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¶ … Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara tells the story of a college-educated woman who moves to the African-American neighborhood of the unnamed story-teller, her friend Sugar, and her friends and cousins. To the children it seems that Miss Moore puts on air, speaking "proper" English, always dressed as if she were going to church, and taking the children on educational field trips. The children resent it; school is out, and they want to spend the summer going to the movies or to the pool.
While Miss Moore organizes all kinds of outings for the children, Miss Moore herself is the lesson. She is the concrete example to the children that they can do well in school, they can go to college, and, by inference, that they can get a good-paying job. Miss Moore has enough money to not only pay her rent and provide for her necessities but to share experiences with a large group of children. She hands the speaker a five-dollar bill to pay for the second taxi as they all ride to mid-town Manhattan to visit FAO Schwartz, the toy store. At the end of the story the teller has pocketed...
She demonstrates the possibilities by her existence, and she makes sure the lesson sticks by taking them on trips repeatedly.
While Miss Moore is the lesson, she provides sub-lessons. On this particular day, the lesson is on social economics. She takes the children to an exclusive toy store, where they see $1,200 versions of their fifty-cent sail boats. They look at the prices of the other toys and comment that that "must be rich people shop here," and "White folk crazy." As the children look at the toys they realize that they would never be able to save their meager allowances enough to buy even the most inexpensive toys in the store. It isn't enough for Miss Moore to show the children that she has a decent job and enough money to hire two taxis. The children discover, on this trip,…
Toni Cade Bambara, The Lesson Toni Cade Bambara's The Lesson was a story told through the thoughts and wisdom of Sylvia, a young girl who lives in a lower class city. Throughout the story, Bambara used a combination of symbolism and reality techniques. While a young girl tells the story, he demonstrates how smart Sylvia is in the world she lives in - having to tell strong languages she has come
Toni Cade Bambara's "The Lesson" Theme in Bambara's "The Lesson" Toni Cade Bambara's "The Lesson" is a short work of fiction about a group of children in a working class African-American neighborhood who learn a valuable lesson. Through her descriptions and use of dialect, Bambara establishes the nature of her characters, especially the narrator, Sylvia, and the outsider, Miss Moore. Bambara then places the characters in a situation that showcases the chasm
For example, Sylvia takes offense when Miss Moore says they live in the slums. Bambara writes, "And then she gets to the part about we all poor and live in the slums which I don't feature. And I'm ready to speak on that, but she steps out in the street and hails two cabs just like that" (Bambara). Sylvia and her friends are not afraid to talk back to
Lesson and "Hunters in the Snow" Moments of realization are predominant in the short stories, "The Lesson," by Toni Cade Bambara and "Hunters in the Snow," by Tobias Wolff. Both stories reveal an element of human nature by focusing on individuals that we can believe in when they find themselves in difficult situations. As a result, each author illustrates how different individuals can choose to solve their problems when confronted
A&P and the Lesson The short stories A&P and The Lesson John Updike and Toni Cade Bambara explore the perceptions of young people as they stand at the threshold of adulthood. Updike's story, set in a grocery store in a small New England town, is about Sammy, a young white male cashier. Bambara's takes place in New York City outside the famous F.A.O. Schwartz Department Store, and is told from the
Fiction: Four Stories and their Elements A person reads fiction for many reasons. Often times, as Richard Wright suggests, one chooses to escape one's life, and discover new realities and states of being. Fiction is perhaps the most powerful medium that can transport a person outside of everything previously known, as fiction challenges not only one's intelligence, but also one's imagination. Due to this reason, fiction is here to say, so