Please watch the following TED Talk – https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story?language=en – and leave a comment featuring one or two takeaways from the talk. Consider how this talk might affect your writing your fiction piece. Your response should be at least three sentences long.
22 thoughts on “Classwork: TED Talk by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie”
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One of my takeaways from this TedTalk is that it is important to have a plethora of representation about a country, person, and place to combat misinformation and generalization. It is easy to fall into the trap of placing a character into an unrealistic stereotype, and it happens a lot. This happens so much so that readers assume that the type of person being described is how all people similar to him/her are like. This is detrimental to the learning process of others while reading your story.
Another takeaway is that people tend to view a story from one point of view and disregard the other point of view. This leads to unrealistic tropes and negative attributions placed on a particular person or group of people. It also has the power to alter or change what actually transpired and misinform and mislead readers.
These takeaways have helped me realize how important the research process is when describing anything known or unknown to me. Research aids in authentic and relatable storytelling. It also helped me realize that I need to watch out for this in my own writing. I tend to write based on my own thoughts and feelings about how something seemingly is and disregard any other views, whether from other people or the internet, but I will make sure not to going forward. Only then will I truly capture whatever it is I am writing about.
My takeaways were how easily people can be affected by the things that surround them, and how she used to think that writing had to be in this one set style until she read different books. Though not as specific as Adichie’s, I think a lot of people perceive writing with limitations, especially students. I’ll keep this in mind in the future, so I can write something that I’m truly satisfied with.
Adichie explains that the whole world has a stereotype or bias on any other group of people who are not themselves. For instance, it is very common for many Americans to believe that an immigrant from Africa may not speak english. However, Adichie explains that these false truths and stereotypes stem from literature as well as the media that produce single sided stories. Single sided stories only demean people from a certain group and never result in peace or equality. Adichie is able to provide the audience with a clear understanding of single sided stories and its impact on people. As a result, the audience is able to pick up on how groups of people are being misjudged and how unfair it is to not have the full story presented.
One takeaway that I got from the TedTalk is that how a person can easily create a certain perspective about another person or a group of people by the single story they are told from others. When one view point is told by others multiple times, one can be, in a way, brainwashed and think that the story contains the truth of a certain group of people. People would also often apply a stereotype to the whole ethnicity of that group of people due to that one story that they were told or read that one person of that group were, for example, abusive. This can not be something that is applied to a whole ethnicity because of one person can not represent the whole group, this causes people to become separate from each other.
The most important takeaway from Adichie’s TedTalk was the idea that single stories, whether they are derived form the media or something told over and over again, can be very deceiving to the public. The more that a story is told and believed, eventually creates stereotypes and barriers/differences amongst individuals and/or groups of people. Because of the diversity we are exposed to, it is necessary to be open minded in order to understand other cultures, customs, and backgrounds, out of respect. This way of thinking can allow me too look outside of what I know or what is believed to be right in terms of developing a plot, choosing a setting and giving life to characters in my writing.
I think my biggest take away from this TED Talk was that it is important not to judge a book by its cover. Also, this TED Talk helped prove why it is good to gather as much information as possible before we make decisions or assumptions. The two stories that amplified this the most for me was when the speaker talked about how she did not expect Fide or his family to have the ability to do anything at all, and then later how that same sentiment was echoed back by her roommate in America. In both cases the party who made an assumption was way off the mark, and it proved to be a learning experience for the speaker as well as her roommate in college.
My takeaway from the TED talk was that stereotype and racism will always be present within the world. Adichie explains her philosophy of how people have always been resorting to the quickest route of hearing one story about a person and assuming the worst. Judging a book by it’s cover was a main message that I took away from the talk. Adichie explains how we as humans must be open-minded to the various cultures in today’s society because it is constantly evolving and people can be sensitive to certain things.
What I took away and wish to implement into my fictional piece is to take risks in my content. Risks being subjects such as having an engaging introduction with drastic events (like how Andy Marino talked about with the plot development). By doing this it breaks that barrier of having the audience being bored/not having that engagement.
My first takeaway from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s speech is the single story concept. If you will tell the same thing about the place, or the person all over again, it will become a single story, the only truth people know. They won’t know about other truthful things, about different perspectives, they will just believe in this single story as if it’s the only and absolute truth. The second takeaway for me is that a single story can become a powerful weapon. If someone will tell the story of how some people are bad and stupid, and not worthy, he/she can turn everyone against these people. It is a great power to present the truth the way they want to gain control over someone. I think the concept of the single story can be used in the functional story by showing how telling only one truth and concealing everything else can have a tragic impact on someone’s life.
One of my takeaways from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TedTalk is that many stereotypes come from people making assumptions about certain groups based on a single story they have heard about the groups. Many of these single stories appear in media and literature which have a big influence on people who are unfamiliar with any culture or lifestyle other than their own. When writing literature or interacting with others in general, it is important to have an open mind that is willing to accept and apply different points of view instead of sticking to the same single story.
