Adichie 'Danger of a Single Story' — synthesis mentor close-read

Quick-share: name one moment in Adichie's transcript where you noticed something — a phrase, an anecdote, an argument.

• Affirm noticing without rushing to interpretation
• Connect: today we will name what Adichie DOES that we want to imitate

Today we close-read Adichie's TED talk transcript as a SYNTHESIS MENTOR text. Adichie pulls in many kinds of sources — her own childhood anecdotes (reading British children's books in Nigeria), literary references (Mariama Bâ, Chinua Achebe), cultural observations (her roommate's American assumptions). She doesn't summarize each in turn; she makes them CONVERSE around one argument: SINGLE STORIES harm us; we need MULTIPLE stories. Notice the moves: she introduces 'they say' (the dominant single stories about Africa, about Nigeria, about her) and then offers 'I say' (her counter-claim — that single stories are incomplete, that they 'show a people as one thing, as only one thing'). This is they-say/I-say at its most accomplished. Notice her formal academic style — measured but personal, third-person and first-person mixed deliberately, signposting at every transition ('but I must quickly add that...'), purposive meta-discourse ('let me tell you about this story'). We also learn 5 of the 20 Tier-2 Set 17 words today — words you will USE this term. SYNTHESIZE (combine sources into a single argument). INTEGRATE (incorporate one element into another). CORROBORATE (confirm with additional evidence). JUXTAPOSE (place side by side to highlight similarity or difference). CONTEXTUALIZE (place within a larger setting).

• Notice the academic move: position before argument. Adichie is teaching us synthesis without saying 'this is how to synthesize.'

  model It establishes her positioning before the argument unfolds. It CONTEXTUALIZES her — places her within a setting the reader needs to understand the rest. The word 'conventional' qualifies — she's not claiming exotic outsider status; she's saying she's middle class, like many readers.

  prompt Adichie: 'I come from a conventional, middle-class Nigerian family.' What does this sentence DO in the essay?
• Meta-discourse signals to the reader: I'm about to do something. Use it purposively, not as filler.

  model She PIVOTS to a new sub-argument with explicit meta-discourse ('I should say something now about'). And she immediately defines her term — 'power is the ability...' This is academic clarity at its best.

  prompt Adichie: 'I should say something now about power. Power is the ability not just to tell the story of another person, but to make it the definitive story of that person.' What kind of move?

• Pair-share: name one place where Adichie SYNTHESIZES two anecdotes into one claim.
• Cold Call: define 'juxtapose' and find one juxtaposition in the transcript.

M-8-F-WR-02-A Chart

MG-3 anchor with all 12 templates. Templates 1, 5, 8, 10, 11 highlighted as Adichie-relevant. Print-ready 18x24.

MG-3 Chart

They-Say/I-Say templates anchor (Graff & Birkenstein): 12-template card with sentence frames. TEMPLATE 1 — Introducing what 'they say': 'X argues that ___.' / 'In recent discussions of ___, a controversial issue has been ___.' TEMPLATE 2 — Disagreeing with reasons: 'I disagree with X's view because ___.' / 'X is mistaken because she overlooks ___.' TEMPLATE 3 — Agreeing with a difference: 'I agree that ___ — a point that needs emphasizing because ___.' / 'X's theory is useful because it sheds light on ___.' TEMPLATE 4 — Agreeing AND disagreeing simultaneously: 'Although I agree with X up to a point, I cannot accept her overall conclusion that ___.' / 'My feelings on the issue are mixed. I do support X's position that ___, but I find Y's argument about ___ equally persuasive.' TEMPLATE 5 — Capturing authorial action: 'X argues' / 'X contends' / 'X claims' / 'X observes' / 'X documents' / 'X concedes' / 'X complicates matters further when she writes ___.' TEMPLATE 6 — Embedding a quotation: 'X states, "___" (12).' / 'As X puts it, "___" (12).' TEMPLATE 7 — Explaining a quotation: 'In other words, X believes ___.' / 'X's point is that ___.' TEMPLATE 8 — Synthesis across sources: 'X agrees with Y when she writes ___.' / 'While X argues ___, Y maintains ___, suggesting that ___.' TEMPLATE 9 — Anticipating objections: 'Of course, many will probably disagree on the grounds that ___. Yet ___.' TEMPLATE 10 — Saying why it matters ('so what'): 'X's findings have important implications for ___.' / 'These conclusions will have significant applications in ___ as well as ___.' TEMPLATE 11 — Meta-discourse / signposting: 'In this essay, I will argue ___.' / 'First, ___; second, ___; finally, ___.' / 'In what follows, I will ___.' TEMPLATE 12 — Concluding gracefully: 'In sum, then, ___.' / 'My point is not that we should ___, but rather that we should ___.' Bottom rule: 'Templates are scaffolds, not crutches. Use them until the moves are internalized; then customize.' Print-ready 18x24.

• 6-color close-read of Adichie's transcript (pp. 1-3): mark diction (blue), imagery (green), syntax shifts (purple), tone shifts (red), ambiguity (orange), CROSS-SOURCE CONNECTIONS (purple stars — where Adichie references another text, voice, or experience).

  scaffold MG-3 templates at desk; 6-color toolkit anchor
• On the synthesis-conversation map: identify 3 distinct sources Adichie integrates and mark their relationships (agrees, extends, qualifies, contradicts).

  scaffold MG-2 anchor

• Quote one Adichie sentence that demonstrates a They-Say/I-Say move. Name what 'they say' and what 'I say' is.
• Use the word JUXTAPOSE in a sentence about Adichie's essay.

• Restate: synthesis is conversation; Adichie shows us the moves
• Preview lesson 3: They-Say/I-Say templates drilled

• Complete Tier-2 Set 17 vocabulary entries for the 5 words from today. Add 2 Adichie sentences to sentences-I-admire notebook.