Single Stories

1. Do you have single story? Discuss why or why not. 

I believe that it may appear that I have a single story, just like anyone else. On a first impression, people will learn that I'm Lexi. I'm fifteen years old, a sophomore at Lake Forest Academy. I have a big family of six brothers, two parents, and a dog named Moose. I have lots of freckles. I love to play field hockey. I have blondish hair and greenish eyes. I have lots of scars and I like sarcasm and laughing a lot too. This may be the single story someone takes of me the first time they meet me. That's fair enough, because how are you supposed to know someone in depth, know all their stories, after being with them for less than an hour. Hearing that I live in Lake Bluff, and that I attend LFA, may allow people to believe that I'm a snobby, rich kid. Learning that I'm fifteen may allow people to think that I'm an immature teenager who only cares about herself. But those things are not true, because I do have more than one story. I have many, many stories. People will always judge you the first time they meet you, that's human nature. They will find out something about you, and store it in their brain as a memory of you. They will look at you, find stereotypes and ways to remember you, to decide whether or not they like you. They will look at you and see one story. But I don't believe that anyone has one single story. People come from all different places, have all different families and all different names. My name is Alexandra; Lexi is just a nickname. I'm not just a snobby, rich kid because I actually have an appreciation of the things I've been blessed with, and snobby is not in my nature. I can be immature at times, but I know when it's time to be serious and when it's okay not to be. I am more than stereotypes, and I have more than one, single story.

2. Does America have a single story? Discuss why or why not.
 Just like I am judged as a teenage girl, America is judged as a country. American stereotypes can include materialism, obesity, arrogance, racialism, oblivion, and many more. But not all of America is like that. Some may be, but America is built out of many stories. It can sometimes be easier to claim one thing about an entire country, rather than look at all the individual pieces. America has many, many, many, many stories, but other countries may see America as one story, due to stereotypes.