After watching Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TED Talk, one of my takeaways was how harmful it can be to profile someone based on stereotypes or just assumptions. Adichie made assumptions about Fide’s family as she was given better circumstances in life she was conditioned to believe because Fide’s family isn’t wealthy they have no valuable skills. Similarly, Adichie’s American roommate felt pity towards her because she assumed in Nigeria Adichie was not exposed to Western culture. By doing this people tend to limit the capabilities and experiences of other people. Another takeaway was most people make assumptions whether they’re conscious of it or not but it’s important to learn more about the topic and educate yourself. I’ve watched this TED Talk in many classes for about 4 years and I remember a discussion where we talked about how everyone has probably made assumptions about something in the past but we have to understand that there is so much more to the world than what we experience in the US. It’s important to acknowledge other people’s experiences are different and it’s important to not fall into the habit of stereotyping people based on what we’ve heard. Be open to hearing people’s stories.
One of my takeaways from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TedTalk is that a person can easily judge someone based off of what they know or what they were told. Adichie explains that we as human beings should be more open-minded towards the various cultural norms in today’s society because it is constantly changing every day. One person doesn’t represent a whole group. People have to understand that. Another takeaway that I got from this is that it is essential to have enough information backing up my characters, so no assumptions are made.
A takeaway from this TedTalk is to never look at the surface of someone or a culture. To truly understand a culture, you must not listen to just one side or what is presented on the media. It is essential to do your own research and learn from unbiased opinions. There are stories and rich culture that lie hidden behind crude, ignorant words that describe solely the negative of a place. It was interesting to hear the story of the roommate and her perspective on Africa. Unfortunately, this is what people are taught from the media and word of mouth.
One takeaway is that a single story is created from showing people as only one thing over and over again, resulting in them becoming the thing you constantly describe and portray them as. Another takeaway would be how where you start in a story could change the the story all together. Another takeaway would be that one person can’t represent an entire community. Learning that there is more to people than the one story you have always heard would give you a different perspective on them.
My takeaway from Adichie’s TedTalk is that people can be very narrow minded and create stereotypes that generalize about people. When society perpetuates these certain aspects, those people they are all seen that way which robs them of individuality. Also the way she speaks and adds humor makes her talking points really stick.
One of my takeaways from the TED Talk is to not fall and categorize people based on one experience or story. If you talk about one experience or thought you have about any particular race or religious belief of people you could be painting a false narrative based on that one experience which isn’t right. It is important to keep an open mind when it comes to other cultures and beliefs that may differ from your own because you yourself might learn or experience something positive that you may not have known just sticking to things that you relate to or know already.
One of the takeaway’s from the TED Talk by Chimamanda Adichie is that when you only learn and are our only taught one thing, you become very narrow minded. It’s not until you’re introduced to different things that you become more open minded, you step out of the box you were in. Being African American I can relate to her, in terms of only believing that someone of my skin color wasn’t in literature. Of course that was when I was younger, as I grew up I found out that, that wasn’t the case.
A takeaway I got from the TED Talk by Chimamanda Adichle is that you can’t just take one side because it is the one you heard. You need to listen and find the truth and not let yourself have tunnel vision the second you hear something about someone or something you are not knowledgable about. When she mentioned her roommate did not think she knew how to work a stove, because she heard one story of Africa and assumed that was for everyone.
I have seen this Ted Talk several times in many of my previous classes, and it is always one that reminds me how important perspective is. Adichie’s main point, and my main takeaway, is how a single sided story is an incomplete story. Adichie gives many examples of how she feels although she has been misrepresented and how she has also participated in these single sided narratives. Adichie’s Ted Talk always reminds me to never take anything at face value and seek different perspectives of a story in order to see a fuller picture. Adichie’s Ted Talk is also acts as a reminder for me to create multifaceted stories and characters with depth. The talk acts as a reminder to paint as full of a picture as possible for my readers.
My biggest takeaway from this ted talk was the dangers of only being exposed to one perspective. She explains her love for literature while writing about topics that she had never experienced and only read. In that time of her life, the media around her dictated how she wrote and her perspective of writing. She expresses how dangerous it is to be only exposed to a single side of someone’s story. Her words are meant to inspire young writers to explore new perspectives and not to be confined by one person’s view of a large situation. When I first heard this ted talk in high school. I did some self-reflecting on my own writing and storytelling. I found myself sticking to what I already knew or what I had read. Though the writing I did for that class was more research and analysis based, it made me want to explore different ways of looking at the same writing.
One takeaway I had of this is how inaccurate and dangerous a single story can become. A media coverage repeating a story over and over again can program someone’s brain to think a certain way. For example, the media coverage with Mexico. All they cover is people hopping over the borders, being arrested at the borders, fleecing the healthcare system, and people in America will start to believe that everyone in Mexico are the same way. But when you visit Mexico, its completely different than the way it is portrayed in the media.
My takeaway after watching the TED talk with Andrew Stanton, was the theory of the two plus two, and how as a writer it’s your job to make the audience put things together instead of giving them four. To keep the audience interested you have to keep them thinking. Something that I have to keep in mind when writing my fiction story is the order in which I place certain details in the story. To also keep the audience interested I have to make sure everything is in order and makes sense.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie brought up many interesting facts on the dangers of a single story, including how they are formed. 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. It is impossible to talk about the single story without talking about power. Like our economic and political worlds, stories are defined by the principle of nkali. How they are told, who tells them, when they’re told, how many stories are told, are really dependent on power. Power is the ability not just to tell the story of another person, but to make it the definitive story of that person. When we reject the single story, when we realize that there is never a single story about any place, we regain a kind of paradise.