Tha Danger of a Single Story

Three things I learned about storytelling are that there are examples of every culture somewhere in literature (even if it is sometimes hard to find), there is always more to the story, and there is an awful stereotype of African culture portrayed in most literature.

The most important thing I learned is we must not close our eyes and minds to a single story because each story has so much more, below the surface.

Chapter 6

"Researchers have shown that students who write about topics they choose freely write lengthier essays and their work is more detailed and clearly organized." (Hobbs 109).

As an English major who has student taught in several English classrooms, I would have to most definitely agree with this statement. It goes along with the fact that students will read (even if they are reluctant readers) something that they have interest in. That is why, as a teacher, it is so important to know your students. I do a Reading Interest Inventory every year so that I can better suggest books to my students.

"Readers, viewers, and listeners pay attention to stereotypes because they are familiar" (Hobbs 114).

I think this goes along with what the speaker in the TED Talk was saying about the gentleman reading her book. He was paying attention to African stereotypes, and he noticed that her characters did not follow these stereotypes, so in his mind they were wrong.

"When teachers choose to deconstruct media messages that students consider to be pleasurable, there can be an emotional fallout" (Hobbs 119).

Students just want to be accepted for who they are, with their peers and their teachers. Students cannot wait to tell their teachers about something that happened to them. They always want to ask if the teacher saw this or heard that. When a teacher makes them feel ashamed for something they found pleasure in, whether the teacher does this purposely or not, causes a disconnect and it hurts the students.