- What is Adichie’s overall argument, or central claim?
-
- Adichie’s overall argument is we shouldn’t get caught in one perspective of things, but to look at the other side of situations.
- What are some of her (sub) claims?
-
- Some of her sub claims are where and how we grew up, what we were used to, and what we saw as the popular image of different things. The things that surrounded us throughout life helped form who we are and our perspective in life.
- How does she establish her authority/credibility? (ethos)
-
- She establishes her credibility with her personal stories and the people with one sided story’s. When she tells the story about her roommate that establishes ethos for herself because it was a real example that happened to her. In her speech she also quoted and mentioned African writers, this shows credibility of her ethnicity.
- How does she connect with your emotions?(pathos)
-
- Throughout her speech I felt empathy for Adichie. The personal stories she used made me feel very self-centered, in a way, as an American. The perspective Americans have towards people in Africa is way different than her stories. Americans just see the one side of Africa and after hearing her stories, I feel bad for thinking that all of Africa is the same. She made me feel dumb, that Americans picture all of Africa as something that its not. Also, she added some humor into her speech to lighten the mood of the audience.
- What evidence or reasons does she provide, and do they convince you?(logos)
-
- The evidence she provides are her personal stories and examples throughout her life. The one about her roommate proves that Americans think that all of Africa is poor; therefore, we immediately feel sorry for them. Another reason she gives is her personal story with the little boy, Fide. She experienced something similar to what Americans realized when they hear Adichie’s story. Her anecdotes did convince me, it showed me that everyone has a been a part of a one-sided story. Especially because a non-American has fallen into that perspective also, she said she found herself guilty.
- What are you being asked to believe, think, or do?(persuasion)
-
- She is trying to get her audience to see that there is more than one perspective on things, that there is more than one explanation and story to things. She wants people to realize and take a second to see the situation and think about it before they just believe the one-sided story. An analogy I thought of while listening to Adichie’s speech was judging a book by its cover.
- How is her talk organized?(think of her structure)
-
- She organizes her talk by starting with her childhood and what her one-sided story was as a child. She then used the example when she went to Mexico and that showed her that even she was capable of having a one-sided story. That everyone is a victim of it because everyone is raised differently. When she is ending her speech, she starts using the phrase “what if” to show what it would be like to look at many different views of situations and not just one.
- What are her main strategies?
-
- She uses a lot of personal stories and repetition in her argument. For example, at the end she repetitively uses “what if” to get the audience’s attention of what our world could be like. That our world could be different and not just view things one-sidedly. She uses a lot of pathos within her stories that persuade the audience to agree with her claim.
- Does she respond to other arguments,and if so, are they treated fairly?
-
- Adichie doesn’t really hit on a counterargument for her topic, but she mentions that having one perspective of things happens to everyone. And that it’s okay to realize that now because from now on the audience will not be looking at situations with one-side stories.
- What assumptions can you identify? What does she take for granted, and what does this tell you about her argument?
-
- Adichie assumes that everyone has had some type of encounter with a single sided story. Whether they were the ones with the one-sided view or the ones being viewed. Adichie takes for granted that she was raised in a way that she was only able to see one side of things, just like most people. People are so narrowminded that they don’t look at the rest of the world in a different perspective. They look at it through the way they were raised and what they have always known even if that isn’t the truth.
Aztec Swimmer 22 
Hey Sammy!
I think you did a super awesome job on this assignment. Your responses were so well though out and detailed. I agree with your response to question number nine about how she doesn’t really have a counterargument, but she still addresses how everyone makes the fault of having assumptions. I wrote about that in my post as well. It is so interesting how we tend to only look at things from the perspective of our own culture. This video really shows the importance of learning how to view things from other perspectives than our own.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nicely done, Sammy. The “what if” strategy is a great one to mention. Is this an attempt at pathos, too?
LikeLike
Yes, I think so especially for me as a reader because it gets me thinking about what the world could be like and the way we should be looking at the world.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hey Sammy!
I really liked how you emphasized how Adichie used the term “what if” a lot as repetition. I think this concept is important because she is talking about an issue that needs to be approached in the future. She is saying that this issue is not yet resolved, but it needs to be. By using this phrase, she is able to talk about all the possibilities that could happen if people stop assuming “single stories”.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, I 100% agree. I think the world could be so different and not so stereotypical with the one sided stories. I think if the world looked at situations at different perspectives it could really be a great change.
LikeLiked by 1 person