Today Chloe and I went to 126th Street to get our hair braided, and I realized that I forgot my book once I sat down in the chair. There is no way that I can last in that noisy, crowded shop without headphones and something good to read. Luckily, I had my Kindle, so I used the time to re-read stories from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's collection, The Thing Around Your Neck. All of the stories are engaging and thought provoking, but I was struck by the brilliance of "Jumping Monkey Hill." As I return for my second year of teaching at Dwight, the ideas of questioning cultural (and gender related) expectations made it particularly poignant. The subject matter and the 'story within a story' narrative structure make it ripe for teaching.
Read it here
I would pair "Jumping Monkey Run" with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Ted Talk, "The Danger of the Single Story."
