Anna Metcalf Number Three

When Jeannette begins school in Welch, an African American girl Dinitia Hewitt and her friends harassed and beat up Jeannette for being scrawny and filthy. She is constantly made fun of because it is apparent that she lives in poverty. The other children do not accept other that aren’t like them and Jeannette is no exception. Her worn clothes and grimy hair are like a neon sign shouting about her life in poverty which makes Jeannette an easy target to bullies. Jeannette tries very hard to stand up for herself, however, the bullying only stops once other realize that living in poverty and being different was not Jeannette’s

An illustration of this is when Helen describes Myra as having a “rotten-sweetish smell as of bad fruit.” Also, when Helen asks what she will become when she is older, she looks very confused and says, “I will help my mother, and work in the shop.” Helen replies to this by saying that she will become an airplane hostess. While Helen’s family does not have less money than Myra’s, she seems to have some issues when she says she is the only student in the classroom who, “carried a lunch pail and ate peanut-butter sandwiches in the high, bare, mustard-colored cloakroom…” She feels she is in danger because it could be somethings that separates her from the better off and popular children in the class. With this considered, if either of them had families with money like a classmate named Gladys Healey, they would not have differences they could bond

To me this meant that one should be able to act nice towards others despite any preconceived notions of flaws.

By looking through history or just at the world around us, anyone who was even great was doubted or harassed; but because those people chose to fight through these struggles which eventually led to their success and happiness. Success is never given, is it earned. I love how this quote gives insight to the basic morals of people, the basic morals that people mold their life

She inspired the kids to learn there is much more about the world than outside of where they lived. On the day, miss more rounded up neighborhood kids and is going to take them to A fancy toys store at fifty-seventh street. Miss Moore knows that this will be a new experience for the children who don’t have this in their neighborhood, and will be excited by the unexpected items that they had never seen before. In “The Lesson,” Miss Moore attempts to teach the children about savage inequalities that exist in their socioeconomic status. However, Miss Moore gives her five dollar bill to pay the taxi to a toy store, where they wonder at the wealthy people live. Miss Moore told them to go in but Sylvia immediately uncomfortable there. Sylvia was unhappy that miss Moore brought them here. The children see a microscope, paperweight, and sailboats cost $1,195. Everything in the store was high price and the kids shocked by looking at the cost, and to teach them a lesson and inspire them to fight for success and try to do better for themselves. When the arrived back to Harlem, miss Moore asks the children what they thought the store. Eventually, sugar reply and said that the cost of the toy sailboat could feed all of them. Again she asks the children what this inequality says about society. Sugar

This book can be very painful to read because many times the kids are much more responsible than the adults. Even so, the kids have to fend for themselves from a very young age. Upon Rex losing his job once again, Lori and Jeannette try to discuss ways to help make money for the family. Finding themselves unable to think of any helpful ways, Jeanette says, “I guess we can eat less,” to which Lori replies “We have before” (67). The face they have gone hungry many times before is extremely disappointing, especially since Rex and Rose are both completely capable of getting jobs. When Rex are Rose are arguing about not having money, Jeannette says “Tell them we like eating margarine, then maybe they’ll stop fighting” (70). It’s fine to live like that on your own, but you shouldn’t raise a kid in that kind of scenario.

The education system in Bayonne was also far from ideal, and Gaines shows the injustices Black children face versus their white peers. The students are forced to get down on their knees to use the benches as desks or do their work in their laps (36). The students are so incredibly disadvantaged that they do not even have desks to write on to do their work, whereas the White children presumably have a well furnished school. This clear distinction between children’s’ learning environments shows just how bad the racism in Bayonne truly was. They are merely innocent children and they are already treated differently from their white peers. Gaines describes Grant’s class to show readers the circumstances of the Black community in comparison to the White school district. Additionally, the school year, according to Grant is only,” five months, and when the children are not needed in the field” (36). Even though slavery had been abolished almost a century prior, the Black children were still deprived of a proper education due to the field work that they were forced to complete. Grant also has to attempt to ration his supplies, because the school board does not give him an adequate amount for the year and at one point tells a

“The Lesson” is a very well written fragment of the past. This is a story from New York’s inner city of Harlem where children did not have substantial education much less the money to obtain it. Not only is this story about a poor girl out of place in an expensive toy store, it is also a social commentary that teaches readers an amazing life lesson. The character Miss Moore introduces

During the next few weeks Donny had been talking on the phone with this girl Miriam for hours upon hours. She had invited Her over for dinner but Donny said no, Cal let Miriam over for one for the “studying” sessions, They were both always with cal and it started to seem weird to daisy. She “This Miriam was an unappealing girl with blurry lipstick and masses of rough red hair. She wore a short, Bulky jacket that would not have been out of place on a motorcycle. During this trip to Cals she was silent, but coming back, she was more talkative. “What a neat guy and what house. All those kids hanging out, like a club. And the stern playing rock… gosh, he's not like a grown up at all! Married and divorced and everything, but you'd think he was our age.” Miriam had said.” This is the daisy has gotten to think it was all bad and weird for Donny, It had all gone down hill Cal wasn't helping and they were just partying and this girlfriend wasn't the best for him she has thought. She didn't know what to do she didn't think any of this was helping. She should have come out and mentioned it too him about her not loving this girl and not thinking she was the best influence to keep him on track and get his grades up. With them always at Cals partying nothing was getting better, The girl didn't seem like she was all this serious and Daisy knows

We immediately learn that Miss Moore is not the average Harlem teacher. She is educated herself, along with being very opinionated. The children explain that she has nappy

James and Bill were the well known "bad guys" of the New York square. James was a drug dealer, and had a really nice house. Bill was the main person who bought off of him, and didn't have a very nice house, he lived in an abandoned church. James had a really big crush on a homeless girl that live on his street about half a mile down the road, her name was Kaylee. Kaylee was a tall 32 year-old lady who was always dressed nice for being a homeless person and not being able to buy things, she was really shy and didn't really communicate with anyone in the town. She had been going through a rough time since her

Miss Caroline is a brand new teacher and has been trained to teach in a certain way. When she finds that Scout’s premature reading ability disrupts her teaching plan she has no idea what to do with her, and tells Scout not to read at home anymore. ‘Miss Caroline told me to tell my father not to teach me anymore, it would interfere with my reading.’ This shows how society is oblivious to individual situations and this can cause achievements to be frowned upon.

Moreover, Mary evolves that story and explains to her grandmother, Mrs. Tilford, that she saw the two women kissing through the keyhole in the door. Mary knew the power that her grandmother had over the school. Mrs. Tilford is one of the main financial contributors to the school. She is also a wealthy, influential older woman who is well respected throughout the town. But, because of her adolescence, Mary did not know the underlying effects of telling the lie to such a powerful person within the community. Mary does not realize that her actions have given Mrs. Tilford the power to ruin the school, the women’s reputations, and most importantly their lives. Although Karen and Martha never committed the act they were accused of, the lie spreads all over the town and ultimately results in the closing of the school and ruining their lives.

In this story the author tells us about a girl named Sylvia, the narrator, who lives in a very low income family. A place where school is not a priority. A place where it is more important to be strong and hard, than to read a book. This was the thought anyway, before Miss. Moore moved in. She was a school teacher who took it upon herself to teach the neighborhood kids. On one summer afternoon in particular she was going to take the kids into town on a field trip. The kids are not at all happy about this because they know it is summer break and they are not supposed to be in school in the summer. They would rather be at the pool playin’, but Miss. Moore knows that if these kids want a chance at a better life,

“Be grateful for small things, big things, and everything in between. Count your blessings, not your problems. - Mandy Hale