Expanding the Single Story Discussion & Writing Project

This discussion activity and the following writing project are the first bigger writing assignments for an online English 101 course. This is the first time they have the chance to practice making rhetorical choices and workshop their essays. They start by watching a TEDTalk and having an online conversation about it. Then, they choose a topic that expands on the TEDTalk author’s experiences and ideas, develop goals and ways they’ll approach their writing.

What I like about this project is that it has worked well to introduce the idea that language has the power to shape, determine, limit, influence, and change our understanding of people and groups. It both helps them identify connections they experience with the idea of “single stories” AND see that some people experience more loss and danger because of the single stories others hold about them.  I like starting with a writing project that offers rhetorical freedom and the chance to create “writer’s goals.” I like starting my class right away with the voice of a Black woman who speaks with an accent, highlighting  those two of her identities as positions of authority.

What I don’t like is that the online discussion continues to be awkward, and while I offer students the option to meet online to talk about the video, most still choose to do the Discussion board. However, without that initial assignment, they are less likely to watch Adichie’s TEDTalk or understand the idea of the “single story.”

Of our guiding principles, I’d say this one meets “Educate to Humanize,” and “Student Choice and Student Voice.”

This assignment meets these CLOs from Tacoma Community College: 

• Practice critical reading strategies to examine and understand various sources, including academic assignments.
• Practice the writing process and revision to focus on clarity, voice, creative experimentation, and rhetorical choices.
• Practice collection, evaluation, synthesis, application and presentation of research materials from diverse media sources to convey meaning to intended audiences.
• Communicate a critical awareness of the relationship between self-empowerment and literacy
• Practice self-assessment and self-reflection to see ourselves as critical readers, writers, and learners

“The Danger of a Single Story” Discussion Activity

Directions:

For this discussion, first watch a TED talk by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Then, reflect on the Adichie’s main ideas, as well as your own ideas about “single stories,” and follow the instructions to write your post. Finally, respond to at least two of your classmates. Your post and responses are due by _____.

WATCH

Click on the link below to watch the TEDTalk. You can turn on the captions, if you’d like! Feel free to choose whatever language for the captions is most helpful for you. For example, if English is not your mother tongue, then you might want the captions to be in English to help you associate the words with the pronunciation or to help you improve your English vocabulary. On the other hand, you might choose to have the captions in your mother tongue to help with comprehension.

You can also download and use the transcript by clicking the link below. The transcript is in English, but it is possible to read the transcript in another language by clicking on “Transcript”  below the video on this webpage.  Find the strategies that work best for you.

• TED Talk Video Link.

REFLECT

Review the transcript and highlight or take notes on parts of the text that stood out to you. Make note of the different things she explores that connect with her title and thesis.

WRITE or TALK

1)    TALK: You can come to our class open hours to have a facilitated discussion about the TEDTalk. Come prepared with your notes (and of course please watch the TEDTalk first!).

2)    WRITE and RESPOND: Participate in the online Discussion Forum:

In your post, write some reflection on the TEDTalk, referring to your viewing notes. Here are a few ideas of what you might write about:

• You know that the handful of “single stories” that Adichie talked about are not the only ones out there. We ALL carry them around with us.  We are all also subjected to them in our own lives, as we see them impacting people in our own lives.  What are some other “single stories” you can think of that are out there, a very narrow or simplistic perspective on some person, idea, situation, place, etc.? Make a list of ones you can think of.
• Where do “single stories” come from, meaning, why do people have such simplistic understanding of certain things? Adichie talks about a few different reasons people hold “single stories.” Do you agree? Or do you have other ideas?
• What impact did the “single stories” Adichie both experienced AND held herself have on her? What are other impacts they might have on people, both those who hold those simple stories and those who experience an identity in a more complex way?

Read through a few of your classmates’ posts.  In response to TWO of them, pull one idea you liked from their post and let them know what about it resonated for you and why.

Engagement Expectations:  In your post, I’d like to see a few chunky paragraphs. Why? Because you’ll find this will help you with the next writing project we’ll do! And, you’ll give your readers/classmates more to read and think about, and respond to. For your responses, offer up at least one chunky paragraph for each of your responses.

