Short Story The Lesson

"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 two main themes of the story: materialism and social inequality.

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 and inspire them to strive for success and attempt to better themselves and their situations.

“The Lesson” really shows how Miss Moore thinks compared to how the kids think. Miss Moore is trying to teach the children long term goals in life and what they can do to make their lives better. She is trying to show what the upper class of the world has, to try to bring them to make a better decision with their lives and break the chain of poverty they are living in. She is trying to make them think of

In the short story “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara, I believe Miss Moore, a well-educated black woman, who wants the children in her neighborhood to be exposed to the more cultural aspects of life. I think, however, all these black children have hopes and desires just like other kids their age. Just because these kids live in poverty doesn’t mean that they are stupid or lack the desire to become something more in life. However, my thoughts are that Miss Moore wants to show the students so that they can make changes in their future, by seeing how important education is and what their lives could be like instead of living in poverty. Miss Moore has the students use math skills in figuring tips, the cost of cab fares the prices of the toys,

The Lesson takes place in New York?s inner city. The fictional story begins with a group of poor, uneducated, lower class city kids standing in front of a mailbox, preparing themselves for another day of being taught by Mrs. Moore. Mrs. Moore felt that it was her duty to help underprivileged children learn because she

“The Lesson” Tony Cade Bambara Understanding the lives and experiences of the characters presented in the short story "The Lesson" by Toni Cade Bambara readers should acknowledge the significance of privilege and setting. The plot focuses on Sylvia, a child who comes from a low-income family. Sylvia and Miss Moore speak about the reality of economic inequality and of course the impact it has on how privilege comes about. Privilege and environment play a role in how many opportunities an individual might have as well as having an impact on actions, thoughts and attitudes. Miss Moore, who is knowledgeable and aware of inequality in society, represents privilege.

Toni Cade Bambara’s short story The Lesson told in first person by a character named Sylvia. Sylvia is a poor student who resides in the ghetto of New York with her friends and family. The story begins in the summertime in New York, where the children are out of school, playing and having fun; but when a new neighbor Miss Moore move in, things change. Miss Moore is an educated African American woman, who embarks on an educational journey with the children. She realizes that the children lack experience and knowledge of a world outside of poverty, so she takes them on a trip outside their

"The Lesson" by Toni Cade Bambara is not just a spirited story about a poor girl out of place in an expensive toy store, it is a social commentary. "The Lesson" is a story about one African-American girl's struggle with her growing awareness of class inequality. The character Miss Moore introduces the facts of social inequality to a distracted group of city kids, of whom Sylvia, the main character, is the most cynical. Flyboy, Fat Butt, Junebug, Sugar, Rosie, Sylvia and the rest think of Miss Moore as an unsolicited educator, and Sylvia would rather be doing anything else than listening to her. The conflict between Sylvia and Miss Moore, "This

“The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara, is a short story with many different character traits. Miss Moore is a person in the short story who has many different traits. Miss Moore teaches the kids the value of a dollar in a unique way. Miss More shows that she is caring, presentable (confident about her looks), and well educated teacher, who is trying to better the lives of the kids, through out the story. Miss Moore shows off her traits in many ways.

Point of view is an essential element to a reader's comprehension of a story. The point of view shows how the narrator thinks, speaks, and feels about any particular situation. In Toni Cade Bambara's "The Lesson," the events are told through the eyes of a young, mischievous girl named Sylvia who lives in a lower class neighborhood. The reader gets a limited point of view of view because the events are told strictly by Sylvia. This fact can influence the reader to see things just as she does. The strong language gives an unfamiliar reader an illustration of how people in the city speak. Bambara does this to show the reader that kids from lower class neighborhoods are affected by their environment due to lack of education and discipline,

The predominant theme in “The Lesson” composed by Toni Cade Bambara is creating an understanding to adolescents of all the opportunities life has to offer; a lesson on social class and having a choice which society you choose to live in. Miss. Moore who takes on the responsibility to educate the young ones has intentions of more than just taking the children to the store for amusement. Miss Moore 's informal lessons are aimed at educating the neighborhood children

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

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

"No matter who tries to teach you lessons about life, you won't understand it until you go through it on your own." Lessons are an important part of everyday life. They help people learn through tough times or teach them how to avoid terrible situations. Lessons can be passed down from adults to their children, or other important people in their lives. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Scout understands not everyone is fortunate, there is more than meets the eye, and that you can not trust rumors.

“The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara is not just about a sassy, defiant, ungrateful poor girl that is out of place in an overpriced expensive toy store. “The Lesson” is a short story about a young black girl who is struggling with her increasing awareness of class inequality. When Sylvia’s new neighbor, Miss. Moore, a smart college educated woman introduces the reality of social inequality to Sylvia and her group of friends, they become cynical. Sylvia has always known in the back of her mind that she was poor, but never really let it bother her until she sees her disadvantages in glaring contrast with the luxuries of the wealthy.