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
We are programmed with tendencies to unfairly judge people based on stereotypes. As Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie outlines through her own personal experiences of being judged and judging people based on ‘one single story,’ “...the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete.” Although there may be some truth to stereotypes, they only provide a snapshot, over-generalization of a group of people. Ngozi Adichie does acknowledge that Africa has many issues, including the AIDS crisis, rapes in the Congo, and poverty. However, she also highlights the brilliance of many Africans, including a successful heart surgery at a hospital and Nollywood.
ReplyDeleteThis idea of stereotyping connects to the race relations in America. As Ngozi Adichie confesses, the common belief is that Mexican immigrants are sneaky criminals. African Americans in the United States are often viewed and treated differently. Likewise, a group of Asians have recently filed a lawsuit against Harvard University, claiming that they are discriminated against in the admissions process due to the stereotypes that Asian-Americans have weaker personality and social skills.
The classic Charles Dickens’ novel, A Christmas Carol, provides a great example of unjustly judging a character. Ebenezer Scrooge begins the novel as a cold-hearted miser who despises Christmas. However, throughout the novel, more is revealed about his past, present, and future, and Scrooge has a change of heart. In everyday life, we must do our best to avoid jumping to conclusions about people. Do you agree that there is some truth to stereotypes? What role does stereotyping play in the development of characters in modern literature, as Ngozi Adichie explains?
We draw from what we are taught when we judge and allow ourselves to be influenced by society instead of learning for ourselves. There is no truth to stereotypes as far as I'm concerned, they simply play off of what is easy to see and glaze over a person's humanity. We see this a lot in literature, like reading something like 'To Kill a Mockingbird'; today we see the problems with how race and the idea of the other is portrayed in the novel, but that's only because we have learned to question what we are shown. We surely still have these crippling predispositions about people, but I'd like to think we have made progress in our ways-- looking at activism as a gauge of checking our own tendencies. However, I think literature is also a fantastic way to point out stereotypes. In this way, I believe stereotypes play a massive part in literature, not so much in perpetuating stereotypes, but in questioning the way we see people through those stereotypes.
DeleteI acknowledge why you believe that there is no truth to stereotypes, based off the literature we've read in the past. As you recognized, in To Kill a Mockingbird, an African American, Tom Robinson, is falsely accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a white girl, primarily because of the color of his skin. Although the stereotypes against Tom Robinson and the African Americans of the time are very untrue, some of the stereotypes of the southern white people are evidently true. Though Tom Robinson was innocent, the White people of his community label him as guilty because of the truth to the stereotypes that exist; white people of the time had the tendency to be more suspicious, racist, of African Americans.
DeleteI explored Mr. Pellerin’s blog. It was really interesting to read about all his different experiences and how welcomed he felt teaching at SMAN 1 Mandastana. The students in Indonesia seemed to be very engaged and interested with American life and global politics, yet I feel that many students at Andover High School do not consider the world outside the United States, or even Massachusetts. As we explore the importance of global citizenship and culture in this class, Mr. Pellerin’s experiences teaching students from such different backgrounds will provide the class with a new, important perspective. I was also affected by “the most heartbreaking question (which was asked repeatedly): ‘Why do Americans hate Muslims? Don't they know that the terrorists are only a very small few?’” No one should feel labeled as terrorists or treated any differently based on their religious beliefs. Mr. Pellerin, how did you respond to such a question? What similarities and differences did you notice between your American and Indonesian students?
ReplyDeleteIn psychology the primacy effect says that first impressions have a larger impact than later information. As Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie addresses in her speech, that first impression can “make one story become the only story” and “[rob] people of dignity.” When dignity is robbed, respect is often stolen with it, a problem I see throughout our society. Even if people have opposing views on topics resulting from single story knowledge, there should still be an element of respect between them. Without this fundamental respect for one another, a dam is created where knowledge and information can no longer pass through.
ReplyDeleteI, like many others, have been guilty of the single story trap. From a young age my parents taught me the importance of staying humble and not flaunting money or accomplishments. Therefore, whenever I saw people covered in luxury brand names, my single story mind assumed they were somewhat shallow, less respectable people. As Adichie put it, my mind “emphazie[d] how we [were] different rather than how we [were] similar.” In the summer going into eighth grade, I attended a stay away summer camp where I became close friends with a girl named Rebecca. Rebecca would get up from our lunch table to sit with international campers who were struggling to adjust to Western-style food and stay in to take care of her roomate Arielle on nights when she became homesick. Everyday Rebecca would call her mom, who she said was her best friend and biggest supporter, back in Florida. From the stories Rebecca told me and seeing the two of them talk on the phone, I thought her mom was one of the kindest people I’d heard of, even though I’d never physically met her. Two nights before we left, Rebecca finally showed me a picture of her home and family. Her house looked like a castle amidst a breathtaking garden and her mom had bleach blonde hair and Chanel handbag whose cost I didn’t even want to know. I was stunned. Had I not met her before seeing her life at home, I probably wouldn’t have guessed that her or her mom had such caring and genuine hearts. Rebecca introduced me to the other side of a story without either of us realizing it and for that I will always be grateful.
