Evidence File Packet

Narrative Investigation // Case: ADICHIE-001

Investigator:

Do Now: Pre-Investigation

1. What is a "stereotype"?

2. Why might it be bad to only know ONE story about a person?

Transcript: The Snowy Books

[01] I grew up in Nigeria. Because I lived there, I read many British and American children’s books.

[02] When I started to write my own stories at age seven, I wrote exactly the kinds of stories I was reading. All my characters were white with blue eyes. They played in the snow. They ate apples. But I lived in Nigeria! We didn't have snow. We ate mangoes.

[03] Then I discovered African books. This changed everything. I realized that people like me—with skin the color of chocolate—could also be in stories.

Exhibit A Report

Why did Adichie write about snow and apples even though she lived in a warm place?

What was her "Discovery"?

She realized people like her belong in books.

She stopped writing forever.

She realized books must only be about snow.

She decided to move to America to see apples.

Transcript: Fide and The Roommate

[04] I remember a boy named Fide. My mother always told me his family was very poor. She would say, "Finish your food! Don't you know people like Fide’s family have nothing?" So I felt sorry for them.

[05] One day, we visited Fide's village. His brother showed us a beautiful basket made of dyed wood. I was shocked. It had not occurred to me that anybody in his family could actually make something. All I had heard was how poor they were. Their poverty was my "single story" of them.

[06] Years later, I went to college in the U.S. My roommate was shocked. She asked where I learned English so well. She asked to hear my "tribal music" and was disappointed when I showed her my Mariah Carey CD. She had a "single story" of Africa: a place of hunger and poor people.

Exhibit B Report

Why was she "shocked" by Fide's brother?

Exhibit C Report

Name TWO things the roommate was wrong about:

The Power Problem

What happens when we only see people as one thing over and over again?

Transcript: Final Briefing

[07] I also visited Mexico. I had been so focused on the one story of Mexicans from the news (that they were all poor immigrants) that I was ashamed when I saw them laughing and going to work like everyone else.

[08] The problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story. Stories matter. Many stories matter.

[09] When we realize that there is never a "single story" about any place or person, we regain a kind of paradise.

Daily Investigation Reflection

Critical Thinking Point:

Adichie says stereotypes are "incomplete" truths. What does she mean by that? How can something be true but still be a problem?

Case Status

Analysis in Progress

Case Synthesis

Phase II: Final Report

Evidence Sourcing Table

Choose TWO "Single Stories" and explain the "Real Truth" from the text.

The Single Story	The Complete Story (6 Lines Required)
Example: Fide's family is only poor.	Fide's family is also hard-working and creative.

Writing Prompt

What is the "danger" of a single story? How do Adichie's personal stories help us understand this problem?

[R] Restate

[A] Answer

[C] Cite

[E] Explain

Single Story Case Investigation

Danger Case File Worksheet

Investigator Briefing Teacher Guide

Case File Key Answer Key

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