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The Danger of the Single Story
Watch the Ted Talk video where Chimamanda Adiche describes the danger of a single story. In your blog entry, connect the ideas she presents in the video to Things fall Apart and/or imperialism in the regions we are studying in class.
Allison
11/27/2013 07:54:50 am
The video "Ted Talk" spoken by Chimamanda Adichie connects to the book "Things Fall Apart". Chimamanda is a brown skinned girl who lived in a place were its always hot and sunny and you eat mangos. A boy who's family can no longer support him comes and lives with Chimamandas, one day when they go to visit his family they show her a beautiful woven basket that they made, she is shocked and feels guilt because she did not think of them as anything other than poor. When Chimamandas older and moves to a university in America. Her roommate was surprised when she learned that Chimamanda speaks english and knows how to use a stove. She is also greatly disappointed when she asks Chimamanda to listen to her tribal music and she pulls out her Miriah Carey record. This connects to the book "Things Fall Apart" because of the way that Okonkows family look at him. They only look at him as if he is a mean and cruel man thats not all true, by all means he is no good guy but the only reason Okonkow treats his son so harshly is the same reason he does not show any other emotion other than anger, Okonkows father. His father was a failure. Okonkow doesn't want himself or his son to be like his father. He shows no other emotion than anger because its a sign of weakness, when the only other sign that should be shown is strength. He Pushes his son because he wants him to be a hard working successful man. This story and book connect because not everything or everyone is a they seem , you don't know their story or their reasoning.So don't assume something if you don't know.
Abby Whittingham
12/31/2013 03:52:40 am
Hey Allison, I really like how you connected Things Fall Apart to the TED Talk Speech. You had an in depth description of why Okonkwo was so harsh and it made your piece very clear to read.
Emma Theroux
1/5/2014 09:34:14 am
I really liked how you connected the video to the book. It was very clear and I like the all the examples from both the book and the video.
Jason
1/6/2014 11:24:44 am
I really like how you connect the book to the TED Talk because you can see how the two are related and you can see how strong of a connection there is between the TED Talk and life.
ryan q
3/7/2014 03:37:58 am
Allison. I enjoyed how in depth you got with the back story of Chimamanda which helped with your ability to connect her story to Things Fall Apart.
Jared
11/29/2013 11:51:09 pm
In the lecture Chimamanda Adichie gives she talks about how many people only know the single story of a place they've never been to. During the time of Imperialism the western people created these stereotypes that lasted up until now. In the lecture she describes how her roommate thought she didn't know how to use a stove or use technology because the single story of Africa is that they are a primitive people who need help. This stereotype was created by the Imperialists because they had a different way of doing things that was looked at as primitive or outdated. The single stories everywhere were created by the west when they went to Imperialise because of their lack of understanding and that they weren't caring for the people just the profit. There are even single stories about the westerners saying that they're all rich and live in luxury when in reality they have poverty just like everyone else. The single story about regions stems from Imperialists perpetuating the stereotype that all natives were in need of help from their western neighbors.
Matt
12/20/2013 09:43:07 am
Using specific pieces of evidence from the "Ted Talk" made your post much stronger. I also noticed how you used words like primitive and luxury to show the diversity between the group making the stereotype and how they see the imperialized people.
Camryn Liberatore
12/21/2013 07:32:27 am
Your comparison was very similar to mine. The way you used specific evidence and elaborated on that evidence made your response stronger. I liked how you used stereotypes and how Natives were treated with social darwinism.
Kortnie
12/23/2013 11:04:23 am
I like how you included the part about how the lady's roommate didn't think she could use a stove. The way imperialists thought of natives as being childlike is the same single story the roommate knew.
Kelley Almada
12/31/2013 03:32:24 pm
I agree with Kortnie. The fact that you pointed out the stove segment connects to how Imperialists treated colonists. Which resulted in racism between different countries, and even domestic racism.
Mackenzie Donahue
1/5/2014 09:04:19 am
Although we connected the lecture to different things they both have similarities with the connections to the single story, also you used specific details that made your reply easy to understand. Oh and the part where you talked about how the westerners also had a single story was an amazing idea and that made the entire post even more brilliant . Jolly good show
Jade
12/1/2013 06:20:22 am
In class we've learned about imperialism in different regions of the world. We also watched a video about The Danger of a Single Story, describing how humanity has based each other off of the only things they know about one another and how they see each other. The Danger of a Single Story presents the point that the single stories we've adapted to has caused us to lose sight of what is true and complete. Regions that took control over other countries they saw as small, insignificant, weak and in need of authority and development fell for the single story they were told or already knew. The U.S saw hawaii as a small weak yet useful piece of land and took control of it, knowing very little about the people and land itself only knowing and accepting that it was something they didn't have and it was different. Also like how France imperialized Indochina and claimed it was for those countries benefit but that was nothing but a sham, because the real reason France took complete control of Indochina was for France's own personal benefit like more profit and economic exploitaion. Eventually France saw their control over Indochina as an opportunity to manipulate their way into making Indochina believe that France was superior to them, that they were different than France. Another point brought up by The Danger of a Single Story, single stories emphasize the differences and almost hide the similarities, not recognizing or acknowledging them at all. Stronger more controlling regions saw the smaller, different and weak regions as places in need of their control and places to divide up between themselves and other strong regions that also recognized these different places as places they could control and change. However, like the point brought up in The Danger of a Single Story, seeing and acknowledging the single story for what it really is just an incomplete, possibly stereotyped, story can help "regain a kind of paradise" in the words of Chimamanda Adiche. This brings up the fact that after Imperialism throughout the world some regions did begin to understand that each place is it's own place and though everywhere is different it's also very similar. Like France and Algeria, who fought for 8 years, eventually came to an agreement where Algeria allowed european and french immigrants into their territory without fighting or either losing or gaining any control over either of them. Each region contains people and homes and has resources and some countries share resources, knowing the differences and recognizing them doesn't mean there aren't any similarities.
Johnathan Sandoval
12/1/2013 12:38:12 pm
November Blog
Johnathan Sandoval
12/1/2013 12:46:25 pm
That's how the story Things Fall Apart and the speech spoken by Chimamanda Adichie can relate to one another.
jack
12/4/2013 10:57:16 pm
thats crazy how much u wrote
victoria
12/31/2013 05:14:10 am
I thought the way you went back in to Thing Fall Apart and found a quote strengthened your blog. I also like how your multiple examples all tie together and prove the same claim about Okonkwo's single story. Great job!
Joetta Nauahn
12/31/2013 12:54:10 pm
I liked how you connected it to a single story and it was lengthy and very well written.
harry lancaster
12/23/2013 03:07:47 am
Yes, Johnathan, I agree with your post in a lot of aspects. I think that although throughout the entire TFA story Okonkwo is made to be seen as uncaring and manly, by the end of the story we see that he actually cares more than anybody else about his community and his beliefs. He cares so much as to not be himself, and to be an almost fictional ego that he creates for himself to be. That's a very important thing that you brought up in your post and it really strengthens your explanation.
Isabelle Maragnano
12/3/2013 06:34:44 am
In The Dangers of A Single Story, Chimamanda Adiche describes how they views of people are limited to only what they are told. Chimamanda is an African-American woman, who had grown up in Africa but moved to the US for school. She describes how her roommates in college were to surprised to find out that she could use an oven or had heard of Mariah Carrey. These roommates of hers were Americans, white girls, who had only one story of Africa. The single-story concept is a reoccurring theme in the story Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. Okonkwo, an African man obsessed with success and strength, performs certain cultures to an extreme that many people question. For example, when Ikemefuna, a young boy who Okonkwo considers to be his son, is sentenced for death and runs to Okonkwo for help, Okonkwo finishes him off. While this may make Okonkwo seem heartless and cruel, in reality Okonkwo really just wants to erase his father's legacy of weakness and failure. Nwoye, Okonkwo's eldest son, only sees his father's façade of indifference to Ikemefuna's death, when in reality Okonkwo was depressed, "not tasting any food for two days." In order to appear strong, Okonkwo only shows his family one part of the story. While Nwoye may think his father killed Ikemefuna out of cruelty, Okonkwo only did it to follow the rules and to appear strong. Nwoye, caught up in this single story of his father, abandons Okonkwo later in the story. Chimamanda's emphasis on how dangerous a single story can be is illustrated in Things Fall Apart, when Nwoye's relationship with his father slowly becomes destroyed. Had Nwoye seen the whole truth, or if Okonkwo had given Nwoye both sides, perhaps Nwoye would have more empathy for his father. Instead, the single story caused premature judgment. To understand a situation fully, a person must understand all sides of the situation. This is expressed in both Chimamanda's speech and Achebe's Things Fall Apart.
Meghan Cooper
12/18/2013 08:54:10 am
I really enjoyed the way you really described "Things Fall Apart" and the emotional depths of the story and really showed its connection to the TED Talk video. You also used very good academic language throughout.
Justin
12/27/2013 04:36:34 am
I feel like you did a stellar job on incoperating all of the details and references from Things Fall Apart. The way you connected the single story to the book was really interesting.
jack
1/5/2014 09:34:32 am
yes, you hit the nail on the head with this Isabelle i really liked how you were specific and plentiful with the details relating Things Fall Apart to the TED talks video and you also made very thoughtful connections
Stephanie Martindale
12/4/2013 05:11:22 am
In "The Dangers of A Single Story" on the Ted Talk video a woman named Chimamanda Adiche tells how people tend to judge things on what they have heard, and haven't actually experienced it for themselves. In this video she goes on to tell us some of the single stories she has experienced. For example when she went to college her roommate said to see her tribal CD's and was surprised when Chimamanda pulled out her Maria Carey CD. The girl thought that just because she was from a foreign country that was poor she had tribal music. Another example was when her roommate was also surprised that Chimamanda could work an oven. The girl had obviously only heard one thing about her country and judged them, which can show how dangerous a single story truly is. The video relates to some of the countries that were imperialized long ago. One example is in the country of Kenya who was imperialized by the British. The British thought that the people of Kenya weren't living the right. So the British judged them without actually getting to know the people. The British only thought what they had heard from comrades around them. The British had a single story of the Kenya people and everyone else they imperialized. Which could have been dangerous for the British because what if the Kenya had only looked weak, but were actually fierce warriors who were competition to the British soldiers. Then the British soldiers would be dead or injured severely, and this is just an example not actually true. If the British had actually experienced what there society ran by then they would have seen the Kenya people were perfectly fine without them. The British only thought there way was the right one because that is what they were taught. That is exactly how Chimamanda saw the girl who had talked about her tribal music, the girl didn't know any better because that was how she was raised. That is how "The Dangers of A Single Story " relate to the imperialism that happened in countries long ago.
