The Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara is a short story about a group of kids who travel to the upscale part of town to get an idea of how inequality really is within society. A lady that goes by the name Miss Moore totes around these children, and the day trip to the upscale part of town was to be a lesson to the children that society is full of unfairness and inequality. The point that she was trying to make in my opinion is that if you want to have the ability to afford glamorous items of that nature you must work hard, and by hard she meant harder than those who were born into privileged families. The children from this story were not from a wealthy family but that of a poorer descent. The children are young but Miss Moore feels they are of the maturity level to understand the teaching she is trying to get across; from the story it seems that Miss Moore is mistaken in thinking they can understand her lessons until Sugar finally speaks up. Sylvia is the protagonist in this short story and the narrator as well, and it begins with her describing her daily activities, which usually end up with her and the neighboring kids spending time with Miss Moore. Miss Moore is new to the neighborhood and is described as “Nappy hair” and “No makeup” by Sylvia who has an overall distaste towards Miss Moore (Reid 413). The parents of the neighboring kids also referred to as “cousins” by Sylvia don’t like Miss Moore too much, but tend to pawn off their kids on her so the kids can get some sort of education out of the educated lady (413). Sylvia and her close friend Sugar end up getting stuck with Miss Moore on a regular basis and on this particular day they end up getting in a cab with Miss Moore thinking they were going to the nearby subway. Well i... ... middle of paper ... ...ow I would feel the same way if I were Sylvia. After spending the day looking at how the other half live, I would strive to become a self-made individual. I feel that is what the author is trying to accomplish in her story. She wants it to be known that you can become anything you want with a little bit of motivation, and that’s what Ms. Moore did when she took the kids to the toyshop. She gave Sylvia the motivation and drive to strive for something better then what she had. There are several different emotions and routes that Sylvia or anyone could have felt after her experience, and what she chose was to be angry. Her anger will drive her to accomplish her goals. “The Lesson”, will have several different meanings for different people, but what I took away from this story is that if you weren’t born with it you can still obtain it even if society is against you.
It is easily perceptible that Sylvia’s father was abusive, and “grinded her gears”, which is then revealed she is a victim of
This paragraph shows that Sylvia was trying to think about the meaning why Miss Moore took her students to there even though she knew that no one could buy anything there. Cartwright says, “Nothing could make Miss Moore happier than Sylvia’s commitment ‘to think the day through (Cartwright, 114).’” Miss Moore knew that Sylvia was trying to understand the real theory of this field trip. She did not say anything when she was asked what did she think about this field trip to Miss Moore because she did not understand exactly what the genuine purpose of this field trip at that point. Although Sylvia did not understand, Sugar seemed like she got the lesson of this trip, as she said “ this is not much of a democracy if you ask me. Equal chance to pursue happiness means an equal crack at the dough, don't it? (336)”. Miss Moore expected more answers from Sylvia, since she looked like she was thinking so hard. This is the reason why Miss Moore looked at Sylvia when she asked to her students a same question again, “Anybody else learn anything today? (336)”. She said “anybody”, but she was expecting the answer from Sylvia in this scene because she looked like she was thinking about it harder than the other students as she got a lot of question such as “What kinda work they do and how they live and how come we ain’t in on
Bambara writes, “So right away I'm tired of this and say so. And would much rather snatch Sugar and go to the Sunset and terrorize the West Indian kids and take their hair ribbons and their money too. And Miss Moore files that remark away for next week's lesson on brotherhood, I can tell” (2). From this, we can see that Sylvia knew what she said was wrong and even why it was so. This also happens to be the passage that Cartwright uses to illustrate that the children require more than one lesson on a hot Harlem day; they deserve a thorough education. Cartwright explains “Rather than simply teaching a single lesson, the story is about the value of lessons themselves, the value of learning and thinking”
This negative attitude towards Miss Moore is what starts Sylvia’s character, which shows us how young and naïve she really is. At first glance we could perceive Miss Moore’s character as the protagonist and Sylvia’s character as the antagonist of this story. But really Miss Moore isn’t the center character Sylvia’s character is the center of this story, Miss Moore is just a character that starts conflict with Sylva’s character. Sylvia being the narrator
The author Wes Moore said “I was surprised to find just how much we did have in common, aside from our names, and how much our narratives intersected before they faithfully diverged. Learning the details of his story helped me understand my own life and choices.” This quote reitterates what I believe to be the theme that your fate is not determined at birth but rather by the choices you make in life. In the quote he talks about how he realized how much they had in common which was even shocking to him. I think this shows how the choices he made were the most important thing to his success. He acknowledges at the end of the quote how important the choices he made were to his life success. I feel this quote along with the story are very inspiration and very eye opening to many people across the world who are born into a bad position. I think this will show these people how important the choices they make are. This story could pave the way to success for another teen or young adult across the
In The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, there is an emphasizes on how rough it is to be part of the low economic class . Through her words you can create an image about the way poverty affects children. She goes through the book making great remarks on the topic. The different experiences that Esperanza goes through have a lot to connect with her family's financial status. She specifically describes her feelings about the poverty they live in through three of her short stories. The three short stories in which poverty seems to be an obstacle are The House on Mango Street, Our Good Day, and Chanclas. When the book begins the downgrading of Esperanza's esteem begins with it.
