The Danger of a Single Story
PAFT:
P - To inform people, to show that a single bias, stereotype or story can change the way people think, and that it will overpower the
truth.
A - General audience, adults. Formal and educational
F - TED Talk, speech
T - Anecdotal, formal but humorous and conversational.
Summary of plot:
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a successful novelist, delivered this speech at a TED conference and speaks about the power of
storytelling and the danger of stereotypes. She highlights that the things we are told are the only things that shape our perceptions
of others and entire groups, for example for her and Nigeria.
Key Analysis
“I’m a storyteller.” Short sentence Short sentence creates emphasis. Opens and
Foreshadowing summarises, makes her feel complicit. Foreshadowing
showing the idea of stories to relate to later on.
Personal pronouns Addresses audience personally.
‘So’ Conversational, informal Relates to reader, informal tone.
Anecdotes Creates informal tone
‘So I felt enormous pity’ Emotive language Engages the reader through seeing emotions.
‘I was startled’ Short sentence Signifies its importance.
‘All I had heard about them’ ‘All’ Powerful, exaggeration
Temporal leap Young to old, skip in story.
‘Confused’ Verbs Convey the stereotypes.
‘Shocked’
‘Startled’
‘Tape of Mariah Carey’ Humour Engages reader.
‘She assumed that I did not know how to Short, simple sentence. Ignorance of roommates, power of stereotypes.
use a stove.’
‘Even before she saw me’ Prejudice Pre-judged, emotional. Hopeless.
Long sentences Emphasises stereotypes through length of sentences.
Desperation and frustration.
‘Endless stories’ Hyperbole Drip effect of stories, endless stereotypes, exaggeration.
‘Overwhelmed with shame’ Emotional
, ‘Stories matter.’ ‘Many stories matter.’ Repetition Conveys importance. Adds to meaning.
Use of quotations Reinforces arguments.
“So that is how to create a single story, Summary of entire
show a people as one thing, as only one speech,
things, over and over again, and that is
what they become.”
Engaging the reader:
Curiosity and ambiguity “And I would like to tell you a few personal stories about what I like to call “the danger of the single
story”
Personal pronouns such as ‘I’ and addresses the audiences with ‘you’ to interest the reader and
allow them to relate to the person speaking. By doing this, it can help the audience to relate to the
speaker’s thoughts and feelings.
Attracts the audience by using the word ‘danger’. It makes the audience want to find out what is so
dangerous about the story, and the contrast between ‘danger’ and the seemingly nonviolent ‘story’
intrigues the reader.
Emotive language “‘Don’t you know? People like Fide’s family have nothing.” So I felt enormous pity for Fide’s family.”
The nouns ‘nothing’ and ‘pity’ both provide us with the image of suffering and poverty. This engages
the reader and helps them to feel sympathy, making them even more emotionally involved in the
speech.
Humour “[She] was very disappointed when I produced my tape of Mariah Carey.”
By the speaker helping the audience to feel a wide variety of emotions, it engages the reader and
makes them want to continue on listening.
Short sentences “I’m a storyteller.” (Her first line of the speech) .
“She assumed that I did not know how to use a stove.”
These short sentences put emphasis on the things said, and by pausing before and after saying
these things, it allows them to reflect and question what has just been said. Short sentences are
definite and signify importance.
Structure (Opening to Closing)
Paragraphs
Sentence structures
Language
Technique
Tense
Person
Vocabulary
Writer’s style
Themes
PAFT:
P - To inform people, to show that a single bias, stereotype or story can change the way people think, and that it will overpower the
truth.
A - General audience, adults. Formal and educational
F - TED Talk, speech
T - Anecdotal, formal but humorous and conversational.
Summary of plot:
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a successful novelist, delivered this speech at a TED conference and speaks about the power of
storytelling and the danger of stereotypes. She highlights that the things we are told are the only things that shape our perceptions
of others and entire groups, for example for her and Nigeria.
Key Analysis
“I’m a storyteller.” Short sentence Short sentence creates emphasis. Opens and
Foreshadowing summarises, makes her feel complicit. Foreshadowing
showing the idea of stories to relate to later on.
Personal pronouns Addresses audience personally.
‘So’ Conversational, informal Relates to reader, informal tone.
Anecdotes Creates informal tone
‘So I felt enormous pity’ Emotive language Engages the reader through seeing emotions.
‘I was startled’ Short sentence Signifies its importance.
‘All I had heard about them’ ‘All’ Powerful, exaggeration
Temporal leap Young to old, skip in story.
‘Confused’ Verbs Convey the stereotypes.
‘Shocked’
‘Startled’
‘Tape of Mariah Carey’ Humour Engages reader.
‘She assumed that I did not know how to Short, simple sentence. Ignorance of roommates, power of stereotypes.
use a stove.’
‘Even before she saw me’ Prejudice Pre-judged, emotional. Hopeless.
Long sentences Emphasises stereotypes through length of sentences.
Desperation and frustration.
‘Endless stories’ Hyperbole Drip effect of stories, endless stereotypes, exaggeration.
‘Overwhelmed with shame’ Emotional
, ‘Stories matter.’ ‘Many stories matter.’ Repetition Conveys importance. Adds to meaning.
Use of quotations Reinforces arguments.
“So that is how to create a single story, Summary of entire
show a people as one thing, as only one speech,
things, over and over again, and that is
what they become.”
Engaging the reader:
Curiosity and ambiguity “And I would like to tell you a few personal stories about what I like to call “the danger of the single
story”
Personal pronouns such as ‘I’ and addresses the audiences with ‘you’ to interest the reader and
allow them to relate to the person speaking. By doing this, it can help the audience to relate to the
speaker’s thoughts and feelings.
Attracts the audience by using the word ‘danger’. It makes the audience want to find out what is so
dangerous about the story, and the contrast between ‘danger’ and the seemingly nonviolent ‘story’
intrigues the reader.
Emotive language “‘Don’t you know? People like Fide’s family have nothing.” So I felt enormous pity for Fide’s family.”
The nouns ‘nothing’ and ‘pity’ both provide us with the image of suffering and poverty. This engages
the reader and helps them to feel sympathy, making them even more emotionally involved in the
speech.
Humour “[She] was very disappointed when I produced my tape of Mariah Carey.”
By the speaker helping the audience to feel a wide variety of emotions, it engages the reader and
makes them want to continue on listening.
Short sentences “I’m a storyteller.” (Her first line of the speech) .
“She assumed that I did not know how to use a stove.”
These short sentences put emphasis on the things said, and by pausing before and after saying
these things, it allows them to reflect and question what has just been said. Short sentences are
definite and signify importance.
Structure (Opening to Closing)
Paragraphs
Sentence structures
Language
Technique
Tense
Person
Vocabulary
Writer’s style
Themes