Jade
12/10/2013 06:25:03 am
great connection! you made this simple but factual and not incredibly complex, brava(:
Maddy M
12/4/2013 05:37:47 am
The video by Chimamanda Adiche called "The Dangers Of A Single Story" explains how a single story can affect others. These single stories are considered dangerous because it's your judgment of others based on someone else's opinion. You didn't actually experience this thing on your own or learn about it directly from the source you are judging. These judgments can show that you may have the wrong idea about something or someone which isn't healthy. These harsh judgments can lead to someone not liking someone else based on what they have heard even though that person may be the complete opposite of what was said about them. This happened a lot during the age of Imperialism. Two countries in particular had this issue. Britain had not let the people in India vote on certain matters that could effect them. Britain thought they were superior to India, and felt as though the Indians were incapable of handling such decisions. This was because India had relied heavily on Britain, and couldn't run a lot of the things by themselves. When Britain had left the Indians, they didn't know how to use a lot of the stuff the British left behind thus rendering them weak, and an easy target. All because the Indians couldn't do much for their community by themselves as a result of Britain's single story about them. Another example of this would be with America and the Philippines. The Americans thought they were a "primitive race" and that the natives weren't that important, or couldn't do what they could do because they weren't a "primitive race". This had resulted in a loss of power for the Philippines. Most people didn't want their race to join up with the U.S so there was a huge debate about it. Single stories seem as though they usually take a turn for the worse and violence breaks out between the people quarreling. This is why the speaker Chimamanda Adiche brings the dangers of a single story to attention. To help prevent conflict, and make sure people don't fall into the trap of having single stories of others.
Meghan Cooper
12/18/2013 08:57:20 am
I thought it was very thoughtful the way you connected the speech specifically to the Imperialism we learned about through the map project. Your writing was also very descriptive and historically accurate and detailed.
harry lancaster
12/23/2013 03:02:06 am
I thought the same thing, Maddy. In my blog I also discussed how the protectorate countries were left in a state of confusion after being left by their controlling countries. Although in their time of being imperialized they may have prospered, that did not prove to be a lasting effect and even to this day they are still seen to be struggling for stable governments (Egypt, Libya, Syria, etc.)
Tyler D.
12/9/2013 03:57:19 am
Chimamanda from the "Ted Talk" video about short stories connects to the book "Things Fall Apart" in a few ways. Chimimanda tells a story about how she moved to an American university and her roommate thought that she had tribal music and didn't know how to work a stove when really she did know how to work a stove and listened to Mariah Carrey. This surprised her roommate because her roommate was probably thinking in terms of racial stereo types and was given the wrong impression on her. This connects to "Things Fall Apart" because in the book, Okonkwo is judged as a really bad person. Not that he isn't still a kind of bad person, but he isn't as bad as people thought. Okonkwo really only didn't want to become like his father who was weak and lazy. He wanted to be strong and independent and in becoming so, he turned all of his emotions into anger because he believed emotions were weak (like his father) thus making him look worse than he tries to be in his heart. Both of these incidents were created by short stories that people made up that still exist today, and so in conclusion that is how the book "Things Fall Apart" and the "Ted Talk" video connect to eachother.
Matt
12/20/2013 09:47:50 am
Using the specific pieces of evidence from both the Ted Talk and Things Fall Apart makes your blog much stronger than if you had not. I liked how you elaborated each piece of evidence to give your own level two thoughts about the it. This made the support much stronger as well.
Camryn Liberatore
12/21/2013 06:32:56 am
I think your connection was very strong and how you elaborated on each of the subjects really helped make your comparison stronger. Even though it was brief I think it covered all the points that were necessary to make it strong and correct.
Kortnie
12/23/2013 11:07:53 am
Yes, from our perspective, Okonkwo does seem quite cruel, but that is because of our western ways of science and our morals. Here, rational people don't kill their children, but in Okonkwo's tribe, that was just how things were.
Arianna Rodriquez
12/9/2013 07:14:48 am
The way the two ideas of the book Things Fall Apart and the Dangers of a single story connect is they both talk about being treat like they are helpless and they don't know any. For example in the video she said that her american roommate was really surprise to hear that she could speak full english and the girl was really confused to hear that english is Nigeria's official language. The american girl felt sorry for her before she even saw the author. This relates to when Okonkwo and the other five leader were imprisoned and got their head shaved because they burned down the shire the white men builded. In both of them they were treated like they don't know any better like children and the white men were like their father which is an example of paternalism. Both of them stories had examples of assimilation like when the girl in the danger of a single story video reads only American and British books when she was a young girl and decided that the way the American and British book were wrote was the right and only way.In Things Fall Apart book Nwoye decided to take on the culture of the white missionaries. Even if both of the story are about two different things the idea of both of the story couldn't be more the same.
Kelley Almada
12/31/2013 03:38:39 pm
I like how you said that the american roommate felt "sorry for her", because it really shows how during imperialism, the imperialists felt as if the countries were in need, and the colonists were helpless and would somehow benefit from the imperialists' guidance.
Lucas
12/16/2013 07:21:45 am
In the Ted Talk video, Chimamada Adiche describes the many dangers of a single story. A single story is a judgement limited by what you have learned or what you have heard. These stories are dangerous because you have never experienced these stories. Adiche describes in the video how her family got a house boy named Fiti. All Adiche ever heard about Fiti’s background that he was poor. But then one day she went to Fiti’s house and found a basket that Fiti’s family had made. She was suprised because all she heard was how poor Fiti’s family was but didnt know that they were poor and hardworking. Adiche eventually gets older and goes to a university in America. While at the university Adiches roommate is suprised that Adiche can speak English and can use a stove. The only story Adiche's roommate heard about her was that Adiche was African and Africans were poor. But that wasn't the case for Adiche. These two stories connect to Things Fall Apart because of the way Okonkwo is viewed by his tribe. Okonkwo is viewed as a strong and ruthless man who doesn't care about other peoples feelings. But he is really a selfless man as shown when he followed his daughter when she was taken by the princess. His wife eventually sees him and asks why he had followed them. Okonkwo says it was just to check up on his wife because she was gone too long but it was really because he cared about his daughter. In the video Adiche is perceived to be a poor and uneducated young women but she isn't. In Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo is perceived to be emotionless and strong but he isn't. The video and the book connect because not every thing is as it seems. Single stories cause judgements that aren't backed up with facts. Adiche's roommate and Okonkwo's tribe made judgements without facts causing them to not get the real story and image. This is how Chimamanda Adiche's video and Things Fall Apart correlate to each other.
Alec Rubenstein
12/31/2013 01:01:52 am
I agree that Okonkwo was viewed as ruthless but is actually selfless. I also liked how you used specific evidence from the video, like her roommate and her houseboy. It strengthened your connection a lot.
Andrew Milliken
12/31/2013 02:57:47 am
I liked how you expressed the single story of Things Fall Apart as Okonkwo being viewed as ruthless while In reality being selfless. This is an in-depth connection that strengthens your argument a lot.
Meghan Cooper
12/18/2013 08:51:47 am
In the TED Talk video, Chimamanda Adiche, a Nigerian native and novelist, describes in depth what she feels are the dangers of a single story. A single story is an under developed and one sided opinion or idea about a group of people. A single story can affect the way a person sees the world and the people in it. A single story also diminishes the person’s respect for the group of people they have a single story for and the single story also weakens the people’s view of themselves. Adiche gives an example of the single story in her lecture by mentioning the first books she read as a child. These books were from Britain and America and contained Western cultural cliches like snow, apples, and other things that she had never seen in her homeland of Africa. So because of this a young Adiche thought that all books were like this because she had never seen any other kind of book except this western literature and developed the single story that all books must reflect what she had read. It wasn’t until she read more African based novels that she realized that there was more to literature than she had seen previously. One of these such works of African literature is “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe. In Achebe’s novel, his main character Okonkwo, a stubborn and prideful man, has to deal with the effects of imperialists coming to his land and changing the way of life he worked so hard to become a part of. This book connects to Adiche’s lecture because the imperialists who land in Africa had come there with only single stories of African “savages” with a false religion and simplistic views. The imperialists were not able to see past their single story and see Okonkwo’s people as anything less than a lower and insignificant race compared to their own. The imperial commissioner in “Things Fall Apart” demonstrates his single story perfectly when thinking of the name of the book he would write about his time in Africa called “The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger.” This shows the connection between Adiche’s lecture and “Things Fall Apart” a book about the age of imperialism.
Andrew Solari
12/31/2013 02:04:12 am
I think that including the book that was going to be written about Okonkwo's village connected to the rest of your essay very well
Abby Whittingham
12/31/2013 03:29:50 am
Hey Meghan, I really like how you transitioned from talking about Adiche's life to Things Fall Apart. You chose a connection that worked for both pieces and it made your work very smooth and clear to read. Nice job.
Katie Furtado
12/31/2013 07:04:37 am
I agree with your interpretation “…the single story also weakens the peoples view of themselves.” Strategically, the invading Imperialists would benefit from the natives believing they were inferior. It is easier to take over and run a country when the natives are convinced foreign methods are superior.
Thomas
12/19/2013 11:31:20 am
In the TED talk video Chimamanda Adiche describes the danger of a single story. The first thing she say's is that when she turned eight her family got a new house boy who was poor. This connects to TFA because Okonkwo's family had to take care of a boy whose mother had been killed and it is almost exactly what Chimamanda Adiche had to go through in a part of her life. The second thing is when Chimamanda Adiche goes to the village where that boy lived she saw a basket that was beautifully weaved and dyed, that basket turned out to be made by that little boy's brother. Chimamnda Adiche thought that poor people couldn't make things like that and that them being poor was her single story of them. This compares to the Europeans imperializing Africa and how they thought that Africans needed help and they forced everything they knew upon them like religon, customs, and ideas. The third thing Chimamanda Adiche say's is how when she went to college her roomate thought Chimamanda Adiche didn't listen to the same music as her or if she knew how to use appliances and her roomate felt pity for her and that was Chimamanda Adiche's roomate's single story. This compares to the Europeans imperializing Africa because the Europeans thought the Africans were so much different than them but that was not the case. The fourth thing Chimamanda Adiche say's is how she had gone to Mexico and heard about people crossing the border that was the single story of Mexico, and in turn she had bought into that single story although very shamefully. This compares to TFA because certain people in Okonkwo's village were buying into what the Europeans were saying to them, and they had no longer cared or liked about the villages they were told a single story. The final thing that Chimamanda Adiche say's is that the single story is just a stereotype of a culture or thing. This compares to the Europeans imperializing because all they did was create stereotypes of the African peoples. That is how the danger of a single story compares to TFA and imperialization in Africa by Europe.
Camryn Liberatore
12/21/2013 06:28:10 am
A single story is only listening to one view or perspective of something and thinking that is the only story of that thing. In the video Chimamanda Adiche talks about a little boy that she knew. This little boy’s family was very poor and that’s all she really knew about them. One day the little boy had woven a beautiful basket and she was surprised because she didn’t think that he would be capable of such a thing because he was poor and she didn’t know that he could do anything other than being poor. Adiche was a victim of a single story here, she didn’t know anything about this boy’s family other than that they were poor.