I really loved how you incorporated an example from your own life and related it to the topic of making quick judgments. Through this example, you showed that your lack of knowledge about Rebecca drove you to understand her on a deeper level, helping you better know her as a person. The shock that you felt from seeing the wealth of Rebecca happens more than we realize, and I am glad that you personally were able to be affected by this.
DeleteMr. Pellerin’s blog was a great vehicle to show the magnitude of stories within Indonesia. I thoroughly enjoyed reading through the posts on the website and the seeing how things like religion and education impact Indonesian lives versus American lives. In well-off towns like Andover, we often don’t understand how privileged we are to have such a high quality of education and housing and therefore don’t always make it a priority to help those in surrounding communities or countries. Mr. Pellerin, I would be intrigued to hear about any expectations you had going into the trip and your ideas about Indonesia before arriving versus how you would describe it to others now. Where there any areas where you realized you had single sided stories and what tactics were most effective in showing the full stories? Like Tim O’Brien, did you use elements of fiction in order to convey truth in your posts?
ReplyDeleteThe message Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie speaks about in her Ted Talk reflects on how we as a society suffer to see past the stories and narratives we are told. The way that her college roomate pitied her, and not only her, but Africa itself, reveals just how strongly we believe in these stories and myths of how someone or something is. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie addresses the way the world often sees Africa, as “a place of negatives,” without ever visiting the place itself. These prejudices that the world believes into form from a single story. Over time, this story spreads and suddenly society has created a perception that we all seem to accept and acknowledge, without knowing if such perception is true. I believe that we sometimes judge novels and characters the same way as well. We hear many different opinions on certain novels and characters and without evening know it, we have already formed an opinion on the book without reading it. Books like “The Great Gatsby” or “A Tale of Two Cities” are very well known and everyone has an opinion on the characters or plot. If we only hear the negative ones, we tend to assume that the novel is not very good and in return, we will not read it. We judge a book based off of inferences from others, without giving ourselves a chance to form our own opinions on the novel. Weather it be people, countries, or novels, we cannot judge something or someone based off “only the negative stories,” because if we do, we “overlook the many other stories” that compose a person, a place, or a novel. Although there's many dangers in a single story, they have the ability to “empower and humanize” the world around us. If we are going to judge someone or something from a story, we must know all the stories that define them.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your idea that people go into stories with assumptions, often closing their mind off from the idea that they could actually have a different opinion from others. I have heard some of my friends admit they don't like books simply because they heard others talk negatively about them, never reading them for themselves. It's one thing to do this with literature, but it's another to do it with stories not contained within the title of a book. When people only see a single story of a people, country, or idea, it's often harder for them to admit they aren't looking widely or deeply enough than it is with books. Sometimes people simply haven't been exposed to enough information, unknowingly seeing only one story. But often people actively choose not to learn more. Not only does this close them off from hearing the rest of the stories, but it shows that as humans, we often only see and hear what we want. At times, this can be our greatest downfall.
DeleteI enjoyed exploring the website and learning about education in Indonesia, especially compared to the education we have here. In particular, I thought the global technologies section was very interesting to read. It was very interesting to read about things like ‘A simple Plan,’ where a teacher used twitter to teach Hamlet. This idea is one I hadn't heard of before but I think it is a very creative way to go about teaching.
ReplyDeleteOftentimes, how we judge others boils down to our surroundings. Whether it be through literature, articles, television, or word of mouth, our first impressions are ironically developed mostly from the opinions of others. With so many cultures and ideas across the globe, I think it’s difficult to have a strong knowledge of everything. So, especially in today’s world, what platforms select to publicize or ignore become far more influential in making a single story or particular point of view. With the globality of media, as Adichie says, they have the “Power...not just to tell the story of another person, but to make it the definitive story of that person”. There is no dispute that media can inform, but it also leave room to generalize. As a result, when a single story is repeated “over and over again”, that stereotype or idea “is what they become”.
