A Private Experience – Mind Map by Monica Tanushev

‘A Private Experience’ – Short Story Paragraph

The short story titled “A Private Experience” by Chimimanda Ngozi Adichie suggests that no matter how different two people’s lives may be, there will always be something that they can bond over. Consequently, this was enforced with multiple images and quotes within this mind map to help prove themes and statements. Primarily, while analyzing and writing about the plot, incorporating an image of different coloured hands all working together represented it clearly. The storyline itself revolves around two women putting aside their differences to bond and help one another in the midst of a riot, (so the hand image displayed the situation quite perfectly.) To symbolize the fact that Chika (who is Christian) and the other woman (who is Muslim) are able to work together despite their differences, a picture of a group of culturally different individuals hugging one another was added. Moving on, to showcase the physical setting of the story on the mind map, a picture of the city Kano in Nigeria was included. Noticing that it is more of an isolated and dry area, viewers can say it is stereotypical of where riots may occur. Subsequently, graphics of someone experiencing distressing thoughts as well as someone running away in fear represented the emotional setting. In most of the story, these two emotions are present (considering both Chika and the other woman worry about their loved ones.) Chika is constantly reminded about her sister, Nnedi and the other woman about her daughter, Halima. Conflict in the story takes place between the two women and the riot (being person versus society.) The author likely decided to make the riot the outside force on the women to prove that even though their cultures are fighting against each other outside, they are both able to stay calm and befriend one another. To showcase that conflict is present, a graphic with a group of people playing tug-o-war was selected. This exemplified that there was some sort of battle going on. The story is told in third person – limited point of view. This allows the audience to understand what is going on in Chika’s mind but not the other woman’s. To represent point of view, a visual of a person looking at a one-perspective picture of a mountain was added. Looking at literary criticism and analyzing the story using the lenses provided, readers are able to understand a lot more about the author and the possible motives behind her writing. Using the biological lens, it is easy to say that there are plenty of ties to her past that are recurrent in the story. Looking through the psychological lens, it is clear that Adichie is trying to create a sense of balance and kindness through both the characters in the story. A quote that proves this is when the unnamed woman says to Chika and herself “Allah keep your sister and Halima in safe place.” (Adichie, pg. 5). The quotes integrated in this mind map show examples of indirect and direct characterization which are extremely helpful in providing readers with extra information. For Chika, indirect characterization is used when the author says that “She hardly ever lies, but the few times she does, there is always a purpose behind the lie.” (Adichie, pg. 5). This indirectly makes the readers believe that she is quite an honest person. To show exactly what is going on with Chika later in the story, the author uses direct characterization and says (from the other woman’s point of view) to Chika “Your leg, there is blood.” (Adichie, pg. 7). Flash forwards are most commonly used throughout the story when the author says things such as “Later, Chika will learn that, as she and the woman are speaking, Hausa Muslims are hacking down Igbo Christians with machetes…” (Adichie, pg. 2). Adding on, the biggest symbol in the story is the scarf. At the end when the unnamed woman gives her scarf to Chika, it symbolizes unity as they have accomplished going through something together. The theme of the story is that no matter how great cultural differences are between people, they can still easily get along and bond over hardships. The graphics, visuals and quotes that were displayed throughout my mind map were extremely helpful in proving what had been written on each page. With understanding ‘A Private Experience’, readers are able to grasp concepts on how cultural differences in humankind aren’t enough to stop us from creating deep relationships.

Marked by: Alyssa Clark