Danger of a Single Story

Which of the following describes Adichie as a child?

• She was encouraged to learn about Western culture.
• She was strongly impacted by Western culture.
• She was uninterested in Nigerian culture.
• She was unhealthily obsessed with Western culture.

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How did reading books by African writers affect Adichie?

• It exposed her to different stories, specifically ones she could relate to.It made her grateful for the American and British stories she grew up with.
• It made her grateful for the American and British stories she grew up with.
• It encouraged her to write about characters from a variety of cultures.
• It made her realize how relatively few African writers there were.

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How were Adichie’s interactions with Fide’s family similar to her interactions with her college roommate?

•  Adichie felt pity for Fide’s family, as her roommate felt pity for her based on a single story.
• Adichie didn’t try to get to know Fide’s family, as her roommate didn’t not try to get to know her.
• Adichie decided she had nothing in common with Fide’s family before she met them, just as her roommate did.
•  Adichie had high expectations for Fide’s family, as her roommate did for her based on a single story.

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Which of the following describes the common single story for Africa?

•  The inhabitants of Africa live exciting and luxurious lives.
•  The inhabitants of Africa want to come to the United States.
• The inhabitants of Africa live diverse and full lives.
• The inhabitants of Africa are all disadvantaged in some way.

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What role does power play in constructing a single story?

• The people in power have the ability to ignore stories that they don’t agree with.
• The people in power cannot be influenced by the effect of a single story.
•  The people in power tell the story that best suits their interest, and control its content and distribution.
•  The people in power have no need to construct or spread single stories about others.

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What does Adichie believe a better version of storytelling looks like?

•  She believes that it includes several stories that focus on the positives.
•  She believes that it includes several different stories from different perspectives.
• She believes that stories need to be more widely available in order to improve.
•  She doesn’t believe storytelling needs to change, but rather the way people respond to stories.

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Why is the story of Fide important for exploring the idea of a 'single story'? Select the two most appropriate

• Chimamanda Adichie also had preconceptions of others based on limited information which minimises their experience

• Chimamanda highlights she is a suitably flawed "storyteller" who has also made the same mistakes

• The world is full of stereotypes and we must be careful not to just assume things about people

• She was young in her experiences and has since learned to know better and keep an open mind.

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What understanding does Chimamanda get from her early reading material? Select all that apply

• Poverty meant that people do not have access to books

• It sparked an excitement for writing in her and stirred her imagination

• Characters in books must do things that are dichotomous with the life she leads: they talk about the weather and play in the snow

• Eurocentric perspective with the conventions that all characters look Caucasian

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Which of these were stereotypes of Africa that Chimamanda discussed in her TED Talk? Select all that apply

• Poverty is not common, she is from a middle-class family

• Everybody listens to tribal music

• It has beautiful landscapes and wild animals

• AIDS and War is everywhere, people are waiting to be saved

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What is the effect of knowing the full story?

• You have a richer and more complete understanding of other people and places.
• You realize that different people and places aren’t so different. Everyone is the same.
•  You will stop viewing yourself and your culture as superior to others.
• You will realize that what you once thought was true was a complete lie.

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