ReplyDeleteThis message resonates with what my Race and Membership class is currently discussing. Recently, we read real-life examples of the effects of stereotyping and the single story. Joseph H. Suina, a Native American US Marine veteran, writes about how his heritage defined him in the Marine Corps as “Chief, Indian, or Tonto...accorded the characteristics of a noble and reckless warrior”. Jeanne Park, an Asian-American, shares how the expectation that Asians are smarter affected her childhood. In the article, both Suina and Park internalize and fulfill role of the stereotype because that is all they were told. In his platoon, Suina took the name Crazy Horse, joined the most dangerous missions, and became one of the most awarded combatants at the end of his service. Throughout elementary and middle school, Park was convinced that she smarter than her non-Asian classmates. Only when Park attended a private high school, where she sees students of all backgrounds with higher marks, does her perspective change. Suina and Park demonstrate how “showing a people as one thing, as only one thing, over and over again, and that is what they become”.
Reading “Mr. P Goes Global” was proof that one of the best ways to end the single story is by experiencing the world on your own. I liked how the blog highlighted not only the trip itself, but the importance of globality. I agree with Jason in that our school seems to exist in a bubble. So, by adjusting the AP Literature curriculum as seen in the “Global Education Unit” tab, I think the class will become more conscious of life beyond AHS. On this page, I noticed that many of the future assignments involve reading, reciting, and writing poetry. Why is poetry so fundamental to global education? What does it provide that can’t be found in prose?
Your example of Parks is important because it shows a side of stereotyping that isn't always considered. Some stereotypes represent a group under what would seem to be a positive light, such as this example of Asians supposedly always being smarter. But then as Parks shows, these stereotypes can be just as damaging and de-humanizing. No group should ever be seen under a single story, even if that story seems to be a positive one.
DeleteI agree that there is a point where lies can become one's truth as with Joseph H. Suina and being defined as “Chief, Indian, or Tonto...accorded the characteristics of a noble and reckless warrior.” However, the issue is that if encouraged, that "lie" of sorts can take on a new life of its own and cause one to feel as if they must take on those characteristics for themselves.
DeleteIn Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TED talk, she speaks about the danger of a “single story.” This concept describes how we are sometimes fed only a single narrative about a person, place, or thing and how that forms the entire picture in our minds. An example is how Africa is painted in literature as poor and hungry throughout the continent. I agree with Adichie’s message, literary stereotypes are all too common. It seems that many writers blindly feed the existing stereotypes about places or time periods because they want their writing to be familiar or relatable to the reader. They might talk about Old Britain by describing the cobblestone streets and industrial smog or talk about Native Americans through feathered headdresses and amateur weaponry. This isn’t to say there isn’t certain truths in these pictures but they certainly do not tell the whole story. I think we feel we have a thorough understanding of many people and things when in reality we only see the surface. We hear about certain books like Dickens novels as just boring and wordy when in reality there are great characters and humor to be found. No book is entirely good or entirely bad but this black-and-white thinking is prevalent in review culture. How is one meant to give a story a rating out of 10 when its plot would be a 4 but its descriptive language a 9? Sometimes we even do this with ourselves, we selectively remember (or forget) moments of our lives and write ourselves off as bad artists or non-athletic or any other label when in reality, we do not only have a single story.
ReplyDeleteThere may be some truth to stereotypes, but they also are flagrantly incomplete. I agree that we selectively remember and forget moments of our lives to often write ourselves off as "bad" at things. However, I believe we also forget moments of our lives to make certain circumstances easier to bear; sometimes it is easier to forget than it is to remember. When we rewrite a story, we have to power to portray ourselves how we wish, either as "good" or "bad."
DeleteI looked around Mr. Pellerin’s website and blog. I like the idea of global citizenship and I think it’s something that should be encouraged. In a changing world, we need to work together more than ever and we are better able to than we ever have been. Improvements in transportation and communication have brought the rest of the world to our doorsteps, we just need to embrace this access. As Mr. Pellerin touched on, a major problem in the way of uniting the globe is the current political and cultural climate. This climate seems to often splinter into tribal group-think with no sign of cooperation. Despite us, in many ways, being more connected than ever, in many cases we are still very divided. What is the best way to overcome this roadblock to progress?
