Short story brainstorm

Paul liked to buy his daughter costumes at least a month in advance. He was a neurotic single financier with eight white non-iron Brooks Brothers shirts; one for each day of the week and one devoted entirely to holidays . His life ran like clockwork, and he intended to keep it that way. It was September 30 and he intended to purchase his daughter a halloween costume. She was going to be an angel.

Cynthia's lunch was packed for her every day at school. She would have her ham and cheese sandwich and her apple and her carton of milk. Her father varied the vegetables each day on a three day rotation between carrots, celery and cucumbers. She was seven and wanted to be a bunny for halloween.

Hanson was a small wiry man who lived in the back-room of his costume shop. His shop smelled of old rubber. He was comforted by the sounds of Christmas music year round. He listened to one song each month, in order to fully absorb the twelve track Christmas mixed-tape that he had received as a child. September was devoted to "....

Introduce costume shop guy:

Bring them all together:

wife = mystery....

Conflicting Values

Phase Two of Ama Ata Aidoo's Anowa conveys an increasing tension between Anowa and Kofi Ako. In Phase One, the couple reminded me a little of the classic Romeo and Juliet love story. They love each other but due to familial tension they cannot marry let alone be together. Now, in Phase Two, Anowa and Kofi Ako are together but are not able to get along. Anowa is not able to have children, not because of a problem with her womb, but because she is essentially too stressed. Anowa insists that Kofi Ako marry another woman, "as she could help us"(84). Kofi Ako refuses stating that Anowa is the only one he loves and that will not change. To eliminate the stress, Kofi Ako suggests that they hire slaves. Anowa is strongly against this idea as it goes against her morals. Anowa is strongly grounded in her morals, which contributes to her fierce independence. I am not yet sure where this tension will lead. I do not think that Kofi Ako will remarry, and I know that Anowa will not allow slaves. It seems as though they have reached somewhat of a stalemate. I feel as though something big will happen in the next phase that will end this impasse once and for all.

Words of Dependence

Whether or not they agree and love each other at this point in the novel is unclear, but it is clear that Badua is protective over her daughter Anowa. Up to this point in "Anowa" Ama Ata Aidoo makes it clear that there is a very strong sense of dependence and control built into societal customs. In phase one, there is a repeated mention of "my duties", "my daughter", "my wife" etc. The way its written, it gives the impression that they are dependent upon: those giving the duties, the father/mother, and the husband respectively.

On a separate note, in the prologue there is repeated use of words and phrases connoting consistency. Old man says, "Everything happens in moderation"(65). He goes on to say "If there be some among us that have found a common sauce-bowl"(66). Another example: the old man says, "Kofi was, is, and shall always be one of us"(67). I have not yet figured out what these mean or what the subtle message is relating to, but I expect that it will become clearer as the play progresses.

Harkness Reflection 2

Sept 28: I spoke seven times today, and although it is clear that I had a back-and-forth with Sophia, my comments for the most part were distributed evenly across the table.
Oct 6: I spent a lot of time reading and referring to to the text. I think the 'snapshot' chart is a good indicator of conversation involvement.
Oct 18: My comments were distributed very well throughout the entire conversation, and I spoke for a good length each time.
Oct 20: Absent
Oct 24: Absent
Oct 31: I spoke five times this conversation. My comments/questions were directed to many members of the table.
Nov 4: I did not speak very much today. I remember that something was bothering me and so although I did the reading and understood it, I had nothing much to say.

I continue to work on quality over quantity in my comments. I am working on making sure all of my comments pertain to the immediate conversation, and are not unrelated  ideas that I have been thinking about. As a result, I have waited until I have had something very important to say, to speak. I will continue to work on the consistency of comments, and making sure that I speak to everyone at the Harkness table.