Read the following extract from Ama Ata Aidoo's short story, 'The Girl Who Can' and answer the questions that follow: 'Like all this business to do with my legs. I have always wanted to tell them not to worry. I mean Nana and my mother. That it did not have to be an issue for my two favourite people to fight over. But I didn't want either to be told not to repeat that or it to be considered so funny that anyone would laugh at me until they cried. After all, they were my legs…'
What other issue concerning Adjoa, did Nana and Adjoa’s mother disagree on? What opinion did each of them have on this issue?
Topic: Schooling
Answer
They also disagreed about Adjoa’s schooling.
Adjoa’s mother believed the child should go to school and was firm about it, since education would open a future for her. Nana was doubtful: she saw little value in schooling for a girl, wondered aloud what use it would be, and worried in particular that Adjoa’s frail legs would not carry her the long distance to the school at Hasodzi.
Two marks depend on giving BOTH positions clearly, so set them against each other. The pairing of the two disagreements — legs and school — is the story’s design: tradition doubts the girl’s body and her education alike, and the sports day answers both objections at once.