ReplyDeleteChimamanda Ngozi Adichie raised many interesting points when discussing the influence of a single story. In many cases, we find ourselves expecting something particular from a certain type of person before we meet them. Without even realizing we are doing so, our minds instantaneously form an opinion despite the lack of information on the person. Forming an opinion about something or something before experiencing it can indeed have drawbacks. However, it is something that is unavoidable. It is our instinct to identify with some familiarity and it makes us feel more comfortable in situations that are otherwise, uncomfortable. We see this a lot in novels but more directly, in everyday life. Examples can include how we allow stereotypes to make judgments on people. This is a frequent occurrence. I am guilty of making judgements on people prior to knowing who they are, solely from what I have heard in the media or in stories. However, through the realization that making quick assumptions can be harmful, I do my best to not “judge a book by its cover”.
ReplyDeleteI thought that it was really interesting to see what books represent Indonesia because the importance of stories is further discussed. It is easy to follow along because I have read or am familiar with the stories that were mentioned. I also thought it was really cool how you saw Barack Obama’s Primary School. I honestly do not think that I have any suggestions for your website as I think you cover all the areas that people would have questions about. The website as a whole is very informative.
I liked how you talked about people's natural instinct to find comfort in familiarity, turning something abstract into something they can begin to understand. Without this instinct, we probably wouldn't build as many personal connections to stories, ideas, or people. At the same time, it can make room for single stories to cloud the formation of our own opinions. As this is a natural reaction, unless people are actively trying to change the way they think and process information, it is very difficult to change.
DeleteIn “The Danger of a Single Story” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, she talks about how when she came the the United States at the age of 19 her roommate was shocked that she spoke English so well and that she listened to the same music. In the video, Adichie said that her roommate “... had felt sorry for me even before she saw me”. We judge what we read and make assumptions before we have real opportunities to come face to face with certain people, or certain religions, or certain countries. It is hard for people to read something and think another but sometimes the other thing is the truth.
ReplyDeleteIn many novels, there are examples of when the reader judges a character too quickly and then by the end comes to realize that they had misjudged that character. Like in the book series Harry Potter, Snape since book one is always seen as the bad guy with malicious intent towards Harry. By the end of the seventh book you come to realize that he was always just trying to look out for Harry since Snape loved Lily, Harry’s mother. People have a hard time seeing him as good however since for the first six books he is seen as someone who has always plot against Harry, but it is important as a reader to be able to look back and see how what we saw through a certain perspective as him trying to do evil was him actually trying to help. If a reader can’t reflect on what they have already read as they learn new information as they read then I think they can potentially miss a really important message of the novel.
On the global website, I really enjoyed reading your blog posts and hearing you talk about your experience at the school. It is super interesting to see how similar yet different the schooling systems around the world are.Reading the part about the students shaking your hand and thanking you for teaching shows how much that they care about their education and the time that people put into it, which I think is something some people in the US take for granted. I think that there is so much knowledge around the world and that if we worked together more globally then we could accomplish so much more.
I really like how you discussed an example from a novel that many people can relate to. I remember reading the Harry Potter books and being so surprised after finding out that Snape was trying to do what is best for Harry all along. I found myself feeling guilty about making a quick judgment on him without knowing the backstory. After finishing the series, I thought about him as a character. This reflection did help me see his true intentions and without trying to understand him as a whole, I would have missed out on a really big aspect of the novel.
DeleteThe hardest thing a person does is admit they are wrong; admit they have been altered in their ways; admit they don’t know and that they have more to learn. In literature, we find this lesson more potent and changing than anywhere else. It’s often the task of a writer to alter others judgment and teach them, even from a young age, so they may grow or shrink as the story dictates. Writing is powerful in that way of changing the way we see-- easily, it is the fiction of our youth that forms our minds and the fiction of our schooling that we learn to question the way we’ve been taught to see. The same goes for life, the phases of learning, questioning and then learning again. I am not Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, I have not lived her life or suffered her struggles, I cannot tell you all the ways which I have experienced casual racism or causal generalization or casual dehumanization because I have been influenced by the same power she seeks to fight. I cannot perceive what I have been taught as normal, thus why Adichie’s message is so powerful. Another story must be told to correct the downfalls of those we have taken for fact. We are all formed by the worlds we’re brought up in, convinced they are normal and that all else is other. We define people by what is familiar to us, ignoring and fearing what has yet to be experienced. This is how bigotry is created. Judgement, not by person but by stock image, seek out similarities to simplify what we have yet to know. Little do we know these generalizations are scraping away the characteristic that make each individual human. It’s impossible to be an entirely impartial judge of the world, however we must acknowledge our ignorance instead of hiding from and reinforcing it. We must relearn how to learn, and begin judging not by what is easy to see, but by what we have yet to.