Writing Project: Expanding the Single Story

Your first essay asks you to focus on the idea of extending your understanding beyond what Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie calls “the single story.”  Take another look at her TED talk to remind yourself of what she means by “single story” (pay special attention to her story about Fide, and about her trip to Mexico).

The Purpose of this assignment is to offer

• a jumping off place for our course topic: how narratives are built and shape our lives;
• a low-stakes start to college writing strategies;
• a way for me to get to know you and your writing;
• a way for you to think about your own relationship with what brings you motivation and passion;
• a chance to make some choices about how you want to get a message across to your readers.

Timeline

• Peer Workshop of rough drafts: ________________
• Submit your revised Rough Draft: ________________

. . . work on revision throughout the quarter . . . then . . .

• Revised final draft: part of Final Portfolio (end of quarter)

Your tasks and choices for this project

Write in response to this prompt:

Using Adichie’s TEDTalk and our discussion activity as inspiration, tell us about a “single story” YOU have experienced or observed.

You have many options for how you do this project, depending on what you choose as your subject, your own goals for your project, and what questions you want to address.

Here are some questions and ideas that might help you:

In some way, explore the initial “single story” (simplified/simplistic, or even inaccurate) and then the “expanded” version of the story. Is the “single” story wrong?  How and why?   How is the story told (who tells it? In what mediums? What language is used to perpetuate that single story)? What are the causes and consequences of oversimplification and incomplete understandings or misunderstandings?  What are the impacts on real people, on community?  Though you will determine your own goals for this project, it’s likely that your reader, after reading your essay, will have a vivid picture of the single story you are exploring and know what you think and feel about it, maybe some new ideas about it!

Here are some potential directions you might take with your writing:

• Tell a story that SHOWS (using descriptive detail) us how a particular single story has been told. You can focus on a moment in time, the impact on people, the discovery of the story as limiting and narrow. This part should include vivid details to really pull your readers in. You can leave the story to speak to itself, or you can offer some reflection/explanation as well, either at the end or throughout!
• Define the “single story” you are focused on and use specific examples to support that.
• Other? What are YOUR ideas for how you could write about this?

If you choose to write a story or any scenes, or you want to write rich reflection (writing about experience), I would spend some time with these two excellent instructive tutorials for both story writing and reflection writing! These are from EmpoWORD, an open educational resource from Portland State University:

• Describing a Scene or Experience
• Reflecting on an Experience

CHOOSING a TOPIC

What is something YOU have experienced where some aspect of your identity is more much complicated than typical people understand?  Or, what is a “single story” you’ve witnessed?

Do some Brainstorming

• Is there a story from the past that you could tell that really illustrates the “single story” and its impact? Where does that “single story” come from?
• What was the turning point when it became clear that the single story doesn’t tell the whole story? The turning point could be YOURS, or someone else’s.
• What was the new viewpoint after the expansion of the single story? Or, does the “single story” still prevail?

Here are a few examples (“single story” ideas) from students last quarter:

the reputation of Tacoma; being Jamaican; the life of a DACA student; women in the army; autism; bipolar disorder; escaping cults; nursing assistants; working in the food industry; blue collar work; Christians’ perspectives on LGBTQ identities; Russians and Ukrainian friends; Native American experiences; tattoos; the “Seattle Freeze”; “you are just like your dad”; “girls can’t do a jump shot”; “my single mom”

LABOR REQUIREMENTS:

First, explore your OWN goals for this project:

• What would you like to explore in your writing?
• What kind of detail would you like to use to support your point of view?
• What would you like to get out of writing this?
• What would you like your readers to take away from this project?

Then, consider our other course goals we came up with for the project:

Your writing project should . . .

• be at least three pages (double-spaced),
• show some attempt to follow the Requirements for Written Work (found in our classroom) for formatting (MLA style)
• be composed of at least four (most of you will have more) paragraphs,
• show that you read your paper over at least three times before turning it in. I know this is your first paper, and we haven’t covered much in class about how to write an essay, but please make it the best example of your skills as a writer RIGHT NOW. Spell-check your document. Have a friend proofread it.  Read it out loud to yourself to make sure it sounds okay.