The Danger of a Single Story

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. “The consequence of the single story is this: It robs people of dignity. It makes our recognition of our equal humanity difficult. It emphasizes how we are different rather than how we are similar.”

• Why does Adichie suggest that we need to challenge “single stories”? (topic sentence)
• Explain the need to challenge single stories using 1-2 examples from Adichie’s own experiences.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, discuss how this idea applies to your own experiences.

2. Adichie opens with her experiences reading about British and American children and then modeling her own story characters on them, despite having no firsthand experiences with snow, apples, or ginger beer. She stresses the importance of the power of seeing oneself reflected in stories.

• How do stories about people from similar backgrounds or situations provide a sense of empowerment to the reader? (topic sentence)
• How do the examples of Adichie’s fellow Nigerians, shared at the end of the speech, demonstrate empowerment?
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, discuss how relationships are improved by knowing each other’s stories.

3. Adichie offers examples of ways to consider each other’s stories through her series of “what if” anecdotes.

• How do these suggestions help challenge stereotypes and tell the full story of a person? (topic sentence)
• Select one example and discuss how it provides insight into building empathy for another person.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, discuss the impact of being aware of stereotypes.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. One purpose in Adichie’s speech is to stress the importance of building empathy for other people. Discuss in 2-3 paragraphs how Adichie develops and supports her point. Support your response with quotes from the TED Talk.

2. Adichie offers this definition of the Igbo word nkali: “to be greater than another.” Based on the anecdotes in the speech, how does Adichie prove that stories reveal who has the power in a society or in the world? Cite evidence from the speech to support your claim.

3. “[W]hen we reject the single story, when we realize there is never a single story about any place, we regain a kind of paradise.” In 2-3 paragraphs, discuss how Adichie arrives at this conclusion. Cite evidence from the TED Talk to support your response.