ReplyDelete~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Humanity is the ability to see another as more than what is seen, engaging all as equals and allowing ourselves to host compassion before prejudice. In a world expanding rapidly and irrevocably, inequality has become a more relevant and pervasive topic than ever as it is seen more clearly by a wider scope of people. As we expand, our humanity and perspective become the key to discovering our own privilege, and thus correcting our judgement of the world. Internationality and global citizenship must be at the forefront of our educations and, by extension, minds as the world proceeds into the future. So often we are lead to blindly believe that our life is all that is relevant, but we forget about so much of the rest of the world. Slogans like “America first” make it seem like being number one is all that matters, but we must correct our view to see it not as a race. Global citizenship is interaction on a broader scale, with a broader mind and a broader understanding of humanity. By expanding our world past our own little bubble, we engage and learn to see each other as humans before stereotypes of what our superficial selves are suppose to be.
I thought your connection between admitting to the truth and literature was very intriguing. Accepting the reality separate from our initial ideas and perspective is indeed a lesson prevalent through novels, just like it is in our lives. Additionally, I think that seeing this pattern through what we read tells us that it is a natural phenomenon and actually a little comforting.
DeleteHow can we teach the humanity needed to interact with worlds beyond our own?
DeleteJudgement is a constant in today’s society, and is something we are all guilty of. Unfortunately, stereotypes can play a large role in the way we view others. In her TED Talk, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie discusses how hearing a single story has impacted her life. One experience she shares is when her American roommate assumed she could not speak English well and that she listened to “tribal music.” When we only view people based on the stereotypes we hear, we tend to misjudge individuals and generalize them with a population they belong to. I’ve often heard the quote that “before you judge someone you should walk a mile in their shoes,” which is similar to Adichie’s belief that we should not just listen to a single story, but multiple. You will not truly get to know the person unless you know many sides to them.
ReplyDeleteOften at school, we are given books to read for class that have a so-called bad reputation. You hear from other students that it is a bad book and it makes you question whether or not you will enjoy it. Going into a book with the idea that you are not going to like what you are reading from hearing a single story will cloud your thoughts and may ruin the experience for you.
After reading the blog and exploring the different ideas presented, something I had not previously thought of before was asking where you are local instead of where you are from. Living in the same town my whole life, I associated home as one place. I didn’t realize that people may not identify with where they are from, but rather where they live now.
I agree with what you said about presumptions about books, and I think "A Tale of Two Cities" by Dickens is infamous for this. Is it possible to form your own opinions when the collective, single sided opinion is implemented in your brain? We can not stop other from complaining about specific literature, so how will we block our brains from negativity and be inspired to know the completed story.
DeleteSusan Matteucci
DeleteAdichie says that "the truth is incontrovertible". People are only getting a single section of the truth. I think that you say that really nicely here. We are given certain types of books, which have certain types of stories. If we don't here the whole truth we can't overcome things like racism and discrimination.
Appearance has a lot to do with how we as people judge someone else, whether or not we’re willing to admit it. Physical appearance plays a large role in the judgements we make, how someone look or talks or dresses. I’m guilty of this myself, for when I got older and learned more about Andover, I made sweeping assumptions about the people who lived here. I live from an area outside of town, but in every case of me revealing that information to someone, Its always come as a surprise to them. My views of Andover residents being rich to the point of throwing money at all their problems, was broken by the realization that anyone who were to see me at school could assume the same thing about me. How we look plays such a large role in what we believe people to be, but the reality is that appearance alone is not enough to determine who someone is. This concept is something that I, and I’m sure many other people, apply to literature. Every time I choose something new to read, I literally judge a book by its cover. I’ve skipped many novels just because I don’t like the picture on the front, or any other number of arbitrary factors. I tried to read the Game of Thrones series, and despite being interested in the story I was unable to keep reading it, just because the copy I had happened to have a smaller font size than I cared to look at. If I had read it on a kindle, where i could adjust the word size, or just picked up a different version of the text, maybe I would have continued reading it. I think back and wonder just how many books I would have read, if I were to strip them of what they showed on the outside, and just payed attention to what they said on the outside.
ReplyDeleteAs I looked through the website, I took particular interest in your incorporation of The danger of a single story as a key idea to come back to and keep in mind during your trip. A question that I have, Is what level of culture shock did you have once you entered Indonesia, and what, if any, preconceived notions of the people and culture of Indonesia we challenged during your stay?
I thought it was very bold of you to admit to your assumptions about the town/people of Andover— it just so happens that I can say the same about myself as well. Personally I have been on both ends (giving and receiving judgement) and the reality is, is that those looking from the outside-in most likely do not see the whole picture. Out of our natural human instincts, appearance impacts judgement fairly stronger than we want it to— but that doesn't mean we can't change our thoughts right after the initial encounter. There is a large difference between sticking to judgement and wanting to learn from it, and I think that striving to know someone completely is key to overcoming the dangers of association by a 'single story.'
