Analysis Of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie s Ted Talk, The...

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s inspiring TED talk, The Danger of a Single Story, proves how stories influence the way we perceive the world. She describes the single story as a narrative that surrounds only one perspective. The objective of her speech is to inform her audience that assuming something is true based on a single piece of information gives us incomplete and incorrect perceptions. Society is an accumulation of social stories, it is never just one thing. There are multiple, contingent and overlapping ways to experience and articulate cultural identity (Delgado, 2009). When we view a person or place from only one perspective, we assume one aspect of a story as the entire truth. â€Å"Show a people as one thing, as only one thing, over†¦show more content†¦Context is neither static nor objective, and it can be multilayered (115). There are many examples presented in Adichie’s speech on how the social, political, and historical structures of context affe cted her intercultural interactions. Every cultures reputation relies on history. The view of Africa is shaped by historic Western narratives and by the important people who have told these stories. For instance, she mentions how Jon Lok’s old writings embody the start of Africa’s negative reputation in the West. In Lok’s writings, he describes black Africans as beasts who have no houses {†¦} people without heads, having their mouth and eyes in their breasts. (07:04). The historical context shaped the way Adichie’s interactions with her American roommate and professor occurred. Due to historic stories such as these, her roommate believed African’s could not be like her in any way and assumed there was no possible connection as human equals (4:49). Similarly, she once had a professor tell her that her novel was not authentically African because her characters were â€Å"too much like him, an educated and middle-class man.† Her characters drove cars and they were not starving . Therefore, â€Å"they were not authentically African† (7:32). We must also consider the political context. The political context in which communication occurs includes those forces that attempt to change or retain existing social structures and relations (116). For example, toShow MoreRelatedCultural Practices between Men and Women in Nigeria1858 Words   |  8 Pagesis revealed and documented. This project is a collection of fictional short stories, it is titled Cold Heart and Other Stories. The theme of these stories will revolve around emotional and domestic abuse on women, the stories are a reflection of the everyday lives of young Nigerian females as they, in the words of Nadaswaran(2012), â€Å"mature into their understanding of personhood as ‘woman’†. As a collection of short stories written from the point of view of a Nigerian female, this research portfolioRead MoreAnalysis Of The Novel Esperanza Rising 1776 Words   |  8 PagesEsperanza tells her mother not to worry. She s in charge now. Los Esparragos (Asparagus) spring harvest is the cycle where new life emerges, it is a season of hope and anticipation and fresh starts. The asparagus season would be a long season, one in which Esperanza’s mettle is tested. While packing asparagus, Esperanza listens to the chants and threats of the strikers. The workers have to cross picket lines to get to the sheds to store the asparagus. Danger encroaches the migrant work camp like the