Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: The danger of a single story | TED

What judgements might people make about you before they get to know you? Why might they do this? 

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

• Adichie didn’t try to get to know Fide’s family, and her roommate didn’t try to get to know her.

• Adichie had high expectations for Fide’s family, and her roommate had high expectations for her.

• Adichie made assumptions about Fide’s family, and her roommate had made assumptions about her.

• Adichie decided she had nothing in common with Fide’s family, and her roommate decided she had nothing in common with her.

How does this all relate to Adichie’s previous point about the story of Fide’s family?

What technique does Adiche use to highlight to us that Africa is not just one thing, but many things in the sentence starting on line 55 in your anthology "If I had not grown up in Nigeria...."

• Juxtaposition

• Metaphor

• Anecdote

Why did Adichie’s professor think her novel lacked authenticity?

• The characters drove cars and were too much like him (educated and middle class).

• The characters were highly motivated people and extremely successful.

• The characters only showed the poverty side of Africa and not all of its successes.

• The characters in the story listened to modern music and spoke English.

Where did Adichie believe this single story had come from?

• her travels

• the news media

• non-fiction books and novels

Why did Adichie tell the student that it was a shame that young Americans were serial murderers?

• Adichie was poking fun at the student thinking all people were like those we read about in books.

• Adichie had a negative view of Americans and believed they were equal to serial murderers.

• Adichie only had a single story of Americans and believed they were all violent people.

• Adichie was trying to insult the student by saying untrue statements.