DeleteSimilar to Adichie’s perspective on stereotypes in her "The Danger of a Single Story" TED Talk, I don’t think that single stories are necessarily dangerous— they are only incomplete. Single stories can range from exactly that, to rumors, or even a quick glance at someone when walking to your next class. As humans, we naturally extract specifics from what we see or hear and quickly use that to base judgement; to us, that is only part of someone’s story that we don’t know the title to. When Adichie spoke about her younger life and judgements made after her family’s poor “house boy,” (~3:20) I was surprised to realize that her emotions felt so familiar to mine somehow. Then, she describes her realization upon how he was able to physically make a basket, “I was startled. It had not occurred to me that anybody in his family could actually make something” (3:53). Because of her and her family’s ‘single story,’ or perceived judgement, Adichie’s understanding had been so mistaken and incomplete. I feel that it requires knowing different aspects or “moments,” of someone to truly try and define them. After all, it is difficult to complete a puzzle without knowing what it is supposed to look like.I also find it intriguing that everyone’s ‘single story’ of someone can be completely different than someone else’s solely because of varying experiences.
ReplyDeleteIn my personal reading experiences I find that I am also at fault with character and single-story association. For example, when the author begins a piece describing a scenario with the main character, the majority of the character’s persona is already built in my mind—only the actual truth is missing. I also find myself shocked when I continue reading the story and discover the inaccuracies in my assumptions. My past real-life experiences contribute to my initial judgement and perspective, and my opinion (almost all of the time) changes as I widen my understanding along the read. Adichie’s TED Talk and connection to literature & perspective reminded me of when I read The Great Gatsby. I initially felt sorry for Gatsby after reading about his undying love for Daisy—as I continued reading, however, I realized the complexities behind his character and ultimately shifted my opinions. It is interesting how judgement both in and out of literature work parallel to each other and can influence our emotions in the same ways.
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DeleteI agree with your point that single stories are incomplete. In order to fully understand and define someone or something, we must know more than a single story. We must know the other stories that make up their life as well. I think your post sums up this key idea very well. I also agree with your ideas about how we judge literature in this same light. I can relate to your personal experiences with reading, as I have often made assumptions and opinions about the character or book right from the beginning. I think this directly correlates with your point earlier, that we must know more about someone before we can make these assumptions or judgements.
DeleteI completely agree and relate with how you internalize and picture characters in literature. It's human nature to take a description of someone, and create a picture of what they look like in our heads. We take from what we know, borrowing appearances from those who share a similar description to that from any given piece.
DeleteI liked how you pulled in a book we all are familiar with, The Great Gatsby, and effectively used it to help prove your point. Like you, I began forming my opinions about the characters early on in the book. However, I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with that. It's hard to stay neutral about characters for an extended period of time in books and honestly we'll never know their full stories, only the parts the author decides to share. Building that connection to the character early on is part of the author's goal in keeping readers interested. I think the importance lies in keeping an open mind as the story goes on. Having the fluidity in your mind to alter your opinions is key in creating the optimal learning and reading experience.
DeleteI found it interesting how you said single stories are incomplete but not dangerous, but I respectfully disagree. Single stories are incomplete, but especially dangerous. These single stories often accidentally give the wrong first impression. We have all experienced trying to convey an idea where there was miscommunication and the situation turned out very poorly. People sometimes "jump to conclusions" on single stories, trying to fill in the other stories themselves. These conclusions are drawn based slightly on that single story, but mostly on stereotypes. Overall, jumping to conclusions based on these dangerous single stories often makes each situation worse.
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ReplyDeleteAfter exploring your global page, I thought it was so interesting to see the lifestyle in the countryside of South Kalimantan! I could not help but compare it to life in America— I would like to know more about the lifestyle there and how it compares to ours here. I'm wondering, did you encounter any 'single story' experiences/realizations there?
ReplyDeleteWe have always known the importance of making a first impression. Whether it is during a job interview, meeting someone new, or in some other professional setting, making a first impression is something we always think of as important. But why? Often times, as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie explained in her Ted Talk, people are very quick to judge without knowing the full story. These snap judgements that could be made over something as small as a handshake have drastically impacted relationships between people. These first impressions can be impacted heavily by physical appearance, as there are many stereotypical conclusions that can be made upon appearance alone. In novels, when an author introduces a character, the description used can be much more powerful than expected. If certain characteristics are used, immediate connotations are made, in which the reader can form opinions. I would be lying to say I did not do this. I too, sometimes form opinions on characters without knowing them very well at all. Over time, however, I have learned to be able to change those opinions as I learn more about characters in literature. I rely less on first impressions to make judgements on characters and give the author time to show me who they truly are.
