After reading  Wainana's satirical "How to Write About Africa," Miner's anthropological parody in "Body Ritual Among the Nacirema, and watching the TED Talks  by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in order to consider my presumptions,  I now have a better understanding of how language and narrative shape perceptions and reinforce stereotypes. Wainana's writing carefully brings to light the delusions about Africa that are present in Western narratives. It aims its focus to the obscurity of the diversity and complexity of the continent to satisfy a similar and abnormal viewpoint. Miner's use of anthropological language to portray American customs in a strange way highlights how academic debate may destroy and 'other' its subjects.

Adichie's TED Talk, "The danger of a single story" showed me how easy it is to believe a story that has been told repeatedly and how that can easily mould my perception. She says isolated incidents give rise to stereotypes. These stories shifts us to have a "us versus them" mentality, ignoring the importance of unique identities and experiences.

While analysing these works, I noticed how assumptions are moulded and influenced by half told stories . I acknowledge that I have categorised people because of simple stories or narratives about them. For instance how the media portrays poverty instead of looking into how poverty came about and why it exists and how the people who are affected by this are still able to survive by making ends meet.