The danger of a single story pathos

RHETORICAL ANALYSIS 3

The Danger of a Single Story- Rhetorical Analysis

Ashlee Nguyen

University of San Francisco

The Danger of a Single Story- Rhetorical Analysis

Thesis

Have you ever heard a rumor that completely contrasts with your true self or someone close to you? It has been well portrayed by Adiche in her story “The Danger of a Single Story”. She explains how a story can be a danger to oneself, and it affects her and people around her. The purpose of this thesis is to inform about devices and rhetorical methods used by chamamanda Adiche in her speech.

Introduction

Adiche speech surrounds a theme that she terms as the “danger of a single story” which in real sense means the danger of stereotyping. In the Webster’s dictionary, the term stereotyping is defined as “an often and untrue belief that many people have about all people or things with a particular characteristic”. She exposes all the stereotypes she has ever encountered and uses those experiences to enlighten a lesson of the danger of knowing or telling only a single story, perspective or a point of people or thing. I have listened to this speech on youtube.com and it resonates with me every time it plays. This is true because we might have experienced similar situations as her. But the most obvious reason am always hooked to her speech is her intelligent use of logos (logic), credibility (ethos), and emotional appeal (pathos), to drive her points.

Her speech points out the flaws of stereotyping whether it is done on empathy or not; it identifies why it is important to consider the other side of a coin before judging a person or a situation, so as to give an impartial and a fair story of people or things. This Nigerian speaker seems to be very skilled in driving her story in canons of rhetoric, arrangements, invention, memory, style and delivery. This thesis analyzes all the subjects that gave rise to her speech and also analyzes her use of pathos, ethos, and logos that she employed to drive her points to the audience.

The Context of the Speech/ the Rhetorical Situation

Amamanda Adiche, who is the speaker, is a Nigerian by descent; she is a writer and author who have been termed as “the most prominent of a procession of critically acclaimed young Anglophone authors that is succeeding in attracting a new generation of readers to African Literature”. She was born in the city of Enugu where she was brought up as the fifth of six children. She has made many speeches and written three books. Her work has been endorsed by celebrities such as Beyoncé who employees Adiche’s work in her song, “Flawless”. Adiche seems to deliver her speech to an audience which seems mostly to be white and sponsored by TED Talks.

Body

Let’s look at the appeals she employs to argue her position now that the scene is already set

She utilizes credibility (ethos), well known as “audience grabber” to arrest their attention and keep their focus. She delivers stories starting with herself as a child which her audience can easily relate to. In her story, she covers about the then and recent debate regarding immigration situation in America.

With precision and expertise, she appeals the emotions of the audience with a strong sense of pathos as seen below. To start with, she narrates the story of a little boy who was her house keeper and was a humble background. She employs humor as she explains the ridiculous nature of stereotyping. She narrated a story of her room-mate who was an American, and she felt pity for her just because she was an African. She also gives a story about how she was being informed about a stereotype of her book and the African characters in the book and how she sarcastically responded by giving her version of stereotype about a book she once read with an American characters.

She also employs logos which in this case can be said to be the arrangement of all her experiences and ideas so as to add power in a direction that is appealing. Through her use of eloquent language, she supports her claims as seen below. She speaks proper English with fluency and starts with her childhood and how the “single story” was given to her since she was a child. She also uses issues that are of notable books, the national debate as well as artists such as Mariah Carey to give her story that the audience can identify her with.

Besides, she also uses her failure and experience in stereotyping of other people so as to further connect with the audience. Funny enough, she also critiques her behavior to portray that she is also subject to this behavior as well. She insists that we should begin with positive stories of people to get a clear picture of their story.

Lady Adiche sets and maintains an audacious tone in the whole speech. She holds and connects the audience captive with each situation or story she uses to drive her point at home.

Conclusion

Ms. Adiche reveals how people stereotype things or people in a convincing, eloquent and soft-spoken manner to her audience. She provides topics of national debate; lessons learned and even suggest how to tell people stories without stereotyping. She captures and engages the audience through the use of cannons of rhetoric’s involving pathos, ethos, and logos. Her style of delivering the speech motivates me every time I listen to her, and I intend to emulate her.

References

Adichie, C. (2016). The danger of a single story. Ted.com. Retrieved 17 February 2016, from http://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story?language=en

Merriam-webster.com,. (2016). Definition of STEREOTYPE. Retrieved 17 February 2016, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stereotype