Evitt Nashed
Dr. Smith
February 25, 2024
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie gave a wonderful speech about how a single story can cause risk. She first starts by talking about her life living in Nigeria, how it was always sunny, and how they ate lovely mangos. Her family came from a very poor village that offered local food and help. She explains the trials and tribulations of her life and connects them to how one perspective of a story can change everything.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie talks about how if we only hear one side of the story, we don’t have the full understanding of the story since all perspectives weren’t put into place. For example, she talks about a neighbor she had in her childhood that her family described only as poor. She only saw that family as poor and nothing else. Once she went to their house, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie realized that the family had certain skills she never knew about. This plays into not knowing the full perspective of a story. She never knew her neighbors were traditional makers, but instead knew them as just poor.
This TED talk that Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie gave can inform us that many stories matter when it comes to research. We can use this TED talk as a guide to inform us that we should include different sides of the stories when conducting research.
To describe myself from my perspective, I think I’m a very laid-back person who doesn’t judge other people. I also think I’m a very dependable person when it comes to projects or even friendships. You can always count on me to give you useful advice for anything such as relationships, work, etc.
Now, other people might have a different perspective on me. For example, an enemy might have a negative side of the story about me. They might think I’m an awful selfish person who has no good morals. Just a random person observing me might have a different perspective about me. They might think I’m rude or judgmental of others just by watching me sit on my phone with my headphones on because I’m not socializing with others. Another example of someone with a different perspective about me would be my parents. They might think I’m a troublemaker who tries to hide things from them because I’m the first child going to a university, but I’m nothing like that, and I’m more of a chill-at-home-and-watch-movies type of girl.
Having other people’s perspective be the definition of yourself wouldn’t be quite fair to yourself and your side of the story. I think it’s fair to include everyone’s perspective about a person and to not exclude others. Having a good full knowing of a story from other points of view is a lot better than depending on one point of view.