Single Stories (UK)

We know that every person is different from any other in countless ways, yet when we encounter others, we often rely on generalisations to describe them. ‘It's a natural tendency,’ says psychologist Deborah Tannen.

We must see the world in patterns in order to make sense of it; we wouldn’t be able to deal with the daily onslaught of people and objects if we couldn’t predict a lot about them and feel that we know who and what they are. But this natural and useful ability to see patterns of similarity has unfortunate consequences. It is offensive to reduce an individual to a category, and it is also misleading. ¹

Author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie uses the phrase ‘single stories’ to describe the overly simplistic and sometimes false perceptions we form about individuals, groups, or countries. Her novels and short stories complicate the single stories many people believe about Nigeria, the country where she is from.

In a speech excerpted in this lesson, Adichie recounts her experiences as the subject of the ‘single stories’ others have created about groups to which she belongs, as well as times when she herself has created single stories about others. She says:

I've always felt that it is impossible to engage properly with a place or a person without engaging with all of the stories of that place and that person. The consequence of the single story is this: It robs people of dignity. It makes our recognition of our equal humanity difficult. It emphasises how we are different rather than how we are similar...

The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story. ²

Adichie’s speech provides a framework for discussing stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination with your students.

• A stereotype is a belief about an individual based on the real or imagined characteristics of a group to which that individual belongs. Stereotypes can lead us to judge an individual or group negatively. Even stereotypes that seem to portray a group positively reduce individuals to categories and tell an incomplete or inaccurate ‘single story’. 
• Prejudice occurs when we form an opinion about an individual or a group based on a negative stereotype. 
• When a prejudice leads us to treat an individual or group negatively, discrimination occurs.

It is important to reflect on the relationship explored in this lesson between the ways that we think about others and the ways that we treat others. Investigating the connections between stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination will provide an important framework for considering in this and future lessons the ways that people create ‘in’ groups and ‘out’ groups, both in our everyday lives and throughout history.

• 1 D. Tannen, You Just Don’t Understand: Men and Women in Conversation (New York: Morrow, 1990), 16.
• 2C. N. Adichie, ‘The Danger of a Single Story’, TED video (filmed July 2009, posted October 2009), 18:46, accessed 28 March 2016.

Before introducing the reading The Danger of a Single Story, it is important for students first to consider the word stereotype – a word they have likely heard often but may not have explored in depth – and establish the relationship between stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination. 

In addition to stereotype, the following are key vocabulary terms used in this lesson:

1. Assumption
2. Prejudice
3. Discrimination

Add these words to your Word Wall, if you are using one for this unit, and provide the necessary support to help students learn these words as you teach the lesson.

Discussions can happen in many formats, ranging from whole-class to small-group conversations. When beginning a unit, or when prompts involve personal reflection, we recommend using smaller, paired conversation strategies rather than whole-group discussions, as they allow for each student to share and be heard and for students to share more openly than when in front of a larger audience. For this reason, in this lesson we suggest using the Concentric Circles teaching strategy to debrief the content of ‘The Danger of a Single Story’.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TED Talk, The Danger of a Single Story, is so compelling, and if it were possible to do so, we would recommend that you show the entire nineteen-minute video to the class to explore the relationship between stories and stereotypes, though in this lesson we have just identified a key six-minute section, should you be pushed for time. Should you choose to read a transcript, then The Danger of a Single Story reading provides an excerpt of Adichie’s talk.

The reading Little Things Are Big provides students with the opportunity to examine how the stereotypes we believe about each other can affect our choices. The author of this piece describes a dilemma he faced over whether or not to help a woman late at night on the New York City subway. The dilemma he describes, and his own evaluation of the choice he made, can provide the basis for a meaningful and engaging class discussion. Consider sharing the reading with students and using the connection questions that follow for discussion and reflection.