ReplyDeleteIn Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Ted Talk, she mentioned starting the story of the history United States with the indigenous Native Americans and not with the arrival of the British. I connected with this immediately. I remember in my early years of education, I always learned the history of the United States starting with the Mayflower and the British leaving for America. However, in my history classes in high school, I start to see the “other story,” the one that includes the people who lived in America first. I had never before thought much of the Native Americans, but now I see how they were the victims of the arrival of the British. Without this full story, I never would have understood what the Native Americans went through, and I now view the first settlers in a completely different light.
I enjoyed reading about your visit to one of Barack Obama's primary school. It was interesting to see some of the aspects of schools in Jakarta. I thought it was interesting how even though learning English was not in the curriculum, the teachers at the school found it very important to give the kids a global education. I feel as if schools in the United States do not value a global education as much as this school.
ReplyDeleteIn a society thriving on fake news, rumors, and single stories, its crucial that we take our time to examen the other side, or the complete story. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a Nigerian storyteller, explains misconceptions and stereotypes that's she experienced and that she imposed throughout her child, and early adulthood in a Ted Talk, "The Danger or the Single Sided Story." She speaks a lot upon Nigeria, and exposes how little Americans know about the CONTINENT of Africa, and perhaps how little she knew about the people around her; significant in her life. Nigerians drive cars, can use the stove, read and write, be apart of the middle class, but many choose to focus on the negative aspects of Nigerian life: poverty, starvation, rape, abusive governments, and make this their defining story.
ReplyDeleteIn my life, I feel that I had been buying into the single sided story regarding mental health; convinced that depression was only noticeable by the sterotypical symptoms: stress, not taking part in once loved activities, and irrational behaviors. Always thinking that it would never affect me. Therefore last January, in the midst of midterms I wrenched by the truth that one of my family members has been diagnosed with serve depression and anxiety. I did not understand, she seemed happy, had a solid group of friends, wasn't getting in any trouble, and sustaining solid grades. She just didn't fit the description. Just as Adiche described that her professor thought her story wasn't authentically African, because it was without poor, starving characters, it was easy to think my family member wasn't authentically depressed, I didn't see cuts on her wrist, didn't hear her weep by her self in her room, or think she'd lost interest in dance. This thought, I'm still, a year later, absolutely horrified and embarrassed about. I owed it to myself to be more observant, to understand the complete story of mental illness, not just the single story, as mental illnesses are widely marginalized by teens, who are also being heavily affected by it.
The identify of mental illness is characterized in "The Hours" my Micheal Cunningham. Virginia Woolfe is mad, Richard Brown is delusional, and Laura Brown is selfishly irrational. However, if the reader magnifies their lives you can see their fight for survival, a will to live, in a life that has deprived them of true fulfillment. If stories are reliant on power, how important are authors? Can we blame them for creating single- sided characters and plots, or can we only blame ourselves for perceiving them this way?
I appreciate how open you were to talk about the stigma of mental illness. I too thought that depression was characterized by the symptoms you see people talk about until seeing someone diagnosed who I would not have previously suspected. Sometimes when we close ourselves off to learning about a topic, we just associate it with the stereotypes associated with it. Don’t blame yourself for not seeing the signs, as you had only heard a single story.
DeleteIn Mr. Pellerin's website, I enjoyed reflecting on the portal that our students were able to experience this year. I believe that the portal helps further Adichie's views on ditching the single sided story. Before you entered the portal, you might have had assumptions and misconceptions about the country you were connecting with. However, once being surrounded and lost in great conversation, these stereotypes seemed to melt away.
ReplyDeleteSusan Matteucci
ReplyDeleteIt is very hard to hate a protagonist. They always have reasons for being horrible people, or they change and learn as the book moves on. It is, however, easy to hate other characters in a story. For instance, the father, the banker, the school rival, can all be easily despised by the reader if they are cruel to the protagonist. But if the book was about the father, or the banker, or the school rival, our feelings would probably be different. That is because we get the full story of a protagonist, and only a single story of the side characters. Everyone is the protagonist of their own story. Every villain has an inner motive, something that guides their actions. This is why, when it comes shining light on different places, it is important to create many stories. Tell stories from all perspectives. In the continent of Africa we focus on the poverty and epidemics, but there are other things to think about: ordinary people creating beautiful things. In fiction, it is alright to only see one side of the story, but in real life we need multiple angles to truly understand the places we have never visited and people we have never met.