Victoria
12/31/2013 05:21:24 am
I thought the way you described Okonkwo left me feeling like he was a victim, and really helped emphisise that there was a danger associated with his single story. Talking about the way outside countries looking in on imperialism also shows a high level of thinking that you put into your response,and was something I hadn't thought of. Great job!
Julia W
12/22/2013 03:29:53 am
In the video Chimamanda talks about how the single story of her house boy and his family created a shock for her when she met his family and realized they could be capable of making things. This is similar to when countries felt it was their duty to imperialize and educate other countries. A lot of imperialist countries had a single story of the colonies. Mostly about how poor and uncivil they are. Most imperialist called the people of the colonies savages. Chimamanda thought of the houseboy’s family the same way as the imperialist thought of the colonies. Also in the video Chimamanda says that popular images and media shows a single story of an African life. This is similar to when major imperialist countries tried to use a similar single story of colonies to convince other countries to imperialize others. People use major influences to persuade others to do what they want. Lastly Chimamanda talks about stereotypes and how they are an incomplete description of a person or people. This is similar to the book Things Fall Apart. In that book the Africans have a stereotype of white people and vice versa. The rumors of the white men create a stereotype not a single story, until the white men travel and inhabit their villages. Once the white men settle in the villages the Africans views of them become a single story because they only encounter one side of the men, the imperialist side. This is how Chimamanda’s video on single stories connects to our imperialism unit.
Stephanie P
1/1/2014 12:16:00 pm
I didn't think about it before but agree with how you connected what Chimamanda said about media using popular images to show a "single story" of Africa to how imperialists used persuasion to get other countries to imperialize as well. Great connection.
Kortnie
12/22/2013 07:43:10 am
In the "TED" video, Chimamanda Adichie speaks about the "dangers of a single story". This idea of one being impressionable and embracing stereotypes on the basis of one idea about the people or things the stereotype is about, is reflected in imperialism itself. Potential imperialist countries, like the U.S., were convinced into imperializing based upon poems, such as "The White Man's Burden", political cartoons, and other propaganda. This propaganda depicted natives as simply being uncivilized, childlike, and in need of Western help. This was most certainly a single story, because although the natives in colonies weren't exactly the Western vision of civilized, they had customs and ways of life that was different, but mostly not savage or childlike. Like Adichie's experience with the poor serving boy, and her astonishment at his family's abilities to make things; the UK, US, and other countries only knew the poor side of the story, and not the other prosperous part of native ways. Like Adichie's roommate patronizingly yet nicely providing her with unwanted pity, some countries looking to imperialize honestly wanted to help natives in achieving Western ideas of stability. And, like Adichie says, the single story can dictate power, making that single story the only story of that civilization or people; like the truth of native African life being of stable, systematic villages were buried under exaggerated cartoons and poems telling a story of only their deficiencies. This gave power and a sense of "right" to those wishing to imperialize, for it was apparently the "white man's duty" to help out these "half-devil, half-child" creatures.
Sabrina
12/30/2013 06:59:53 am
I like all the connections you made, you did a very good job writing this.
Autumn Scott
12/30/2013 10:37:36 am
I think that your use of diction made your response much stronger. I like how you used specific evidence to support your response from both the video and what we learned in class. I think this combination made your blog really clear and to the point, well done.
Andrew Solari
12/31/2013 01:58:48 am
I like how you used the connection of propaganda and political cartoons to the view of the western people
Stephanie P
1/1/2014 12:26:58 pm
I liked how you talked about how the political cartoons and propaganda were used to persuade imperialists to imperialize the "unfortunate" countries although I think you could have connected it to how Chimamanda's mother told her not to waste things because, like the houseboy's family, there were "unfortunate" families who couldn't afford things that she could. Other than that, I completely agree with what you said. Great job!
Breana Pereira
12/23/2013 02:33:42 am
In class, we learned about regions all over the world that had gotten imperialized. Also we had watched and interpreted the Ted talk video of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: The Danger Of A Single Story. These two resources have a connection between one another. In the Ted talk video Chimamanda talked about some single stories that happened during her life so far, and most were about others and their perspective on facts they have heard about her. And none of the people had actually experienced what she had gone through. For example, in the video Chimamanda had talked about one time when she was in college and her roommate had talked to her about music and asked her what type of music she listened to. The roommate was surprised when Chimamanda had pulled out a Maria Carey CD. Her roommate thought that because of the country she had come from and how poor the country was (Nigeria) that she would have only had tribal music/ CD's. Another example would be when the roommate was then surprised again by the fact that Chimamanda could work in the kitchen, especially the oven. Which then shows that the roommate must have heard rumors about Chimamanda's country and concluded that fact about Chimamanda and her country that they were not the type of people to work in kitchens and construct how to use an oven. These facts from the video then connect to countries that have been imperialized in the past. During imperialism there were many stereotypes that were created that then led to the fact of those specific countries becoming imperialized that still go on today. Whether a big situation, or little. For instance, Western people created stereotypes that still are around today. The Western people's stereotypes included of little knowledge known on the outside of there looks other than what life really was like on the inside. Which then led to the imperialists believing facts that were not true, then causing them to imperialize the western are. Overall this is how The Danger Of A Single Story relates to imperialism because people tend to only listen and interpret something that they heard about another person or situation other than actually talking to one another and learning what's really on the inside of the situation that is true.
Justin
12/27/2013 04:32:24 am
You made some very good connections and picked some very nice choices of references from the video. You managed to pluck each detail from the video and elaborate it from your knowledge on imperialism and strung it together to make a very compacted and detailed response.
Brooke P.
1/5/2014 09:04:11 am
I enjoyed your response, the connections were made very clear. I also think your use of diction strengthened this post.
harry lancaster
12/23/2013 02:56:21 am
In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, we saw imperialism shown through a story. Okonkwo and his clan are invaded by white men that claim to be spreading religion, these men at first strictly live in Umuofia (Okonkwo's village) under the idea of getting people to convert to Christianity, but by the end of the story they are the highest ranking figures in the community with everyone answering to them. This ultimately polluted and deteriorated the culture of Umuofia's people, which proves to be a danger of a single story as discussed in The Danger of a Single Story spoken by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. When the men from Britain thought of the people in Nigeria/ Umuofia they instantly believed they needed to find salvation in Christ strictly because they believed in more than one superior being. This was the single story the British had of Okonkwo and his clan. When Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie goes to Fidi's house one Saturday with the sole thought that his family is "poor" she neglected to realize that by poor they were only lacking money, and not creativity or love. She saw the basket that Fidi's brother wove, and was caught in disbelief. Not until later did she realize that, although her family helped his by giving him food, they were happy the way they were and if Adichie's family had gone so much as to take over Fidi's, one could expect his family to become oppressed and unhappy. This is similar to imperialism in African countries by European countries. When Africa was divided into sections that various European countries would take over at the Berlin Conference, Europe did not see that most of these countries did not need as much "help" as they thought, and all they ended up doing was hurting the people. Sure the countries may have benefitted financially, but those effects are long gone by now, and all that remains are troubled countries that are struggling to maintain an efficient government. Adichie is trying to explain how dangerous it is for a single judgement of something to be passed without much thought or depth, and her idea is proved in TFA when Okonkwo ends up taking his own life after being "helped" by the white men, and in real life by the struggling African governments that are all over the news today.
Olivia Mangion
12/26/2013 12:30:50 am
In a Ted talk video a woman named Chimamanda Adiche talks about the dangers of a single story. A single story is when you only see one prospective of something. By only seeing one view this causes stereotyping. The woman during her child hood she had known a boy who lived in a non wealthy family when she had visit him she had noticed a basket he had made that was very beautiful. Since the only thing she had known about him was that he was poor it caused her to stereotype him causing her to think he could not be capable of something so beautiful because he was poor.
Jada Fisher
12/30/2013 06:57:03 am
I like how you said that the villagers saw only one side of Okonkwo. The example you gave helped prove that because he had gone in the night, after his wife, and the wife almost didn't notice him. He didn't want the villagers to see, very nice job!
Jada Fisher
12/26/2013 09:11:13 am
In the TED video Chimamanda Adichie talks about her experiences with the single story. A single story can cause many misconceptions or misunderstandings in a person's life. Chimamanda tells about her house boy and how her mother told her family the boy was very poor. The mother would send food and clothing to his family. The single story that Chimamanda got from her mother about her family's house boy was that he was poor and could not afford food and/or clothing. When she visited the boy's family she was shocked that a member of his poor family could actually make something as special as a basket with bright colors and patterns. In "Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe the white men had a single story about the people of Umuofia and the Umuofians had a single story about the white men. Just because the colony believed in many Gods instead of one superior God like the Christians did, the white men (Christians) saw the colony as unequal and different, leading them to believe they were savages that needed to be saved. In all reality the villagers were just as sane as the white men were. They had beliefs, practices and rituals that they believed worked for them in the aspects of everyday life, similar to how the white men had their beliefs. The imperialists (white men) neglected to realize that the people of Umuofia already had a religion and in no way needed any saving through the power of Christianity. The Umuofian people thought that the white men’s actions were pure evil and they disliked the white men. The single story they had of imperialists was that they were harmful and wanted to force religion upon them. In the eyes of the Christians they were helping the Umuofian people. Single stories appear everywhere, in history, in literature and in the present.
Jada Fisher
12/26/2013 09:15:45 am
In both the book and video they judged others by the single story and tried to help eachother in regards to the single story, although in some cases they did not really need help. The Umuofians thought the actions of the white men, who thought they were helping, were harful and offended them. The Umuofians did not need help similar to how Chimamanda's house boy was fine and could make baskets and such even though he was poor.
Jocelyn
12/30/2013 06:24:30 am
I like how in the end you reconnected the house boy experience to that of the experience of Things Fall Apart. I feel that this helped connect everything to one another and cut off any loose threads.
steve hamerski
12/31/2013 12:05:29 pm
I think the way you connected the two pieces in the video and the book things fall apart very well and I liked the example you gave to show the single story aspect in the book and relating to the book.
Matt
12/27/2013 03:44:38 am
The Ted Talk, Things Fall Apart and the effects of imperialism all demonstrate the dangers of the single story and ethnocentric views. Single stories are all ethnocentric in that they are judgment made from one groups point of view based on their own morals and customs. The speakers roommates view of Africans as less advanced and uneducated and the idea that the people of the Philippines would benefit from American imperialization are both because of the single stories that were adopted by each "superior" group. Social Darwinism can also be seen in these three sources. In the Ted Talk, the speaker describes how others see Africans as an incompetent race awaiting a "kind white foreigner to save" them. The ideas that a) the Africans need to be saved and b) that the white men need to save the lesser Africans, can also be seen in the main reasons of the African imperialism. This view of white superiority is also seen at the end of the book Things Fall Apart. In the closing paragraphs of the last chapter, the white councilman says that Okonkwo was very interesting and a chapter of a book could be written about him or at least "a descriptive paragraph." This idea that this powerful black man could only have a single paragraph be written about him (when in fact there was an entire book written) is extremely arrogant, but understandable because of the mans view of the Africans. In the Ted Talk, the speaker describes how Kipling calls Africans, "half devil half child." This would imply that the Africans are unable to function with out help like a child and are unholy like the devil. In both the book, and the imperialism of Africa, the natives are seen as people who need white assistance so governments are established along with official transportation systems and currency. The white men also built churches and promoted Christianity to the natives because the African culture was viewed as an unholy denial of the one true god. Mr. Brown did this in Things Fall Apart and the British did this to the Nigerian people. Social Darwinism, single stories and ethnocentric views of other races are all seen in Things Fall Apart, the Ted Talk and also the causes and effects of imperialism.
