Short Stories vs Novels

How I read a a novel is very different than how I read a short story for various reasons. First off, there is clearly a lot more information to take into account when reading a novel, which is much longer than a short story. This forces the reader to focus in on the important aspects of the novel. In a short story, every small detail is put in for a reason and adds something extra to the story. But in a novel, it is up to the reader to highlight the key details, facts and events that occur. I feel that it is easier to read a novel with a pen or highlighter in my hand with which I can visualize what is really important and mark it down. 

To remain short in length, a short story usually only focuses in on one particular event, which makes it very easy to understand the meaning behind it. 

When reading a novel however, one must take into consideration a series of events and how they relate to one another and so on, which causes a lot more analysis and thought. 

Stories Comparison

In all 4 of Chimamanda Adichie’s stories, I was immediately drawn in due to the first person narrator. I could automatically imagine the setting and I think Adichie did a great job of chosing her narrators wisely. I particularly liked the narrator of Ghost and the way he viewed the world. In all four stories there are strong family ties, tension, and death. I found it interesting how death is pretty much avoided altogether in these stories. It seems as though whenever somebody dies, everybody immediately moves on. Personally, I agree with this method of moving on and not mourning so much. I feel as though people should celebrate life, rather than dwelling on the death that ends all. 

I also liked Tomorrow Is Too Far and especially the relationship between the children and their grandparents. I saw a lot of my brother and my relationship to our grandparents in this story and I could relate to many aspects of it.

Nigerian Culture: A Broad Overview

Nigeria is not at all the place I thought it was. After doing just some quick research on the basics of Nigerian culture, I quickly learned a lot that I would never have expected. For example, there are more than 50 languages spoken in Nigeria itself. One of these is even a very basic form of English, called Pigdin English. There are in fact a lot of famous English language literature writers who come from Nigeria because the English language is so commonly spoken there. Looks like Chimamanda Adichie is no exception after all.

I also found it interesting how large of a role soccer plays into Nigerian culture. Personally, I grew up in a European family, and so I was raised on soccer. But I love to be reminded of how universal  soccer is and how it brings people together from all across the world. It's funny to me to see mentioned online that that there is a large Nigerian support group for my personal favorite soccer team, Arsenal.


There are over 250 Ethnic groups found in Nigeria. The most common religion is Muslim, with about 50% of the population practicing it. Nigerian society is dominated by family ties. Even extended familly will work together as a unit through life. Nigerians value many forms of art, including ivory/wood carving, grass weaving, and glass and metal works.

http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/nigeria.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Nigeria
http://www.mapsofworld.com/nigeria/culture/

Chimamanda Adichie on TED Talks

Chimamanda Adichie's talk was extremely meaningful to me because it opened my eyes up to something I hadn't really thought about before. Adichie argued that although stereotypes are somewhat true, they are by no means the full story. People often chose to focus in on the negatives of a group of people, completely disregarding all of their positive aspects. Adichie is a great example of how not all people fit into their stereotypical roles that society places on them. Her eloquence and oratory are clearly displayed in her beautiful speech, and a lot of the points she brought up were very accurate. I guess deep down, it is probably true, that many people already pity Africans before even meeting them, based on what the media displays of Africa. Adichie made it very clear how important it is to hear multiple sides of a story before making a rash assumption.

For example, a visual argument she could have made, would have been to show this picture.

 Then she could have asked what the audience's immediate reaction was.

They would probably say something along the lines of a soldier reaching for ammunition, or another weapon.

After that, she could show them the full picture, and ask them the same question...

Clearly, you need the full story to make an accurate interpretation of what is really going on. Adichie drove her point home using various stories, rather than images. But the ultimate effect was the same in the end: stereotypes, although somewhat true, are nowhere near the full truth. To achieve that, you must get unbiased perspectives from all angles, which cover the full story, not just part of it.

Wisdom Nuggets!

"It is possible to write a line of seemingly innocuous dialogue and have it send a chill along the reader's spine." -Carver

"But a writer who has some special way of looking at things and who gives artistic expression to that way of looking: that writer may be around for a time." -Carver

"All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know."-Hemmingway

"Don’t describe an emotion–make it."-Hemingway

"You've got to sell your heart, your strongest reactions, not the little minor things that only touch you lightly."-Fitzgerald

Tips for Successful Writing

"The Science of Scientific Writing"

In this piece, Swan and Gopen make many points about writing, but a few of them stood out to me as ways that I could personally improve my writing, which is key. First off, they stressed the importance of clear, concise writing. The goal of writing is to make the reader understand and think about your piece, not to confuse them with foreign words and strange sentence pairings. The writer should always have his/her audience in mind when writing his piece, and never expect their reader to understand background knowledge. That is why the writer must give his/her audience ample context before starting the story so as to make everybody aware of where he/she is going before he/she actually starts. Furthermore, the natural flow of the piece must be, well, natural. It must make sense which way the story goes from start to finish. Every sentence should lead to the next seamlessly. The last point I really related to was the one about needing to spread out the plot from start to finish, rather than packing in all the exciting bits in the very beginning. After all, the lasting impression is often made just after reading the final few pages, which should be exciting and resolving. Only when the reader can fully understand every aspect of the work, can he/she fully appreciate the work.


"Politics and the English Language"

In this piece Orwell warns his audience not to fall into several common traps, which in turn hinder your writing as a whole. For example, he tells his audience that if they are trying to create successful work, rather than throwing in complicated words and dialect, it is more successful to use more common words that really mean what they are trying to say. Often times, students will just use a thesaurus to find what they think is more advanced, intelligent words to replace their simple one. Orwell would deffinitely object to this. To him, it is much more important to be clear and concise. Only then, he believes, can you fully develop your paper and convey your meaning to your audience, which is, after all, your biggest goal as a writer.

Life is Balance

 Life is all about balance. At home I feel like I had a great balance of school-work, friends and partying, and sports. Here in Michigan, I have focused more on the first two aspects, but unfortunately sports has fallen behind a bit. I look forward to fixing this and getting back on my grind again.

1) Having unbelievable times with amazing people.

2)Having homework as cool as this.

3) Needing to join a soccer team while I’m here.