The Danger of a Single Story

1. Entry Task:
EXPLAIN ONE ASPECT OF YOUR SURFACE
CULTURE & ONE ASPECT OF YOUR DEEP
CULTURE.

2. Objective:
The students will be able to
determine the difference between
surface culture and deep culture.

3. Interactive Notebook:
Date =
Title = Stories & Culture
Page # =

4. The Power of a Single Story
Spend five minutes doing a journal-write about
“The Power of a Single Story.”
Write about whatever comes to mind. This is not
about correct grammar or spelling. Just let your
thoughts flow.

5. The Power of a Single Story
Share your thoughts and ideas.

6. The Danger of a Single Story
 Watch video entitled “The Danger of a Single Story.”
 One of the most popular “must watch” TED talks that appears on
nearly every list out there is Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s “The Danger
of a Single Story.” Combing humor and a fresh cultural perspective that
many of us have not had the privilege to hear, she broadens our world
in under 20 minutes and delivers a beautiful talk that still motivates
viewers today.

7. The Danger of a Single Story
As you watch, just listen and record the
main points that Adichie makes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ihs241zeg

8. Take Away Points:
 Spend 3 -4 minutes talking to your table partners about
the main points and listing three “take-away points.”
 Share your top 3 “take away points” from the video.
 https://www.ethos3.com/2016/04/3-lessons-from-chimamanda-ngozi-
adichies-the-danger-of-a-single-story/

9. Quote Analysis:
Record the quote in your notebook.
Discuss the quote with your table group.
Analyze the quote – what does it mean?
Record ideas & thoughts in your notebook.

10. “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.”
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

11. “Stories matter. Many stories matter…When we
reject the single story, when we realize that there
is never a single story about any place, we regain
a kind of paradise.”
 Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

12. “Show a people as one thing, as only
one thing, over and over again and
that is what they become”
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

13. “The consequence of the single story is that
it robs people of dignity. It makes our
recognition of our equal humanity
difficult and it emphasizes that we are
different rather than how we are similar.”
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

14. Quiz:
 https://study.com/academy/practice/quiz-worksheet-the-danger-of-a-single-story-by-
adichie.html

15. Writing Task:
 Students will respond to the prompt:
 Our lives, our culture, are composed of many overlapping
stories. Novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how
she found her authentic cultural voice and warns that if we
hear only a single story about another person or country, we
risk a critical misunderstanding. Explain what you think this
means. Use evidence from the video. How you can apply
these ideas to your own life?