Andrew Milliken
12/31/2013 02:53:30 am
I think you connected the three topics very well. Your connection of Adiche's roommate's views toward her and America's view of the Philippines took a higher level of thinking. I didn't pick up on that myself until reading your blog.
Justin T
12/27/2013 04:25:44 am
In the TED video the video starts by introducing a Nigerian woman named Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie who shares the dangers that come with a single story. A single story is a one sided perspective on an others life, single stories bring stereotypes based on the other person life. Chimamanda shares some of these single stories with the audience, one single story she shared was when she was with her room mate and her room mate was surprised that she knew how to use a stove and she had a single story that her and Africans could not be viewed as equals based on their place of origin, her room mate was also made stereotypes that Chimamanda only listened to "Tribal" music in Nigeria but however that was not the case Chimamanda told her that she listened to Mariah Carey and her room mate was surprised.
Jocelyn
12/30/2013 06:29:57 am
In the second paragraph you telling what the single story does, I think shows what that really did to the people who were imperialized and to Adichie herself through a single story and the effects of the single story.
Alec Rubenstein
12/28/2013 11:03:29 am
In the video Chimamanda Adiche talks about the dangers of a single story. She said that her roommate in collage was surprised she could use a stove and speak English. This is because her roommate only had a single story of Africans. Countries that imperialized other places only had a single story of the natives. They thought that they were savage beasts that could not do anything on their own. This caused the countries to think that they were helping the natives by imperializing them. Chimamanda Adiche’s family had a houseboy named Fidi from a near by village. All she knew of Fidi’s family was that they were poor. When she visited his family she was surprised when she saw a basket his brother had made. Chimamanda Adiche did not think that they could make something because she only knew of there poverty. She had a single story of Fidi’s family. In Things Fall Apart the village had a single story of Okonkwo. They thought that he was cruel and heartless but he just wanted to appear strong because his father was weak.
Ernesto
12/29/2013 03:30:11 am
In the video The Danger of the Single Story connects to a lot of the ideas that you could see when Imperialist went to other countries to take them over are brought up throughout the video. Chimamanda Adichie explained in the video that there is a lot of power in the single story and that it can be used in many different ways. By telling a story of a group of people over and over again until it is the only thing people can think of and picture of that certain group of people. This in many ways is what many of the European imperialist did. For example Imperialist would go into the continent of Africa and depict them as wild savages that didn’t know much about anything other than there savage lives. The Imperialist would use this story and spread it around to the people of their nation and others in order to convince people that what they were doing was justified. By doing this Imperialist would get the people of their nations to feel pity for people of other nations that weren’t as developed and that it was their nations job to help them develop faster and in return the nation that was being imperialized would have to give them part of their government and control of their resources. This would be repeated throughout the places that the Imperialist would want to conquer and the single story would be so strong that people wouldn’t know what was true about the nation that was being conquered and what was an image that was created in the form of a single story. This connects to the video because Chimamanda Adichie describes this but in the setting of writing and meeting someone that doesn’t know you and has only heard things about where you are from.
Chad Wiegand
12/29/2013 11:28:57 pm
In the video The Danger of a Single Story, Chimamanda Adichie tells of her experience and thoughts of a single story. A single story is a bias or stereotype about someone or some place where you have never personally gone to. Chimamanda Adichie gives personal examples in her lecture about how her roommate in college had such a strong single story that she didn’t imagine that Chimamanda could use a stove or listen to American music. Her roommate had always seen Africa as a poor country with disease and little industrialization because of the way Africa had been pronounced on the news or through foundations that helped the helpless people of Africa. Her roommate had a single story of Africa. Imperialist’s reports of Africa had the same effect on Great Britain. Great Britain was told that Africa was a very unindustrialized place and there methods of doing things were old. The reports drove a single story right down the throats of Britain’s people. They imagined Africa as an unindustrialized, outdated place. This single story of Africa was passed down from generation to generation to even now. Africa may have been unindustrialized and there methods were outdated to Great Britain, but to themselves they imagined everything was fine. The single stories of people or places are passed down from generation to generation because imperialist compared other region’s culture to their own which give people a stereotype or bias feeling towards that one region.
Autumn Scott
12/30/2013 10:53:22 am
I like how you said "The reports drove a single story right down the throats of Britain’s people". I think this strengthened your response in addition to your use of diction. Your response was well written and straightforward.
Jocelyn
12/30/2013 06:18:39 am
The Dangers of a Single Story
Sabrina
12/30/2013 06:51:29 am
I like how you talked about other things that we read the connects to a single story and not just Things Fall Apart.
Jada Fisher
12/30/2013 07:03:04 am
I like how you said that in both cases the people who had the single story thought that they needed help. I saw this as a very common theme in Imperialization and in single stories.
Sabrina
12/30/2013 06:37:37 am
In the TED video Chimamanda Adiche talks about how you would hear something and it’s the only view you have of it. Like all she heard about Mexicans were things like how they try to jump the border. So she was surprised when she went to Mexico and saw how it actually was like. And when she first came to American for school, her roommate was surprised to hear that she could speak English and thought that she didn't know how to work a stove. Her roommate heard things about Africans and assumed that all Africans were the same. This connects to Things Fall Apart because Okonkwo was known to the village as a powerful and mean man. But the people didn't know that the reason he tried so hard to be such a great and powerful man was because he thought his father was a failure. And he was always mean all the time because he wanted to be tough and be the man his father never was. And when the white men came to the village they thought that the natives needed their help. They thought that because the native religion was different from theirs that they won’t survive and that it was their duty to save them. So to help them they forced their religion on them and put them to work and thought that they were doing them a favor. Single stories are everywhere, in literature and in life. If you hear one story of something but not hear the whole story it can give you the wrong idea of it.
Olivia Mangion
1/1/2014 08:29:54 am
hey Sabrina, I really like how you added how the imperialist saw them selves and what they were doing, its a good connection to a single story because they only saw their acts as helping the natives and did not see how the natives saw them. Great job!
jack
1/5/2014 09:39:13 am
you did a great job with this, and i liked how you had specific evidence and really good connections between the text and the Ted talks video
Sabrina Devi Tetreault
3/5/2014 09:06:27 am
I really like how you added the part of Okonkwos fathers failure, and how it effected him. I should've put that into mine haha. And I like how you compared Chimamandas experience to Mexico with the new settlers who went to Okonkwos village. Really good job.
Autumn Scott
12/30/2013 10:16:47 am
Chimamanda Adichie from the TED talks video describes the danger of a single story. Only knowing one piece of information about a topic leaves you with impaired judgement of that topic. An example she gives of her single story experience is when she first started reading, she read only British books which contained foreign ideas to which she did not understand. Chimamanda Adichie says that she was left with the thought that all books had to include foreign people and ideas. Adichie concluded from this experience that in the face of a single story, you are left impressionable with false judgement. This relates to imperialism in the regions we studied because single stories caused colonial powers to imperialize. With the single story that Africans were incapable of survival on their own, Britain was filled with nationalism. Britain knew it was superior to Africa, and could easily colonize and turn Africa into a civilized nation. This idea about Africa held by Britain left them vulnerable to impaired judgement. Although Britain had this preexisting idea about Africa, it later came to the realization that Africa was more advanced than it thought. In both the TED talks video and imperialism we studied in class, a single story caused distorted conclusions about a specific person, place, or idea.
Katie Furtado
12/31/2013 07:13:40 am
Had the average European citizen been aware "Africa was more advanced" they may not have been as supportive of the Imperialists. By only sharing one story of Africans, the European Imperialists were able to gather national support for their plan.
Emma Theroux
1/5/2014 09:39:52 am
I really like the way you compared the 2 things, with they way Chimamanda Adichie explained her single story and the way you explained African single stories were very similar and made it easier to understand the connection.
Abby Whittingham
12/31/2013 01:23:53 am
In the TED Talk video, Chimamanda Adiche describes the dangers that come with a single story. A single story is one sided opinion that can diminish a person or group of people’s pride and integrity and can create stereotypes. Chimamanda Adiche describes how she was fooled by a single story when her mother told her of Fidi and how his family was very poor and that was all she knew about him. One day they went to visit his family and she was surprised when she saw Fidi’s brother had woven a beautiful basket. She never thought that anybody in Fidi’s family could actually make anything because she could only see he his family as poor and nothing else. This connects to the book Things Fall Apart because Okonkwo, an African man who was consumed with having power and honor, was thought of as a stubborn power hungry man by all of Ufomia (Okonkwo’s Village). Throughout the entire story, Okonkwo forced himself to never show any sign of love or admiration to his wives or children because he thought of things like love as a weakness. Okonkwo’s entire life was dedicated to being powerful because he did not want to let his father’s weak legacy shine onto him. This leads the entire village to see him as a power hungry stubborn man. For example, Ikemefuna, a young boy who Okonkwo considered a son, was being taken away from the village to be killed. Instead of staying behind, Okonkwo went with them to keep his powerful rank and show he was not weak. As if that was not enough, when they were killing Ikemefuna, the young boy yelled out for Okonkwo to help him. Once again Okonkwo did not want to look weak, so he finished off Ikemefuna. Many people in his village, question his ways because his actions always come out harsh. Nobody could see any of his actions as anything but cruel leaving Okonkwo hidden under the single story of only wanting power. In conclusion, single stories occur in both literature and in life.
Olivia Mangion
1/1/2014 08:37:41 am
Hey Abby, I never really saw the connection of the single story in literature and in life while writing my blog. i really liked how you showed that and brought you blog to the 3rd level of thinking. Great job!!
Andrew Solari
12/31/2013 01:51:53 am
Although in Things Fall Apart imperialism is portrayed as a destructive attack driven by taking advantage of a lesser people, it allowed the native people to technologically advance. The book ended with Okonkwo killing himself, but this only shows the downfall of an individual. While doing the Google maps assignment I learned that non-industrialized nations were often able to take the inventions and new ideas they gained from the colonizers and profited from them. The rise of the colonist came after the colonizers had left, so the colonizers were left with an image of the pre-industrialized colonists. This is how the single story that Chimamanda Adiche describes. From the perspective of the white people, Africans were an uncivilized group of people who had no direction in life. Looking back on it both sides of people realized that all of the differences were just customs of each culture. As time passed the African culture moved away from its roots and assimilated with what is popular. Even thought the culture changed the single story from the white man's point of view stays the same. Chimamanda Adiche's roommate is shocked to find out Chimamanda Adiche knows what an oven is and that she listens to American music. Both the TED Talk video and TFA are examples of how the single stories can stay the same without the proper knowledge and change.
alex whittingham
12/31/2013 03:42:47 am
I like how you connected the video to the Google maps project and not just imperialism or Things Fall Apart.
