The Danger of a Single Story
- 1. Entry Task: EXPLAIN ONE ASPECT OF YOUR SURFACE CULTURE & ONE ASPECT OF YOUR DEEP CULTURE.
- 2. Objective: The students will be able to determine the difference between surface culture and deep culture.
- 3. Interactive Notebook: Date = Title = Stories & Culture Page # =
- 4. The Power of a Single Story Spend five minutes doing a journal-write about “The Power of a Single Story.” Write about whatever comes to mind. This is not about correct grammar or spelling. Just let your thoughts flow.
- 5. The Power of a Single Story Share your thoughts and ideas.
- 6. The Danger of a Single Story Watch video entitled “The Danger of a Single Story.” One of the most popular “must watch” TED talks that appears on nearly every list out there is Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s “The Danger of a Single Story.” Combing humor and a fresh cultural perspective that many of us have not had the privilege to hear, she broadens our world in under 20 minutes and delivers a beautiful talk that still motivates viewers today.
- 7. The Danger of a Single Story As you watch, just listen and record the main points that Adichie makes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ihs241zeg
- 8. Take Away Points: Spend 3 -4 minutes talking to your table partners about the main points and listing three “take-away points.” Share your top 3 “take away points” from the video. https://www.ethos3.com/2016/04/3-lessons-from-chimamanda-ngozi- adichies-the-danger-of-a-single-story/
- 9. Quote Analysis: Record the quote in your notebook. Discuss the quote with your table group. Analyze the quote – what does it mean? Record ideas & thoughts in your notebook.
- 10. “The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.” Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- 11. “Stories matter. Many stories matter…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.” Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- 12. “Show a people as one thing, as only one thing, over and over again and that is what they become” Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- 13. “The consequence of the single story is that it robs people of dignity. It makes our recognition of our equal humanity difficult and it emphasizes that we are different rather than how we are similar.” Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- 15. Writing Task: Students will respond to the prompt: Our lives, our culture, are composed of many overlapping stories. Novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding. Explain what you think this means. Use evidence from the video. How you can apply these ideas to your own life?