The Danger of a Single Story Lesson Plan

Why Teach Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s “The Danger of a Single Story”

If you have watched this Ted Talk, you know what a powerful text it is for so many reasons (and if you haven’t watched it yet, go ahead and do that–it’s well worth those 19 minutes).

In short Adichie describes the concept of having a “single story” when it comes to understanding a certain culture or people group, and she discusses the dangers of this. When we have one idea about what Africans are like or Europeans, or anyone, our view is limited. When we only have a “single story,” stereotypes take root, and this can lead to prejudice, racism, and a host of other problems.

In order to avoid having a “single story” or a one-dimensional view of a culture or people group, we are responsible for exposing ourselves to many stories from many cultures. As she details in her Ted Talk, if the only movie she’d ever seen about Americans was American Psycho, she could come to the conclusion that all Americans were psychotic killers, but obviously, this is ridiculous. However, people do this type of thing all the time when it comes to certain cultures. For instance, she describes how her college roommate assumed that since Adichie is from Africa, she would mostly enjoy “tribal music.”

How World Literature Combats The Single Story

The danger of the single story can serve as an effective backdrop for organizing a World Literature course. In fact, in the English Teacher Vault we’ve built our entire full-year curriculum around the concept of “the danger of a single story.” Our essential question for the year is “What is the Danger of a Single Story?” and we weave this question through all the units that make up the school year. You can check out our curriculum map here to see how we’ve set this up.

For now, wet’s get into the specifics of how to teach a stand-alone lesson for this ted talk, and then we’ll also discuss how to extend the conversation throughout the year.

Step-By-Step Lesson: How To Teach The Danger of a Single Story

1.) Have students complete a few “before viewing” questions to get primed.

Accessing prior knowledge is always worth it, so instead of just launching into the video, ask students a few questions. For instance:

Imagine if you had only ever met one person from a certain part of the world, or only seen one movie or read
one book about that part of the world. What are the problems that might come from that in terms of how you
view that place or society?
How might exposure to diverse stories and perspectives in literature and media enrich our understanding of the world and the people in it? Why is it important to seek out and engage with stories from different cultures and backgrounds?

You can then allow students to chat with a peer or have a full-class discussion to see where students land on some of those issues. This does not have to take long, but it will help students to process the ted talk more fully.

2.) Then, play the Ted Talk.

In general, I avoid having students take notes during Ted Talks unless they are very general because it can distract from actually listening to the talk. If you do give notes, have perhaps only 3 topics or general questions that will help them remember the main ideas from the talk, but will not have them scrambling to get something said quickly or mentioned only once.

Here are a few examples of what students could jot down while they listen to this Ted Talk (which I’ve included in the handout for the lesson you can download at the end of this blog post):

What is one personal anecdote the speaker uses to support her main point (about how single stories are dangerous)?
What role does the media play in perpetuating single stories, according to the speaker?
What is the main idea or thesis of the TED Talk “The Danger of a Single Story”?

These questions are general, and for some there are multiple correct answers. The final one about the thesis of the Ted Talk is something that students should always be thinking about for any Ted Talk they view.

3.) After viewing, have students use hexagonal thinking cards to connect ideas, quotes, and themes.

Instead of simply having a class discussion about the concepts in the Ted Talk, a great way to get students to really go deep with the ideas is to have students use hexagonal cards to connect ideas and concepts.

I like to put quotes from the actual Ted Talk on these as well as big ideas and themes from the talk The idea with hexagonal thinking cards is that since each card has multiple edges, all these edges can be used to connect to other ideas and quotes. Take a look at the picture here for an example:

Give students 10-15 minutes to make some interesting connections and talk these out with a partner. There are multiple ways these ideas can connect. There is not just one answer.

This activity is not only hands-on, but it also allows students to synthesize several ideas and even evaluate “the best” connections–both are higher level thinking skills on Bloom’s taxonomy.

For differentiation, for an advanced group of learners, instead of putting the quotes and concepts on the cards yourself, you could give students blank hexagonal cards and have them write the concepts and quotes and trade cards with another group.

4.) Have students write about their connections in a low-stakes, informal writing.

After students make several meaningful connections with their partners, they can individually write about these connections in a low-stakes way. Frequent, low-stakes writing in the English classroom is a great way to help students develop writing skills for so many reasons (which we won’t get into here, but trust me on this one).

Even if students only write about 3-4 of the connections they made with their hexagonal cards, this is valuable because it requires they take what is going on in their minds and put it to paper in an organized and clear way for another person to understand it.

5.) Discuss as a full class.

From here, allow students to come together as a full class and discuss a few of the connections they made and a few of the concepts from the Ted talk that stood out to them. Since they have now done so much thinking and even some writing on the concept, the discussion will be rich. Much richer than if you had just launched into a conversation right after the Ted Talk. And much richer than if you’d just had students take notes on the ted talk and then tediously gone through the answers of those questions (no time for that nonsense if you are trying to foster real critical thinkers in your classroom).

6.) Revisit throughout the school year through novels, short stories, oral stories, and choice reading assignments.

The best thing about this Ted Talk? You get to revisit the concept many times throughout the school year. Nearly any text will allow you to circle back to the idea of a limited viewpoint or a “single story.” For instance, if you’re teaching Born a Crime ask your students what might be the “single story” we have in our minds about Africa, people from South Africa or apartheid? How does our “single story” dissipate as we read this book?

If you’re teaching Persepolis consider what is the limited understanding or the single story you have of the Middle East, people from the Middle East, and their life experiences? How does studying Persepolis allow your mind to expand, and your understanding of their struggles deepen?

The ways you can revisit the concepts in this Ted Talk are endless.

Your Free Handouts and Lesson Plan for Teaching “The Danger of a Single Story”

Want to try this exact lesson with your students? Please do! Check out our lesson plan and handouts here. These are all ‘“view only,” but simply make your own copy and then edit or adjust for your needs!

If you want to do more of this type of teaching that encourages more critical thinking, deeper discussions, and more frequent low-stakes writing, check out more of our FREE LESSONS at the English Teacher Vault.

Then, consider joining the English Teacher Vault where you will get access to multiple full-year curricula secondary students. Everything can be downloaded straight to your computer as soon as you join!