Reflecting on Literature and Community in "The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara

The narrator of Faulkner’s The Unvanquished is apparently an adult recounting his childhood. The first person narrator is a child at the story’s outset, but the narrative voice is lucid, adult. Telling the story of his childhood allows the narrator to distinguish for the reader what he believed as a child from what he “know[s] better now” (10). The difference affords an examination of dominant southern masculinity as it is internalized by Bayard and Ringo, and demonstrates the effects on the boys of the impossible ideal.

Toni Cade Bambara addresses how knowledge is the means by which one can escape out of poverty in her story The Lesson. In her story she identifies with race, economic inequality, and literary epiphany during the early 1970’s. In this story children of African American progeny come face to face with their own poverty and reality. This realism of society’s social standard was made known to them on a sunny afternoon field trip to a toy store on Fifth Avenue. Through the use of an African American protagonist Miss Moore and antagonist Sylvia who later becomes the sub protagonist and White society the antagonist “the lesson” was ironically taught. Sylvia belong to a lower economic class, which affects her views of herself within highlights the

The clearest evidence is that the narrator is the first-person plural“we”. The rest of town is included in the “we”, while Emily is excluded from the “we”. Though she is like an alien in the town community, as long as she is in town as a member, the town should not let her be alone. This exclusion gives her a harder time as alone. Her seclusion from the town community, and separated point of view from the townspeople also acted as one of forces led to the

　　　　Language is an essential part of our daily lives. Language is used to communicate with other people to meet our needs and satisfy our understandings. Everyone uses one language or another. Some have an advantage and are able to use

When reading Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily,” what struck me primarily was the use of first person plural pronouns. Immediately, we hear “our whole town went to the funeral” suggesting a unified front relaying the story. Foster talks about the social functions of gossip, and I feel that his definition and theories about the social functions of gossip can most directly comment on Faulkner’s use of the first person plural pronoun. Miss Emily Grierson was a unifying entity to the people of her town. Through talk about her, there is a social cohesion that is achieved. The women would gather together and call upon her, or the men would go in packs to sprinkle lime around the doors and windows, all of which ended in friendship and community. Miss Emily

To me a discourse community is a close-knit group that shares the same interests and use writing as a main concept for communication. writing as a main concept for communication. Swales, linguist and author of “The Concept of Discourse Community”, further explained discourse by attributing specific characteristics to them. For the purposes of this essay, these are the relevant descriptions. “A discourse community has a broadly agreed upon set of goals” (Swales, 471), “A discourse community has acquired a specific lexis” (473), and “a discourse community has a threshold level of members with a suitable degree of relevant content and discoursal expertise” (473). The discourse communityI have chosen to discuss in this essay is the Army ROTC at University of Memphis..

Another prime example of Faulkner's effective writing is his use of narration. Of course, in most stories the narrator is a key asset. In :A Rose for Emily" Faulkner uses the narrator not only as a story teller, but as an observer from the crowd as well. The narrator's point of view, which is third person, had a positive effect on the way a reader views the story. "Through out the story the narrator uses "we" instead of I revealing to us the way the townspeople judge Emily" (Madden 1988). The narrator thinks back in time throughout the story remembering particular events that occurred in the past. This is important to the reader in that it helps aid the understanding of how the townspeople viewed Emily. The narrator as one of the townspeople viewed Miss Emily as impervious, tranquil, and perverse. If the story had been narrated by anyone else, it may not have been as easy for the reader to completely understand. "With this spectator as the narrator, describing the events of the story through his eyes, one can detect a general impression of Emily" (Madden 1987). The view of the narrator is beneficial in understanding the things that Emily goes through. Also toward the end of the story the narrator gives the reader a feeling if sorrow and pity for Emily. It is apparent Faulkner's use of narration is critical to the enhancement and clarification of the "A Rose for Emily." After analyzing the

Some experiences can change people as individuals and how they view things. The process of people growing up can take time but when a transformation occurs it  can be difficult to handle. Sylvia, the narrator in Toni Cade Bambara's "The Lesson," learns a lesson about social class how the rich are different from poor ,she realizes that the money rich people spend for their kids toys can feed a whole household of poor families.In the process, she loses some part of her pride that characterizes her childhood because she thought she was living a good life  till she realizes that rich kids toys can feed her entire household so she  begins to look for hints  or ways of being wealth so that she can  have better life than her family. She

Oxford provided Faulkner with intimate access to the rich character of the rural south which was conscious of its past and separated from the urban-industrial mainstream that Faulkner found very distracting. He wanted to accurately portray life in the south and he “could not have done otherwise than to include Blacks among the people who inhabit the lands of his novels”(Glissant, pp. 56). Faulkner did not pretend to understand the suffering and complexity of the lives of the black community but, because he grew up witnessing their struggle he was able to represent them in an honest and sometimes brutal fashion. He spent his whole life in the south and, “Blacks lived there … They were servants in the Falkner family or perhaps workers for the railroad company founded by his great grand-father. They were surely mule drivers or farm laborers …”(Urgo and Abadie, pp. 137). It is difficult to say whether or not Faulkner felt sympathy for these people but it is clear through Faulkner’s writing that he believed their story needed to be told.

First, community is our “home.” We have been living in a community ever since we were just little babies and it has always influenced us. Communities have played a big part in who we are today. We start off in school not knowing anyone or anything and as you get older you begin to think about the

The major theme of the story was creating awareness in adolescents about what life has to offer. The nature of human beings of accepting the realities of life to such an extent that apathy and lethargy sets in, is what proves to be destructive for the social fabric of today’s world. In this stagnation, Mrs. Moore provides the impetus required for people to realize their god given right to something better. We are told that Mrs. Moore has a college degree, is well dressed most of the times, and has a good command on her language. She seems to be a kind of a person who has seen the world. She has experienced life, and wants to use that experience in providing the children with an opportunity to broaden

William Faulkner’s “Barn Burning” racism plays an integral role in this time in the South of the United States, which is about thirty years after the Civil War. The story often showcases the differences between the author’s point of view and that of the characters. Faulkner seems to be making an effort in showcasing just how times were in the time period in which the story was written and possibly even his experiences. In this story, Faulkner shows how a young, African American boy must face the reality of a racist society, as well as the actions of his father and learn how to be raised the correct way, morally, in a society that is nothing but pure racism. One of the most important factors in the South was racism, and it actually determined how an individual would live their life.

Normal day to day actions and the way people act may also convey different meanings to me or people of my community because of our backgrounds and where we come from. For example, if a group of kids were joking around

I am going to discuss two examples showing the loss of community and connection. I will discuss an example of each. I will try to figure out what the author’s meaning was, what the characters in the story took it as, if the situation shows the loss of community or connection. Also, I will discuss the ways that the story shows how either community or connection has been lost in the story and what that means in the story. In “Speech Sounds” by Olivia Butler talks about how the community/connection is lost when there is a loss of language.

“A preeminent figure in twentieth-century American literature, Faulkner created a profound and complex body of work in which he often explored exploitation and corruption in the American South.” William Faulkner’s writing most commonly set in Yoknapatawpha County, a fictional area based on his homeland of Mississippi. Explore the history of the South while making thorough observations of Human Character. The purpose of Faulkner’s writing style is to demonstrate a heart in conflict with itself. He did this using a plethora of narrative viewpoints to enrich the struggle. (Galenet, Introduction)