Hannah Garrity
12/31/2013 01:58:34 am
Throughout class we have learned about how regions everywhere have been imperialized. We watched a video called Ted Talk of Chimamunda Ngozi Adichie and wrote notes about the difficulties of her single story. The single story that Chimamunda was trying to get across was the stereotypes people had against her region. Chimamunda’s video expressed how her life was going and peoples opinions about her regions styles. For example in the video Chimamunda talked about that when she went to college her roommate had talked about music and what are favorite type of music to listen to was. Chimanmunda’s roommate was surprised when she pulled out a Mariah Carey cd instead of tribal music. Her roommate thought that since she came from Nigeria which was a poor country she would have her countries music. Another example that she brought up was that her roommate was very surprised when she was able to work with the appliances in the kitchen. This showed that her roommate had most likely heard things about Chimanmundas country not working in kitchens. These facts that we have learned from the video connects to many other regions in the same situations as Nigeria. The Western people made many stereotypes and because of that people still believe them today. The Danger Of A Single Story relates to imperialism perfectly because people tend to only listen to one side of a story but instead of trying to find out about the truth they stick with the lie
Amanda Hurder
12/31/2013 02:40:27 am
In the video, Chimamanda Adiche talks about her experiences with single stories and this connects to Thing Fall Apart because it shows people judging others without fully understanding them. Also , a single story is just one bit stereotype of that person. When Chimamanda Adiche went to college, her roommate thought she had tribal music just because she was dark skinned and from Africa. In Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo struggled with his emotions. The way he displayed himself all the time was as an angry person. Okonkwo wasn't always angry, but that was his way of hiding other emotions. People of his village thought of him as superior to others, so he had to look strong and show no weakness. Okonkwo broke his anger with sadness, but people didn't see him like that, so they continued to only see him as angry. Overall, people always make judgments without completely knowing and understand the full story about someone.
Andrew Milliken
12/31/2013 02:48:13 am
In the video The Dangers of A Single Story, Chimamanda Adiche talks about her experiences and view of a single story. Both the TED video and imperialism illustrate the dangers a single story comes with. Adiche, who is from Nigeria, grew up with all kinds of single stories. Her college roommate was surprised she knew how to use a stove. This is because her roommate only had a single story that Africans aren't equally intellectual as other people of the world are. Single stories are ethnocentric, because they are based on one person's view toward a different type of person. These characteristics can also be seen in the colonization of African countries. Many countries in Africa were imperialized by Britain, an imperialist powerhouse. Britain had an extreme sense of nationalism, and saw themselves as higher beings then others. They viewed Africans as poor and uneducated, that was the single story about Africans. Britain and other European countries only viewed the Africans by this single story, which led to a feeling of superiority over the continent as a whole. Like the single story the Europeans had about Africa, Adiche had toward her servant, Fidi. Throughout her life Adiche saw Fidi as poor, and only poor. She once traveled to Fidi's house, and found a beautifully woven basket. This struck Adiche as such a surprise because she didn't realize that a person can poor and talented or creative. This realization that Adiche had shows the dangers of a single story. Single stories don't present the culture or customs of a group, usually it is just a reminder of a negative stereotype. When the Europeans imperialized the countries of Africa, they didn't think about the various customs they'd be destroying, they only saw them as lower beings. As seen in the experiences of Chimamanda Adiche and the actions of European imperialists, a single story promotes a stereotype about a group of people. Most of the time this stereotype doesn't do the people justice and is a false view of their culture.
alex whittingham
12/31/2013 03:32:29 am
I like how you gave multiple examples from the video to connect to imperialism. The way you put them together made it flow nice.
Alec Rubenstein
12/31/2013 07:45:10 am
I like how you described the single story as ethnocentric. It is a good use of a vocab word. Using specific evidence from the video strengthened your connection to the natinatism of the imperialists.
alex whittingham
12/31/2013 03:19:35 am
In the TED Talk video The Dangers of a Single Story by Chimamanda Adiche it explains how a single story can affect the lives of others from a different society. An example of a single story is a judgment of someone based on their appearance. In this video, Chimamanda Adiche talks about how she grew up reading American and English children’s books and how that was the only literature around. When she goes to a school in America, her roommate was surprised when she spoke fluent English and knew how to use a stove. Chimamanda Adiche talks about how her roommate had made a single story about her just because she had come from Africa. The same thing happens in the story Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe when an African man named Okonkwo witnessed his culture being shaped by imperialists who came to his African civilization in search for rare resources. However, the African society thought different of the imperialists. They thought that they were there to help them as a third world country. The African society was being changed by the imperialists culturally by being converted from their beliefs to Christianity. In the story the imperialists tell this African society that the gods that they believe in are all false and that there is only one god. An example from the book is when the “…arrival of the missionaries had caused a considerable stir in the village…” This relates to how Chimamanda Adiche was surrounded by American and English culture since birth, so she started writing books for her culture. In conclusion, a single story can affect the lives of others from a different society in literature and all over the world.
Isabelle
12/31/2013 12:13:27 pm
I think your response is really good and well written. The point you made about the appearance of someone can automatically cause judgement, because of what we know about a certain regions typical race. I also like the point you brought up about each side viewing imperialism differently.
Stephen Hamerski
12/31/2013 04:01:29 am
The video The Dangers of a Single Story tells the story of how Chimamanda Adiche sees single story views , and how she has experienced them throughout her life. She describes a single story as a view on something in which the view is made on only what people tell a person or only one side to the whole possible outcome of the view. She experienced a single story in her life at college. She originally lived in Nigeria but moved here in order to get education . When she got to college her roommates created a single story, and thought she wasn't going to be able to recognize and know ho to work many things that were custom to the united states. Just because she came from Nigeria. The single story in this case would be that people from other countries weren't as smart and couldn't do as many things as the people of the United States. Many single stories ere made in the book Things Fall Apart. One single story in the book was the single story made by Okonkwo's village that he was a selfish leader who only cares about himself. He creates this one sided view about him not intentionally , but he needs to show his people that he is not as weak , or as much of a coward as his father was. And in order to do that for example he pays little to none attention to his wife. Also he kills his son in order to not look weak in front of his villagers. When the people see that they only see that and not another side to Okonkwo's ways and create this single story about him.
Victoria
12/31/2013 05:01:30 am
In a TED talk, Chimamanda Adichie a Nigerian women discusses The Danger of a Single Story by recalling how it has made others prejudge her, and how they have also given her a stereotype about other people. She gives the example that, as a child, all she had been exposed to was American literature. Having grown up always reading the American stories, when the the time came for her to write her own stories, they were filled with aspects of life that were not present where she lived but resembled what she had read. This she says demonstrates how “impressionable and vulnerable we are to the single story”, “especially children”. But after being exposed to a different kind of story, African books, there”was a mental shift in her perception of what literature could be”.She also describes how others had a stereotype about her before they had ever met her. Her roommate for example, had assumed that since she was African she wouldn’t be able to speak English, would have tribal music and wouldn’t be able to cook in a stove, all things the roommate could do.These assumptions were false. The roommate had thought this because popular images of Nigeria painted it as a catastrophe, and painted it as a place completely different than America.The single stories only showed a part of the story, although “they are not untrue”, they highlighting human indifference and “rob people of dignity”.When many stories are presented they “humanize” and “repair broken dignity”. The themes of a single story presented by Chimamanda are also evident in the African book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. In Things Fall Apart, we learn of the customs of a village called Umuofia, where Okonkwo, a hard and prideful man lives. The audience then learns that from childhood, Okonkwo saw his dad become bankrupt due to his laziness, showed his emotions, and was even referred to as a women, one of the highest offenses of the tribe. Seeing that laziness was unmanly Okonkwo also associated showing emotions as being unmanly, so Okonkwo becomes a hard person, to the point where he kills a boy that called him father.If Okonkwo had seen other men who showed affection and emotion while still being seen as manly, Okonkwo wouldn't have killed his son to prove his manliness.By killing Ikemeunfuma, Nywoyo(his son), as well as many others in Umuofia, view Okonkwo as emotionless, for the harsh way he treats others. But what they don’t realize is that Okonkwo does care for others. A prime example is, when his daughter is kidnapped, Okonkwo follows the kidnapper for hours during the night, just to make sure she stays safe. When his wife asks why he did this, Okonkwo merely blows it off and as no big deal. But it was a big deal because he not only spent his own time, but went against the tribes rules due to the love he had for his daughter. And, after the death of Ikemeunfuma, Okonkwo sits at home alone and cries, to depressed to eat. If others had seen this,they would understand that the harsh front he puts up was just an act so he won’t be perceived as weak. The single story becomes dangerous because it takes away some of Okonkwo’s humanity. Another example of a single story in Things Fall Apart is the white man's view of Umuofia. Shocked by aspects of the culture such as the murdering of baby twins, the white men view the tribe as savages and find it’s ways barbaric when compared to the civilized way they view their country. Through their Social Darwinistic view , the danger of the single story lies. They don’t take into consideration that although different from their county, Umuofia was a sophisticated tribe that although different from theirs, didn't need to be taken over and helped. The TED talk and Things Fall Apart connect by showing how stereotypes can be made from a single story.
Tresure
1/1/2014 04:14:35 am
Makes me wish our news media would tell more of the full story, the many stories that make up the news. The message of seeing a culture or people from many different points of view, or from many different stories, rings true once you spend time actually there in person. she also fell victim to seeing a narrow view of people based on effortless information sources such as the news. And your writing perfectly sums that up I commend you on your connection
Jason
1/6/2014 11:22:04 am
I like how in depth you go into describing the TED Talk and her life because it gives a good base to write about and connect to.
Katie Furtado
12/31/2013 06:38:01 am
In the TED video “The Danger of a Single Story” by Chimamanda Adichie the dangers of a single story are described. Nigerian author Adichie persuasively explained how a single story provides a one-dimensional account and inadequately portrays the true multi-dimensional reality. Only learning one story about any nation or people, the knowledge is inadequate and will result in incomplete comprehension or awareness. Today’s education of Imperialism is then limited to the story or stories that are utilized to inform the student.