One of the ways we can see multiple angles is to be global. In Mr. Pellerin’s blog it says that global citizens “recognize perspectives, others and their own”. We need to learn and see more of the world that is hidden from us in order to understand and appreciate it.
It is often too late to take back a first impression because that it is what it is - a first impression. The first impression like Adichie mentions can be seen as "A single story". Whether we believe it or not, we are guilty of making these impressions either towards people in our everyday lives or just people in places we know nothing about. As heard in the ted talk, Adichie's roommate first impression not only showed the ignorance she was equipped with but also the sad reality of our society. We are in a society where many of us chose to be complacent and remain comfortable in "our truth" instead of making a genuine attempt to gather a more cohesive mindset. I have a been a victim of complacency in the fact that because of my residence all I knew of was people who looked like me and shared the same experiences. Arriving in Andover has completely changed my "single story". It is now that I realize that the desire for a better education has also equipped me with the tool of awareness. Because of that, I can completely relate with you website. Shown in the importance of global perspectives and the idea that we need to be aware in order to appreciate and embrace our differences.
ReplyDeleteSusan Matteucci
DeleteI like how you talk about ignorance. When Adichie's roommate asked to hear her "tribal music" and was "disappointed to hear" that Adichis listened to the same music as she did or when Adichie was on a flight and an announcement said they were collecting money for "India, Africa, and other countries" are all examples of how people today, in this country are just ignorant of the world around them. I was wondering what your thoughts might be on stopping this ignorance and education our country.
As the brilliant Winston Churchill once said, "Truth is incontrovertible, ignorance can deride it, panic may resent it, malice may destroy it, but there it is." In the same tone, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's ability to tell the ugly truth is sterling, tough, dependable, honest, brave and true in how she handles the uncomfortable. Demonstrating our relationship to handle the truth, Miss Adichie prompts the audience [and frankly us as well] to understand our tendencies of ignoring or watering down the truth because it is uncomfortable to hear. It is only with the courage to recognise our tendencies toward making judgements and only when we recognise them, we can learn to accept others as well as ourselves and our thoughts.
ReplyDeleteWe as human always fixate on the first impression. The idea that when you meet someone for the first time it needs to be the best first meeting ever and if it is not it is a pivotal moment in how the interaction between you and the other party will be.That is how we judge people.That being said, that is what “The Danger of a Story” is; a single story. One outlook, one perspective, one so called ‘truth’. In literature this could mean an abundance of things. The outlining of stereotypes, the perceptions of those stereotypes, what they, look, sound and act like. But mostly what we should expect. It affects how we think about others, even ourselves. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in her talk, explains notion this perfectly. Especially when she talks about her roommate in college in America. When she found out where she came from, she showed her a sort of ‘pity’, and looked at her the way Adichie “looked at Fide’s family”. Or that same way when her editor did not view her story as ‘authentically African” because he too, only knew a single story of Africa, and the people there. It’s this idea of judgment before education, that we as humans, students even teachers, need to learn to push past the barrier and educate ourselves, and not expect for others to do it for us. That's why when I looked at “Mr. P goes Global” I greatly appreciate it. The immersion into a culture to learn more about it, when possible is such an amazing opportunity. The idea of globality should always be encouraged, in my opinion it's one of the best ways to rewrite, the single story.
ReplyDeleteMy only question Mr. Pellerin is how did you think it would go? Like prior to taking the trip, how did you think you would be welcomed or thought of in the countries you visited. What was your single story?
So I know we already finished this discussion, but I was studying for my bio test when I realized what I thought was a really interesting parallel between the single story and the founder effect. In biology, the founder effect is when a very small number of organisms from a species colonize a new habitat, and the descendants there are more genetically similar than the original. For instance, if there are a set of red, yellow, and pink roses at a clearing, and only two of their seeds got carried to a different clearing, it is possible that by chance the two seeds are both the same color. Because only that color is at the 2nd clearing, all the descendants growing in the 2nd clearing will end up being that color also. I thought this was just like the single story, where the actual is so diverse, but because only one or two stories reach us, only those ideas get propagated and we get a very skewed picture of the actual population. It was also connected because biologist recognize the danger of a lack of genetic diversity in a population, and there is just as much danger in having only a single story. I don't know, this just felt like a really big lightbulb moment for me and I wanted to share it.
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