteAgreeing with comments from previous classmates, Adichie’s suggestion that creating a single story boils down to “showing a people as one thing, as only one thing, over and over again, and that is what they become” is very interesting. While this definitely is applicable to works of literature, film, and media. It is also prevalent in real life.
ReplyDeleteThis topic reminds me of the Stereotypes unit we are currently covering in Race and Membership. Two stories in particular were covered recently: Those of Joseph H. Suina, a Native American man who was in the Marines, and Jeanne Park, an Asian-American student. Both of these speakers recount times when they were stereotyped due to their race. Once people in the Marines learned the Suina was Native American, they referred to him in well-meaning terms such as “chief” and expected him to behave as a stereotypical Native American. As for Park, because she was Asian, people expected her to be smart. Over time due to constant reminders of these stereotypes, they became internalized and began to act as the stereotypes expected them to- fulfilling a role. These serve as real life examples to the perils Adichie notes of “showing a people as one thing” until it is “what they become.”
On the Global Classroom website, I was intrigued by the “Jane Austen Goes Global” section. I had never considered seeing her works in a global scope referring to society before. What was your favorite unit that you taught while participating in global classroom?
In Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s speech, “The Danger of a Single Story”, she talks about how it was like to be an African woman in America. Throughout her speech, she not only describes circumstances about how stereotypes and assumptions have affected her life, but how she has also been the one to project stereotypes onto others as well. In society, everyone has been at least a witness to a stereotype made about an individual, a group, or even a culture. When Adichie said how her roommate questioned her English speaking abilities it really shocked me because we all should be able to pursue equal opportunities without feeling less than capable.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed Adichie’s speech because I think it is an eye opener to many societal issues people from different origins face today. Especially with all of the immigration issues being broadcasted, people assume the worst in people and potentially automatically think less of someone based on what they look like. Although our society has come a long way we still need to work on not passing judgement onto others and create an accepting community.
Judging and categorizing people off of single stories is just another way of stereotyping humans. We do these things as an attempt to simplify and understand people. Oftentimes souls are two complex we cannot grasp their integrity so in an attempt to understand them we only think of them in one light, the ‘single story’. It is important we continue listening to stories like that of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in our to broaden our perspectives. Being aware of your perception is the beginning step to make yourself a more well rounded member of society. Awareness of our uncious bias takes the power of it away. The film ‘The World is as Big or as Small as You Make It’ relates to this idea of our own mental state effects how one experiences.
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