The Danger of a Single Story

Reading #1 - The Danger of A Single Story

Three things I learned about storytelling are a single story show a people as one thing, a single story robs people of their identity, and stories can be representative of power, and by leaving out details, a new story is created, but the most important thing I learned is is that you need a balance of stories.

Reading #2 - Chapter 6:  Protection and Empowerment

"Researchers explained how young teens take their cues from the cultural environment in developing a sense of self." -- pg. 106

This is a topic that you hear about often.  It's not a recent problem, either, but one that has been around for many years.  Now the ways in which students go through puberty and the crazy things they ultimately do are more dramatic, and seen as crazy to adults, but that's much different than how it's ever been.  One thing I thought of when I was reading this part of the chapter was the incident that took place between Demi Lovato (who is mentioned, as well) and Disney Channel.  There was a reference to an eating disorder in an episode of one of the station's shows, and Demi exploded on them.  Her points were very much in line with what this has been saying:  young kids take their cues from the media, and that would tell them that having an eating disorder was something that was okay, and something they might even consider in order to look like the celebrities they see on TV and in magazines.

"They're not used to sharing what they know about media in a school context.  I was surprised at how deep and complicated their feelings are about these people." -- pg. 108

I feel like a lot of educators are very out of touch with what their students are experiencing and go through.  We get so caught up in what we have to teach and what we have to do, that we forget that kids have solid opinions about things, especially things in popular culture.  As an avid reader and English teacher, I'm constantly complaining about how books are turned into movies or TV shows and how badly they're done.  The thing is, my students have these exact same thoughts, and they can be just as passionate about them.  Many English teachers are opposed to using popular books in their classroom, but I think that they can actually help to create student interest, because then it's not something old or tired or BORING, but something they can put in their own context.

"Readers, viewers, and listeners pay attention to stereotypes because they are familiar.  We pay attention to contradiction because it's novel and unexpected." --pg. 115

This makes me think of the TED talk, and how she talks about a single story.  Stereotypes are the single stories we receive.  She gives many examples of this in her talk.  The contradiction comes when we see the other side of the story, the part that we may or may not have ever known, or maybe just the part that we never wanted to pay attention to.