Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Character Sketch Project)

By: Saadhvi Mamidi

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Acomplishments & Major Works

Conclusion

Education

Chimamanda won as a joint winner of the BBC Short Story Awards for her story “That Harmattan Morning.” Chimamanda's first novel, Purple Hibiscus was awarded the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for First Best Book. She received the 2007 Orange Prize for Fiction for her book, Half of a Yellow Sun. Americanah (her 3rd book) was was picked by the New York Times as one of the Top 10 Books of 2013. Adichie says on the topic of feminism and writing "I think of myself as a storyteller, but I would not mind at all if someone were to think of me as a feminist writer... I'm very feminist in the way I look at the world, and that world view must somehow be part of my work."

Chimamanda is such a great, inspirational person. I chose her as my author for one main reason; In this era, when technology is so vital to our lives people like Chimamanda, strong, powerful, feminists and writers are not common. Most people don’t care enough to even think about what’s wrong in our world. We sit here expecting someone to change everything for us while people like Chimamanda actually do the change, we just live in the result of it all. She believes in what is right, even when people don’t particularly like it. The perfect word to describe her, the word that sums it all up is courage.

The End (From "Flawless" by Beyonce)

Chimamanda went to The University of Nigeria to study medicine and pharmacy for a year and a half. When she was 19, she went to the United States to complete her education but this time in Communications and Political Science at Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Later on she moved to Eastern Connecticut State University and received a bachelor’s degree from there. She completed her master’s degree in 2003 at John Hopkin’s University in Creative Writing.

We teach girls to shrink themselves, to make themselves smaller

We say to girls: "You can have ambition, but not too much

You should aim to be successful, but not too successful

Otherwise, you will threaten the man"

Because I am female, I am expected to aspire to marriage

I am expected to make my life choices

Always keeping in mind that marriage is the most important

Now, marriage can be a source of joy and love and mutual support

But why do we teach girls to aspire to marriage

And we don't teach boys the same?

We raise girls to see each other as competitors

Not for jobs or for accomplishments, which I think can be a good thing

But for the attention of men

Feminist: a person who believes in the social

Political, and economic equality of the sexes

Birth and Childhood

Bibliography (APA Format)

Introduction

Chimamanda was born on September 15, 1977 in Enugu, Nigeria. She was raised in an Igbo family of six. Chimamanda’s father was a Statistics professor at The University of Nigeria and her mother was an administrator. Chimamanda once said in her infamous Ted Talks “The Danger of a Single Story”, “I was also an early writer, and when I began to write, at about the age of seven, stories in pencil with crayon illustrations that my poor mother was obligated to read, I wrote exactly the kinds of stories I was reading: All my characters were white and blue-eyed, they played in the snow, they ate apples, and they talked a lot about the weather, how lovely it was that the sun had come out.” Chimamanda was a fun-loving child who didn’t think much of what was coming for her in the future.

The danger of a single story. (n.d.). Retrieved November 17, 2015, from http://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story

(n.d.). Retrieved November 17, 2015, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimamanda_Ngozi_Adichie

About Chimamanda | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. (n.d.). Retrieved November 17, 2015, from http://chimamanda.com/about-chimamanda/

The Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Website. (n.d.). Retrieved November 17, 2015, from http://www.l3.ulg.ac.be/adichie/cnabio.html

We should all be feminists | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie | TEDxEuston. (n.d.). Retrieved November 17, 2015, from

“Of course I am not worried about intimidating men. The type of man who will be intimidated by me is exactly the type of man I have no interest in,” says the headstrong, feminist, and author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche. Chimamanda is a powerful women that uses words as her weapons and stories as her shield. She is named one of the most inspirational authors/women of all time. Chimamanda even made a special appearance in the song “Flawless” by Beyoncé! Chimamanda is an overall inspiration to everyone, africans or not.