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

the Cultural Revolution. It was a socially and politically chaotic period for America. In Toni Cade Bambara’s short story, “The Lesson”, she exposes the injustices and inequalities imposed on African Americans of that time. “…she’s boring us silly about what things cost and what our parents make… and how money ain’t divided up right in this country. And then… about we all poor and live in the slums” (Bambara 137). During the time in which Bambara’s story was written, black children weren’t…

"The Lesson" by Toni Cade Bambara is a short story set in the inner part of New York City that gives the reader an opportunity to briefly see into the lives of children living devoid of wealth and education. It takes place in the early seventies, following the civil rights movement and during a time when the imbalance of wealth in terms of race was immense. Bamabara, through the use of narrative point of tone, symbols, setting and characterization, brings out and develops what I believe to be the…

Symbolism and Themes in The Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara Toni Cade Bambara wrote the short story, The Lesson, in 1972. The Lesson is considered by the Literary Canon to be a wonderful work of fiction because of its use of language, humanistic theme, symbolism, and non-genre plot. Two essential elements that add to the depth and enhance a reader?s comprehension of The Lesson are Bambara?s use of symbolism and theme. The Lesson takes place in New York?s inner city. The fictional story begins…

The Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara 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…

the hardest because the kids just want to play, goof around and don’t listen. Elementary teachers have hard time teaching young uneducated students just like Miss Moore with her uneducated children from the neighborhood, in the story “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara. Miss Moore teaches the students how to take the first step toward a better education just like elementary teachers, her teaching method were to show how the upper class lived in comparison to the children but she could have though them…

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…

Caroline Bergsagel Professor Reichardt English 1101/1102-681 14th April, 2015 In the story “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara, the author uses symbolism, irony, setting, and black vernacular diction to show the children -the “other side of the street”- and the economic disparity and inequality they face. When a well educated teacher takes the the children on an allegedly fun and frivolous field trip to a toy store, it is there she shows the children the disparity they face in their neighborhood. By…

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…

to write about the story “Shiloh” by Bobbie Ann Mason, “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara and Dream Deferred by Langston Hughes. I chose these works because all of them are about values, morals, beliefs and custom culture. The story “Shiloh” is about a community / couple who discover that they had different values, morals and beliefs; “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara is about a teacher who tries to facilitate the youth in her community and Dream Deferred by Langston Hughes questions one’s values…

The Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara The Lesson, by Toni Cade Bambara, portrays a group of children living in the slums of New York City around 1972. They seem to be content living in poverty in some very unsanitary conditions. One character, Miss Moore, the children’s self appointed mentor, takes it upon herself to further their education during the summer months. She feels this is her civic duty because she is educated. She used F.A.O. Schwarz, a very expensive toystore, to teach them a lesson…