Joetta Nauahn
12/31/2013 12:49:32 pm
I enjoyed reading your opinion and i liked how you tied it together
jack
1/5/2014 09:45:07 am
you really described the details of both the Ted talks video and Things Fall Apart and linked them together very well and i liked the part where you tied it all together at the end that was put together and well thought through also
Camille H
12/31/2013 07:10:17 am
In the video, it is about a lady named Chimamanda Adichie explaining the dangers of a single story. She goes from her home country Nigeria to a collage in the United States. Her roommates figured that she couldn't speak English, preferred tibial music, and doesn't know how to work an oven, based off of a story on Nigeria, causing her to have a stereotype opinion on her. She was surprised when she could speak English fluently, listens to Mariah Carey music, and knows how to use an oven. Adichie tells people that single stories can make you see things in the same way that the story says and not by what they really are. This is similar to how the Europeans viewed the Africans. Europeans thought of themselves as superior to others and thought that they where more knowledgeable than others. Their judgement lead to imperialism and they didn't take the time to see how they were alike and different than them. That is the danger of a single story that Chimamanda Adichie tries to explain.
Isabelle
12/31/2013 12:18:05 pm
Your use of direct evidence from the speech strengthens your essay and show the contrast between a single story and the actual events and you connected the dangers of a single story to imperialism vey well in a way that made sense.
Bobby Gleason
12/31/2013 11:15:19 am
In the lecture Chimamanda Adichie gives she talks about how many people only know the single story of a place they've never been to. During the time of Imperialism the western people created these stereotypes that lasted up until now. In the lecture she describes how her roommate thought she didn't know how to use a stove or use technology because the single story of Africa is that they are a primitive people who need help. This stereotype was created by the Imperialists because they had a different way of doing things that was looked at as primitive or outdated. The single stories everywhere were created by the west when they went to Imperialise because of their lack of understanding and that they weren't caring for the people just the profit. There are even single stories about the westerners saying that they're all rich and live in luxury when in reality they have poverty just like everyone else. The single story about regions stems from Imperialists perpetuating the stereotype that all natives were in need of help from their western neighbors.
Jo Nuahn
12/31/2013 01:00:26 pm
When you wrote "They have poverty just like everyone else' i thought about how people focused on their differences instead of their similarity.
Joetta Nauahn
12/31/2013 12:18:00 pm
In the Ted Talk video, author, Chimanda Agozi Adichie talks about the dangers of a single story. A single story creates stereotypes and emphasizes one perception of an event. Making that one story the only truth. This robs people of there identity making there views narrow,and making one story, the only story. This robs people of their identity. the causes of a single story are, the reading of bias stories, and how the story is told, how many times it's told, most importantly, who,s telling it because authors give stories credibility. In the video, Chimanda adichie gives an example of how as a child, she only read English books. The books she read were set in Britain, while she lived in Nigeria, and she found herself having a hard time relating to the characters. For example, the characters had ponytails, but Chimanda kinky hair couldn't form a ponytail. Chimanda Adichie also mentions how "starting stories with secondly" is another cause of a potential single story. When a story is nor fully told, and have missing parts, the whole story can be changed. The effects of a single story is only writing what is read, being naive of the existence of other stories and being judgmental. Chimanda Adichie gives the example of having a house boy,and how her mother scolded her about wasting food because her house boy and his family weren't as fortunate. Chimanda Adichie felt empathy for her house boy, but once she visited his home, she realized although his family weren't rich with material things, they were enriched with talents and could weave beautiful baskets. Chimanda says a single story is dangerous, because it results to prejudice and breaks down people. As Chimanda Adichie, mentions how dangerous a single story can be, in Things Fall Apart by Chimanda Adichie, this danger is demonstrated. Okonkwo had a single story about the traditions and culture of Umifoa, his village. His single story was no other practice of tradition besides his was right. As the danger of having a single story, Okonkwo faced the consequences which determined his faith. Okonkwo followed all the rules, and even going beyond what is required sometimes. He didn't find any faults in them. Therefore when the European imperialists came to his village, and tried to inflict their culture and religion, it didn't matter because. Okonkwo mind was still the same, he resented everything about the changes, and remained faithful to his own traditions. Okonkwo had never questioned his tradition and culture, everything done with Umifoa was right in his eyes, that's the way it has always been for generations before, and that's the way it was supposed to be. Okonkwo mindlessly followed the rules even when they are beneficial to his plight. For example, when he was exiled from the village for seven years , he excepted the outcome because those were his customs. Okonkwo had a one track mind and strongly refused to consider a compromised of any changes. As a result, he killed himself because the changes he was witnessing were becoming permanent. If Okonkwo was opened to other stories and ways of tradition, he would have adapted and survived. If he thought it wasn't wrong to question tradition maybe he wouldn't have need to take his own life.
Nick Van
12/31/2013 01:57:31 pm
The danger of a single story can be great, a single story is having one one thought or view of someone it can be positive or negative. An example of a single story is in the book Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo thinks of his father as a failure because he is not wealthy and was always in debt but whenever he did have money he used to socialize with others and Okonkwo didn't get that. So Okonkwo's father was not a failure but a poor man that had people who liked him. Another example is when Africa was imperialized the were looked down upon because they did not have advanced weapons and other technologies but, they knew how to survive in their environment which the Europeans couldn't do. So the Europeans had the single story of the African people were not as great as the Europeans but they knew how to survive in their environment. These two examples show the dangers of a single story and how they can make one think negative or positive of another.
Kelley Almada
12/31/2013 04:01:25 pm
In the "Dangers of a Single Story", Chimamanda Adichie's speech conveys the point that people are taught to judge, and everyone's views is based on what they've heard or observed over a lifetime. Chimamanda is an African woman who traveled to America for college and ended up having a roommate who had a single story about Africa and everyone from there. She assumed that Chimamanda had not listened to any American music and that she did not know how to use common household appliances. Chimamanda goes on to explain that this judgement that this girl had of her home country was alike the same one she had about America, and about an unfortunate boy she had heard stories about from her mother. Chimamanda realized that everyone acquires single stories from the judgements they make based on what they are told. This connects to Imperialsim because, when taking over other countries, the imperialists believed that the people they were taking over were not knowledgeable or worthy enough to run a country, and that they were in need of assistance. This lead to racism and colonists being thought of as child like and less important. Chimamandas speech expresses how we should not have a single story upon anyone until we have experienced something in their shoes, or learned to fully understand it, because the Imperialists single story on colonists is what caused their rights of freedom and culture to be uprooted and twisted.
Jon Juarez
1/1/2014 03:18:59 am
Chimamanda Adichie gave a speech about her experiences learning about life and peoples "single story". People only recognize the world by what they see and how they live on a daily basis. One cannot comprehend its surroundings fully without living outside of his or her own comfort zone. When Chimamanda went to college, her roommate only knew a single story about where Chimamanda was from. Chimamanda's roommate didn't know that she could use or even knew what kitchen appliances were. Her roommate knew very little about Nigeria and thought they were not an advanced people. During imperialism, the British went out to try to make the Nigerians assimilate to the British culture. The Brits thought that the Nigerians weren't civilized and didn't have any sense of the world. This was the single story that the white men had on Okonkwo's village.
Tresure
1/1/2014 03:57:13 am
This is really invigorating and highly informative. I like how you got right to the point, reading long drawn out responses is tiring and you managed to do this precisely. However I feel that when explaining the connection to imperialism that you could have gone in more depth with it. But besides that I really enjoyed how precise your essay is, well done!!!
Tresure
1/1/2014 03:41:30 am
Its very difficult to establish a satisfactory knowledge of the world it's always been this way, but especially now when technology has made it possible for billions of people to share billions of stories online and through the media. Some people might consider themselves well informed, but the truth is that none of us can say we really know anything. The amount of information we don't know can be overwhelming, the real message here is to be aware of the fact that more exists. She says 'the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete' This connects to TFA because as imperialism finds its way into the community, the clan begins to lose its independence, and its culture changes accordingly. Okonkwo's character feels this huge sense of loss, and also believes his people are losing their strength. This grieves him deeply because he feels his people are changing (and not for the better).And this can be exemplified as a one sided story due to Okonkwo's ignorance to these new changes and unwillingness to face change. His negative feelings towards this sudden change enhance that, all oknonkwo has ever bin exposed to is his village. And because he knows only his village he's already created this opinion on the imperialist, which is a ignorant and a one sided way of thinking.
Alexa Zielinski
1/1/2014 06:17:51 am
During the Ted Talk video, Chimamanda Adiche explains a "single story" and how it affects many people's outlooks on a country or region. She tells how one story gives a person one view on how people live instead of how many differences there are throughout a continent such as Africa. The danger of a single story can connect to imperialism in the many different countries we have studied. When a bigger, more technologically advanced country imperializes a smaller country, the imperialists see the other country as weak and not well kept. The newly imperialized countries were not up to imperialist's standards. In reality the weaker countries felt that they lived well on their own, with their own religion and ways of life such as the tribes in Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. A single story was heard by an imperialist country which sparked the idea to help a smaller, weaker country and to take over more land.
Dylan Walker
1/1/2014 07:42:54 am
In the Ted Talk video Chimamanda Adiche talks about how a single story puts one view on a race or group of people. In Things Fall Apart a similar situation happens with the village people and the white men. The white men see all other races as inferior and lesser than themselves. It is assumed that all other races besides them were uncivilized and are savages. The white men have created a single story based on what they have seen from one other group of people. The single story is also used by Okonkwo onto his son who he thought was going to be like his father, a lazy man who had not been successful in his lifetime and brought shame onto Okonkwo. The same single story was what the white men viewed the village people as. The single story caused tension between people because one bad view on a particular group that makes them look like they really aren't. When Britain was colonizing Africa, the white men viewed the natives as savages because that was the single story on them. The natives had a single story of people trying to steal and claim their land for their own. Both sides have a single story and they both strongly believe it is correct. A last single story was that the white men imperializing Africa all had the single story that they were greater and more powerful than the natives and that they could do anything they wanted without consequence. A single story results in a prejudice against different people and guides an incorrect view upon them.
Jesse
1/1/2014 09:08:40 am
In the Ted Talk video, Chimamanda Adiche discusses a "single story" in which a stereotype idea is made about a certain race or culture. Euorpe saw themselves as great,strong,wealthy,and powerful since they had many achievements. The Europeans saw India, Kenya, and Nigeria as uncivilized countries because they didn't live the same way as the white men did. Since they didn't have the same technology, weapons, economy, or culture, Europe saw them as weak and thought they needed help. A single story was made that since they didnt have the same things as the white men, it meant that the countries were weak and unciviled. But the white men didnt understand the way of foreign cultures, and didnt realize that the countries were advanced and smart in their own ways. In TFA Okonkwo's village had many unusual customs, and the white men thought it was foolish. So they converted the villagers thinking it was best for them. Creating a single story destroys the real meaning in a culture, and creates a false idea that makes a race look as if they're foolish.