Also, as they go through struggles later in life as they’re changing, it’ll help them realize how much they went through to be the kind of person they are. Solomon stated, “I survived that childhood through a mix of avoidance and endurance. What I didn’t know then, and do know now, is that avoidance and endurance can be the entryway to forging meaning,” to support that childhood struggles make you who are you are at the end. Jeannette Walls went through several struggles in her life as she was growing up; due to her parents, all those struggles just made her a better and stronger person. It prepared her siblings and herself as well, for the future. Although, it did not much change for the parents, especially her father whom was “broken,” as Douglas mentioned. It was not as easy to repair a strong man because the father was already stuck at his worst, while the children still had a lot more time to experience other events that can change them as they get older and
The book starts off with Jeannette, a successful adult, taking a taxi to a nice party. When she looked out the window, she saw a woman digging through the garbage. The woman was her mother. Rather than calling out to her or saying hi, Jeannette slid down into the seat in fear that her mother would see her. When asking her mother what she should say when people ask about her family, Rose Mary Walls only told her, “Ju...
...siting F.A.O. Schwarz awakens in Sylvia an internal struggle she has never felt, and through criticizing Miss Moore, Sylvia distances herself from realizing her poverty. In her responses to the toys, their prices, and the unseen people who buy them, it is evident that Sylvia is confronting the truth of Miss Moore's lesson. As Sylvia begins to understand social inequality, the realization of her own disadvantage makes her angry. For Sylvia, achieving class consciousness is a painful enlightenment. For her to accept that she is underprivileged is shameful for her, and Sylvia would rather deny it than admit a wound to her pride: "ain't nobody gonna beat me at nuthin" (312).
One of Miss Moore's defining qualities is her intelligence. Her academic skills and self-presentation is noticeable through her college degree and use of “proper speech” (Bambara, 385). Miss Moore also makes her intelligence evident from the methods she uses to teach Sylvia and the other children. Unlike planting them in classrooms, she takes them out on trips to show them the real world. Despite all the insults she receives from th...
“All Kids Should Take Poverty 101” could have been a wonderful piece if the age of those taking Poverty 101 had been older, and if the focus had been more on how those in poverty can end the cycle on their own. However Beegle’s desire to teach children empathy and awareness is a noble
Ernest Gaines was born during the middle of the Great Depression on January 15, 1933. He was the oldest of twelve children. At the age of nine Gaines worked as an errand boy on the River Lake Plantation, the same plantation his book A Lesson Before Dying was set in. Gaines was raised by his Aunt Augusteen Jefferson, much like Grant, the protagonist in the novel, was raised by his Aunt Tante Lou. At the age of fifteen Gaines rejoined his immediate family in Vallejo, California because there were no high schools for him to attend in Louisiana. Gaines also wanted to enter a public library which was illegal for people of color to use. At this time in U.S. History, books about colored people were scarce and so Gaines decided to try and write his own novel. The desire to write led him to San Francisco State and Stanford University where he took creative writing courses. His first book, Catherine Carmier, was published in 1964. He finished his most famous novel, The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, in 1971. The success of The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman prompted Gaines to write more about the black communities of southern Louisiana. The most successful book dealing with the colored people of southern Louisiana, A Lesson Before Dying, was penned in 1993 (“About Ernest Gaines” 1).
The narrator Sylvia and the children in her impoverished neighborhood are prisoners in a dark cave, which is the society that encompasses ignorance and puppet-handlers. “The Lesson” begins with Sylvia as she talks condescendingly about her neighborhood of Harlem, New York: “Back in the days when everyone was old and stupid or young and foolish and me and Sugar were the only ones just right, this lady moved on our block with nappy hair and proper speech and no makeup. Quite naturally we laughed at her… And we kinda ha...
One of Sylvia's students is Joe Ferone. Joe is a rebel and a hoodlum. Joe barely ever comes to class. Sylvia really wants to help Joe. Sylvia tries to schedule after school sessions with Joe, but he never shows up. Towards the end of the story I get the feeling Sylvia was starting to fall in love with him.
The subject of equality and inequality are a sensitive and controversial topic. Both equality and inequality were portrayed in the short story, “The Lesson.” In this short story by Toni Cade Bambara, Miss Moore, a well known woman in the neighborhood, gives the children in her local area a lesson about the brutal inequalities that are in existence within the socioeconomic status system. This leads the children to ponder about the equality and inequality that exists within society. Toni Cade Bambara uses her short story, “The Lesson” in order to shed light on the injustices and racial inequalities in society. The goal of the story is to not only fight for racial equalities, but socioeconomic equalities as well.