The Danger of a Single Story Flashcards
How is a first-person perspective used?
It demonstrates that this particular story is from Adichie’s perspective
How are Anecdotes?
Personal Anecdotes illustrate how the examples affected the way Adichie thought
What is the purpose of Anecdotes?
It’s a persuasive technique that adds reliability to her arguments
How are inclusive pronouns used? (1)
People in Nigeria are refferes to using “we”, suggesting perhaps Adichie is more comfortable in Nigeria
How are inclusive pronouns used? (2)
Adichie changes to the inclusive “we” at the end, imploring the audience to reject the single story and that we can all play a part in making this happen
How are discourse markers used?
Starting sentences with discourse markers such as “so” and “now” generates an element of informality in keeping with the form of a speech
How is humour used? (1)
Adichie introduces irony and humour in paragraph two by describing the stories her “poor mother was obligated to read”
How is humour used? (2)
It gives us a sense of her character and why she thinks of herself as a “storyteller”
How is humour used? (3)
The light-hearted tone contrasts with the serious message
How are single-line paragraphs used?
They are used to reflect a limited view: “She assumed that I didn’t know how to use a stove.”
How is the title used? (1)
The use of the word “danger” in the title implies that single stories can be harmful
How is the title used? (2)
It foreshadows the main argument in the speech
How is childlike language used?
It demonstrates that we are fed these single stories from a young age: “Whose kinky hair could not form ponytails” and “crayon illustrations”
How is justification used?
“As was the norm” emphasises that the single story we are often presented with becomes our version of normal
How is syntactic parallelism used?
“We never talked about the weather” parallels with “they talked a lot about the weather” - indicating the difference between a story and reality
How is juxtaposition used? (1)
Adichie juxtaposes the “single” story with “a few personal stories” that she wants to tell us: Highlights there’s always more than one narrative
How is emotive language used? (1)
Adichie uses “impressionable and vulnerable” to reflect on the harmfulness of these stories
How is emotive language used? (2)
She uses words with negative connotations, such as “fleecing” and “sneaking” to highlight how negatively the media can present certain cultures
How is repetition used?
The repetition of “stories” and “stories matter” emphasise their huge importance in how the world is shaped