Stephanie P
1/1/2014 12:09:47 pm
In The Dangers of a Single Story spoken by Chimamanda Adiche, she speaks of how only having one perspective of a subject or on people can be dangerous. She speaks of how by only seeing something in one way, or having a “single story” of something, you tend to ignore all other aspects of it and become ignorant to other information. Albeit dangerous, “single stories” can be found everywhere. Such as in Imperialism by the European countries. The European countries believed that many less industrialized countries needed help, thinking that they could not self-govern and were less civilized although they have been capable of providing for their entire country for years before. Therefore, the “single story” that Europeans created. Because of this “single story”, European countries imperialized less advanced countries, such as India and Africa, forcing them into labor assuming that they were assisting the natives. Another example of “single stories” can be found in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart. One of the major “single stories” found in Things Fall Apart was created and strongly believed by the main character, Okonkwo. Okonkwo was a respected Nigerian man who had much power in his clan, feared showing weakness of any kind, lest he become like his father who was lazy and indolent, and strongly believed in the traditional customs of his clan. Therefore, when European missionaries visited Umuofia, Okonkwo’s village, and built a church to convert natives to Christianity, Okonkwo strongly opposed. He believed that Christianity and the missionaries brought weakness to the clans and should be expelled immediately, creating a “single story” on Europeans. As the story of Things Fall Apart progressed, the Europeans gain more native followers, enraging Okonkwo who still believes in his “single story” of how the Europeans bring weakness and should be expelled from Nigeria, completely disregarding the benefits that the Europeans brought. In the end, Okonkwo commits suicide since he believes that the Europeans have weakened his fellow natives and that they have gone too far to convert back. Such is the danger of “single stories” as said by Chimamanda. Okonkwo believed in his “single story” long enough to eventually lead to his death.
mackenzie donahue
1/5/2014 08:56:02 am
I thought that your ending was really strong and brought the entire response together, and i also thought that this was a good response all together and there is nothing i would change if i had written it myself.
Jack
1/1/2014 06:39:10 pm
In the Ted talks video Chimamanda Adiche talks about the danger of a single story. She talks about how if you look at something in one way that is what it becomes and that is the danger of a single story.You need two sides of a story to understand a story. Chimamanda Adiche moved to america to go to collage where a roommate had a single story of her a single story of Africa. Her roommate thought that because Mrs.Mrs. Adiche was from Africa than she was not like her but really was. This relates to Things Fall Apart because when the imperialists come to take over and imperialism they had a single story of the colonists as did the colonists of them. the imperialists thought that the colonists were failing and needed help just as Chimamanda Adiche's roommate thought Mrs. Adiche did. in both situations a group of people were stereotyped by one side of a story, a single story.
Mackenzie Donahue
1/5/2014 08:58:16 am
I like how you ended this ,it brought the entire paragraph together, and your answer was complete and in my opinion correct. Jolly good show.
Ryan E
1/1/2014 06:57:17 pm
The Ted Talk video told by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie connects to imperialism in many ways. Chimamanda is a brown skinned girl who grew up eating mangos and reading British childrens book which made her think that all white people act the way the characters in her book do. One way that her single story connects to imperialism is that it is impossible to talk about or tell a single story without talking about power. Power determines how the single story is told, what it contains, who tells it, and how many stories. In her video, Chimamanda also says how power gives you the opportunity to make someone’s single story. It connects to imperialism because imperialism also depends upon the power that one has on others. The more power one has, the more influence one has upon others, and how one is talked about. Another way that this connects to imperialism is, it is all bias of one person. The imperialists had a bias on the people and countries that they imperialised, which was that they were inferior to them in many ways. Chimamanda grew up under a repressive military government which devalued education which sometimes meant that her parents didn't get paid. Prices got higher for many goods and she watched as many things that she was used to having, like bread and jam, she didn’t anymore. This connects to both TFA and imperialism because in imperialism the imperialists took all of the natural goods for themselves and raised the price for the citizens of their countries. They also took the money that was earned by the citizens from selling goods. This connects to TFA because Okonkwo’s family watched as things disappeared off their table and from their home due to imperialism.
Kali
1/1/2014 07:13:29 pm
In class we learned about how regions were imperialized, to go along with our class discussions we watched a Ted Talks video where Chimamunda Ngozi Adichie talks about her single story and why single stories are dangerous. Her single story was about how people that weren’t from where she was from thought that she didn’t know anything and she didn’t have a lot. When she went to live with her roommate her roommate didn’t think she knew how to work appliances so she was surprised when she used them. This shows that her roommate thought that in Nigeria there were no appliances. Another example is when her roommate asked her what her favorite kind of tribal music was and she pulled out a Mariah Carey cd, she was surprised because she thought she would have tribal music not American music. The video relates to imperialism because people only listen and believe what they want to.
Emma Theroux
1/5/2014 08:39:55 am
In the video she talks about how her roommate at college thought her home music was tribal because all the roommate knew was she was African. The same thing happened in Thing Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, most people in the tribe knew very little about the white men, they thought the white men were evil for trying to change their views and traditions. They didn't want to go along with the white men, because they were scared of what the gods they believed in would've thought about them losing faith, they didn't want the consequences of what their gods could do to them if they were angered towards their people. Because of that most people didn't follow the white men, but others were forced to follow, and some chose to follow. In Things Fall Apart Okonkwo's son followed the White men and he was so angry and disappointed in his son. The video also connects to the imperialism that we studied because the Europeans that took over lands thought that those people were weak, because they had not become as technologically advanced as they were. The Europeans thought the natives of the other countries would be grateful for having the Europeans with them helping them, because most Europeans were nationalists, they thought that even with their help no one could be as good as them.
Mackenzie Donahue
1/5/2014 08:49:27 am
In the Ted talk video of the lecture given by Chimamanda Adiche (an African women who is well educated and came to America in her adulthood) ,she tells us about the danger of a single story, during the lecture she described the day she met her roommate and how her roommate thought she did not understand how to use the technology they had in their dorm, the reason for this is that the single story of Africa and Africans like Chimamanda is that they are an unsophisticated primitive people and do not have the same technology or access to technology as we do in America, now if her roommate did not have that single story she wouldn't have stereotyped and would have treated her roommate as if she was of equal intelligence and technological literacy. Now although a single story doesn't seem dangerous in this incident, it has the potential of being dangerous, like in the book Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achieve. The single story that stands out most to me is Okonkwo's fathers single story, Okonkwo sees his father as week and substandard, that single story of his father make Okonkwo the man he is, he sees only the bad qualities in his father therefore makes himself into everything his father is not, here is where the danger comes in, Okonkwo wanting to be seen as the opposite of his father makes himself into a seemingly emotionless man, he is so consumed with the fact that his father was a week man and that he did not want to be anything like him And so he killed the boy who he thought of as a son out of a yearning to be what he considered a great man,this incident is just one of the many dangerous things that can happen if someone uses single stories throughout their life, and that is why Chimamanda Adiche warns us of these single stories, to prevent the danger that comes from them.
Brooke
1/5/2014 08:57:59 am
In the TED talk video The Dangers of a Single Story by Chimamanda Adiche exemplifies the dangers of a single story. Her single story was that people thought she didn’t know much about their society, because she was from a different, ethnic area. When she moved into college her roommate thought she did not know how to use the appliances. Also when Chimamanda took out a Mariah Carey cd, the roommate was brought to a surprise, because she didn’t know in Nigeria the people were familiar with these modern customs. After this experience Chimamanda knew she had to bring her single story forward. In this video she clearly reveals that if you look at someone in just one way, whether it be their nationality or where they are from; you wont get the whole picture of them. Imperialism is shown throughout. Imperialism is defined as a practice or attempt of one country extending its control of another country or region. In other words, they are taking advantage of the territory because they assume the territory is weak. This could relate to Chimamanda by people could trying to take advantage of her, or make her feel unneeded and weak because shes from Nigeria.
Jason
1/6/2014 11:20:10 am
In the Ted Talk video by Chimamanda Adichie she describes how people are looked at and how your background and he looks of the things around you affect what you see. By this i mean that everyone has a certain lens that they see through and they only see what they believe and think they know. In her Ted Talk adichie describes multiple situations in her life where people saw her a certain way because she was African. In college her roomate believed she listened to tribal music unlike todays pop music and people believed she wouldnt know how to use technology we had here i the U.S. Her situation reminded me a lot of the imperialism being studied in class. This is because the imperialists had a lens that showed through Social Darwinism and Nationalism that they were better than everyone else and anyone who had not industrialized needed the imperialists help to survive. These people the imperialists were 'helping' had not industrialized because they had not been ready and they were still going through stages that the industrial cities and countries had all gone through. The imperialists were the white men and they came in to take over colonies for resources and money. In places like Africa where the white men wanted what Africans had, the white men had to divide it at a meeting called the Berlin conference. Since the Africans had not industrialized as well as many other people had not they could not use or take the natural resources so the white men saw them as 'in need of help' and told everyone that they were helping. The Africans and Indians and many other people were seen as unintelligent and a lower life form just because they hadn't grown as fast. These people were seen through a lens, they only had a single story.
Hadley
1/6/2014 11:29:01 am
In the Ted Talks video Chimamanda Adiche decribes what she believes is the danger of a single story which relates to both the book Things Fall Apart and just imperialism in general. Adiche had grown up in Nigeria which is in Africa which she describes as well developed and has its fair share of scholars and schools. Although it may not be the best place she knows that they are making improvements on their own.. When many people in first world countries think of Africa they automatically think of poverty and illiterate people who don't know much about the modern world. However, even though this is not true in some countries it's a harsh reality in some others. Many places in Africa have developed a well off system of government and their own scholars. When powerful European countries started to imperialise African countries they all had the first single story thinking that countries didn't know how to handle themselves and were in need of assistance and even religion even if they didn't necessarily need it.
James Boudreau III
1/29/2014 03:33:27 am
In the TED talks video Chimamanda Adiche explains how the dangers of a single story can lead to people becoming ignorant and wrongful. This theme is presented in the book Things Fall Apart. In the video, she presents that a single story can poison a person's mind and make them think bad things about others that they know nothing of, based only on that single story. In the book Things Fall Apart, the Europeans who were imperializing Okonkwo's villiage decided by themselves that the African people cared nothing for their land, their resources, their culture, anything. they decided that they would happily adopt their Christian ways and abandon their "wrong" ways. That single story was anything besides true, and quite dangerous, as it is portrayed in the story that the people of Okonkwo's village cared absolutely to the most of their culture and their race and their individuality. There are, in fact, entire chapters describing their rituals and how they live by them. No matter what they did, however, the Europeans pushed onward, ridiculing and destroying their lives as they know it, only because of their nationalist views of themselves and the Social Darwinistic views they placed on the people of Umuofia. It is because of that single story that the Europeans took it upon themselves to destroy an entire village of people. Such are the dangers of a single story.
