Danger of a Single Story
- Rosie Jayde Uyola
- Sep 5, 2025
- 2 min read
Updated: Sep 15, 2025
Goal: After viewing the TED Talk Danger of a Single Story, participants will discuss in pairs situations in which they have perpetuated a single story, and been the target of a single story.
Objectives
Students will be able to discuss some of the problems of using a single story and to identify parts of their lives impacted by a single story
Materials
The Danger of a Single Story - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Procedures
Watch "The Danger of a Single Story"
After the video, display the following quote and question (writing prompt)
“…to insist on only these negative stories is to flatten my experience, and to overlook the many other stories that formed me...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.”
– For example, Adichie had a single story of Fide and his family: they were poor. That was all she knew about them, and when she saw them, that’s all she saw.
What are other examples of single stories from the video?
Self Reflection:
Has a single story ever been told about you? How did you know? How did it make you feel? After a small pause, also display
Have you ever told a single story? What did you do? How did you come to realize it was a single story?
Write 8 - 10 sentences on both sets of questions for 5 minutes. You will discuss reflections with a partner in 5 minutes.
For the next 10 minutes, each partner will share their responses to the two questions. Each partner will have 5 minutes to share.
After 10 minutes, bring the group back together
Group discussion:
How will you bring this concept of a single story into your life?
Multiple stories create multiple perspectives - why is this important?
The easiest way to keep a stereotype alive is to dehumanize the other - what does this mean?
Use "that's a single story" as code for "that's a stereotype you are buying into" to soften the way of saying it - how can we use this code during class discussions?