Damon Em
3/5/2014 05:30:29 am
a single story can be dangerous because it could change their view on you. This could be dangerous because when you are in pain to the point where you a re about to die they could let you feel they had felt.
lacey roy
3/5/2014 06:08:44 am
In the "ted talk" video there was this young women named Chimamanda Adiche and she was talking about how many people in this world judge places that they've never been too or people they've never met, Chimamanda was from Africa and when she came to college in the U.S obviously her skin color was different and she spoke two languages but that doesn't mean people from Africa don't know anything else but African type things, her roommates were trying to talk to her thinking she spoke a different language but they quickly found out they were wrong and then they asked what music she listened too and they were quickly shocked when she whipped out her Mariah Carey mix tape. All of this connects to the book "things fall apart" because people thought Okonkwo was a mean tough guy (which he was) but he wasn't all bad and some people never got to know him well enough to know that his appearances don't always match his actions because he is a very emotional guy and he was raised by a strict dad and only wanted to raise his child like how he was raised. Therefore never judge a book by its cover and actually take the time to read it cover to cover and learn the facts.
Brie H
3/5/2014 06:33:39 am
The video connects to the book things fall apart because Chiminanda in her speech describes how they took in a less fortunate boy that they sent good such as yams and rice to the poor boys family, and while they went to see the boys family they saw a beautiful basket that they had made so she felt ashamed that she didn't think that they could do something like that because they were poor when she got older and mover to America her roommates were surprised that she could use the stove... As in the book things fall apart Okonkwo doesn't want to be like his father because his father was a failure so instead he comes off as a tough mean emotionless man which we learn after reading the book that things wernt actually the way they seemed just like in Chiminanda speech she didn't think the poor boy had the capability to have woven the beautiful basket. This connects things fall apart to Chiminanda's speech.
Alan Delmonico
3/5/2014 06:41:17 am
When you know nothing of a place other than that it holds a great number of natural resources and that it possesses great mystery, than you will not be able to think of the place as anything but has a large amount of profitable resources and mysteries to uncover. This was a single story of Africa that had spread throughout America, and European countries. Chimamanda Adiche, an African woman who spoke on “Ted Talks” had made her point clear that a single story will cause you to not be able to see any point of few of people other than the one you have been given. Such as Europeans and Americans point of few of Africa after they and been industrialized. The idea that Africa was profitable made foreigners lose humanity for the people because they didn’t seem to be as interesting compared to the things that these foreigners had been expecting, such as resources. If newspapers and books had talked about the culture and the beliefs of the people instead of the resources, then there would have been more humanity in the eyes of the foreign imperialists.
Sabrina Devi Tetreault
3/5/2014 08:56:52 am
In the video "The danger of a single sided story" a women named Chimamanda who understands the true reality of a single sided story, explains the danger of a single sided story. "The single story creates stereotypes" quotes Chimamanda. In the book "Things Fall Apart" Okonkwo is faced with a single story of how a man should be. He's been told and lectured and only showed one way, that a man should be strong, fearless and should never cripple to any hand, yet make people cripple to his own hand. This creates a stereotype of men. That they are abusive and fearless. Chimamanda explains of a book she reads called American Physco "It would never occurred to me as a thing that I have just read a novel in which the character was serial killer, that he was somehow representative of all Americans." In the eyes of Okonkwo what he sees and has learnt, that he represents what all men should be like. That they shouldn't show fear, they should all be like him. Chimamanda believes, that is what a single sided story does though. A boy in her class who read about an abusive African husband immediately made it as true and representative of all Africans. "The consequence of a single story is it robs people of dignity." Chimamanda is being robbed of her dignity, because people look at her as a women who must've been through so much misery throughout her life. That she is not as equal to the other races, because she has been poorly raised, due to the danger of a single story. Okonkwo's single story of the brutal, tough man robs him of his own dignity when he feels weak. When he wishes he could be weak. Or when he had to kill his son. He had to live up to the single sided story and be tough and not be a weak man, or he'd be robbed of his dignity. A single sided story makes a person act differently then they would if they had a complete story, just as Chimamanda says.
Kaitlyn Morgan
3/5/2014 09:08:54 am
The ideas in the Ted Talk video where Chimamanda Adiche describes the dangers of a single story, or the stories of literature you read about, not witness upfront, affecting your belief and thoughts about that certain subject connects to Imperialism by the fact that you’re using some type of force to get what you want, and you don’t even know what it’s really like to be in that country you’re extending your power onto you’ve just heard about it and say you want it.
corey L
3/5/2014 10:44:12 am
The "Ted Talk" video of Chimamanda Adiche explaining the dangers of a single story being not understanding race or religion which could ultimately leads to insult and ignorance toward the one you have this single story about. Having ignorance and insult toward the people is more or less racism. Racism is what drove industrial countries to take over lands who's people were only saw in one light that they are only useful for recourses. In the political cartoon "the white men's' burden" the white men use their colonies to carry their weight, but still call it their burden. This shows the imperialist only saw their colonies as a servants to them and not much more
Devon Reis
3/5/2014 11:24:26 am
The video "Ted Talk" connects to the book "Things Fall Apart". A girl named Chimamanda Adiche moves to a university in America. Her roommate was shocked when she found out that Chimamanda could speak English and knew how to use things in the kitchen like the stove. Chimamanda gets disappointed because her roommate told her to listen to her tribal music but her roommate took out her own music instead. "Things Fall Apart" connects to this because Oknonkwo is a very unfriendly person. Everyone around him is afraid of him cause of his bad temper. He doesn't want to be a failure just like his father. He's trying to be successful and trying not to fail. Okonkwo doesn't want his son to be a failure, he wants him to succeed. Okonkwo should be showing strength but he's not. He's very weak and low minded. That is how the two story's connect.
Raven Murphy
3/6/2014 03:23:19 am
In the Ted Talks video Chimamanda Adiche talks about a time when she was in college and her roommate was surprised she spoke English and thought she didn't know how to use an oven because of stories of poverty she heard about in Africa this relates to Things Fall Apart because a single story about white men because it eventually lead to Okonkwo dying.
Nicole
3/6/2014 05:28:14 am
In the video Chimamanda Adiche talks about the dangers of a single story and her experiences with single stories when she went to college. She talks about how she was judged for being Nigerian and her roommate thought she wont' know anything about modern technology because of what she's seen on tv and heard about. She judged Chimamanda thinking she grew up in a poor place with no luxuries. This connects to imperialism when England was imperializing over countries. England thought those countries were weak and needed help. So England stepped in after judging the country so they can help that country become better and more like England. As in Chimamanda's story where her roommate judges her England is judging the countries.
ryan q
3/7/2014 03:14:24 am
Chimamanda Adiche discuses how she grew up hearing about advancements in technology but never really seeing these advancements herself. this connects to imperialism because Europe- a industrialized nation- used its advances to grow and imperialize non-advanced nations. While Europe was gaining land, non-industrialized nations couldn't protect themselves against the Europeans causing them to be imperialized.
Kristopher Murray
3/7/2014 03:32:47 am
This video "the dangers of a single story" told by Chimamanda Adiche connects to the book "Things Fall Apart" in many ways. A single story is when you assume someone is like something based on something else like for example: a person is African American so they must listen to tribal music instead of thinking maybe they listen to todays hit music. In the book "Things Fall Apart" the main character Okonkwo comes of as having no emotions other than anger, but when this kid comes from another village to live with him he thinks in his mind that he likes this kid. This connects to the ted talk video because in the video Chimamanda Adiche talks about how people thought of he being somethiong different than what she really is and in the book people thought Okonkwo didn't have any emotions. This is a reason "Things Fall Apart" and the ted talk video connect to each other.
Cameron Dumont
3/7/2014 03:35:52 am
The ideas Chimamanda Adiche presents in the video connect to imperialism because imperialism is an act of government and in the video, Chimamanda explains a lot of things about Africa and the people there and the landscape of the country. She explains that if she never grew up there that when she ever talked about Africa that she would only know the things that the people of the U.S know about Africa and that she wouldn't know about all the things she knows about if she wasn't raised in Africa. She also talks about how Africa's government only let the people read books with foreign people in them even though Nigeria's main language is English. She also says near the end of the video that there is never a single story of any place and what i think she means by that is just because your told things about a certain place doesn't mean its true. Like the old saying goes "never judge a book by its cover'' same thing with when learning about different states, countries, etc. There's more things about places than we think but we decide to listen to only the things we learned instead of things we don't know and that's one of the point shes trying to get across to us.
Owen Scannell
3/9/2014 11:24:29 am
Very true and since most knowledge is through media these days, single stories are increasing in number
Owen Scannell
3/9/2014 11:21:51 am
The video "Ted Talk" is a speech by Chimamanda Adichie, and i found it connects to a book we've read, "Things Fall Apart". Chimamanda is an african woman who lived in a place were its always sunny and hot and they ate mangos. A young boy who's family couldn't raise him came and lived with Chimamandas family, one time Chimandas family went to visit this young boys and they showed her a gorgeous woven basket that they had made, she is surprised and felt guilty because she didn't think of them as anything but poor. When Chimamanda grew she moved to a university in America. Her roommate was shocked when she found out that Chimamanda could speak english and knew how to use a stove. She is also very disappointed when she asks Chimamanda to show her tribal music and she shows her Miriah Carey record. This connects to the book "Things Fall Apart" because of the manner that Okonkows family looked at him. They only viewed him as a rough and mean person, which is proven false, though he isn't superman, the only reason Okonkow treats his son so cruelly is the reason he doesnt show any other emotion other than anger, his father. His father was a Lazy and a disappointment to all, and Okonkwo doesn't want him or his son to be like his father. He shows no other emotion than anger because in his eyes, its a sign of weakness, when the only trait that should be shown is strength. He drives his son because he wants him to be a strong successful man. This story and book connect because there's always more than meets the eye in everything, you don't know every story or struggle, so never guess if your unsure
James Scott
3/9/2014 11:33:34 am
In the Ted Talk, spoken by Chimamanda Adiche, she explains about her experience with the single story she received about many things. For example, when she came to America for a higher education, she was asked by her roommate to show her her "tribal music". These were the facts given to her American roommate, by the media of the USA. The roommate was subsequently disappointed when she produced a popular music CD. Her roommate had been given a single story or a single point of view, provided to her by all of the media and books and other ways of displaying information. Prior to that, when she still lived in Africa, she had a young boy live with her. This boy came from a very poor family, and that is what she had always thought. They were poor because they had no skills to create money. But she was shown that they had skill and made their son a servant to her family because they could care for him much better than they could despite having the skill. What this connects back to in the real world is the age of Imperialism. This was a time when the Europeans began taking over, or imperialising the countries in Africa, because they all thought they were savages without culture or civilization. But this was false, because they did have culture and civilization, just not of the European variety. So they had false impressions. The single story about Africa had slaughtered several dozen distinct cultures and several thousand people, The Dangers of a Single Story are a hazard to all.
Kyle
3/9/2014 01:59:28 pm
I found the video connected to Things Fall Apart from how you originally people only saw the European view. That the white man was more important than the African. Also that if you only saw that view, things would be much different. You need more than one view to get the whole picture. If not you just get a bias view from a single person. Especially since if one person can make others things the same idea is acceptable than a whole country can. Comments are closed.
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