Summary Of The Lesson By Toni Cade Bambara

We realize that Mrs. Moore is trying to open their eyes to the world around them, when she takes them on a trip around the expensive shopping complexes of the city. As Mrs. Moore takes them through these areas, we get the distinct impression that Sylvia gets angry. She discovers a fiber glass boat that is worth a thousand dollars. Sugar touches the boat, at which she gets jealous. She does not realize at first the reason for her anger, and almost directs it at her cousin, Sugar. Yet she stops herself and realizes that she is not angry with Sugar, rather that something else is wrong.

The economic issues in American society have major effect on young on young children basic needs. Young children do not understand the economic issues their families facing in today’s society. In the short story “The Lesson” the author addresses the reader regarding social and economic inequality in America. In America lower family are suffering the most because of their monthly income and cannot afford things their children’s wants. Therefore, lower family cannot afford the expensive materials for their children because they have to think about their daily life styles. Also these lower families had difficult times affording clothing, food, house rents and other essentials. According to the article, “Children are especially vulnerable economically

Toys play quite an important role in children’s lives, along with their socialization. Kids spend a vast amount of time playing with toys, alone and with their peers or parents. In todays age when it comes time to buying gifts for children everything is color coded. There are many boundaries that separate

When Ms. Moore, Sylvia and the group of kids were in toy store the kids perspective about social class changes, the prices of toys were so expensive it makes the kids to begin to think about life as evident said by Sylvia  “...we start down  the block and she gets ahead which is O.K.by me cause I’m

Some might have seen her as being a pest or an interruption to the other employees, while others

(It is to be noted that some families did not have the money to buy their children toys, and some children may have not had any.)

Once inside the store, Sylvia can no longer ignore the blinding imparity between the rich and the poor. Her discovery of an overly priced toy clown prompts her to consider what could be bought for its price: "Thirty-five dollars could buy new bunk beds for Junior and Gretchen’s boy. Thirty-five dollars and the whole household could go visit Granddaddy Nelson in the country. Thirty-five dollars would pay for the rent and the piano bill too" (605). Sylvia is forced to finally address the socioeconomic inequality that works against her while simultaneously conferring certain luxuries on the rich: "Who are these people that spend that much for performing clowns and $1000 for toy sailboats? What kinda work they do and how they live and how come we ain’t in on it?" (605).

The theme in "The Lesson" by Toni Cade Bambara appears to be a lesson on

Toni Cade Bambara's The Lesson is a very well written piece of history. This is a story from yesterday, when Harlem children didn't have good education or the money to spring for it. Bambara's tale tells about a little girl who doesn't really know how to take it when a good teacher finally does come along. This girl's whole life is within the poverty stricken area and she doesn't see why she must try hard. The teacher, Miss Moore, shows them what it is all about by taking them to a rich toy store, one in which a single toy costs more than year's supply of food.

Ralphie wants his BB gun so bad that he even goes as far as being deceptive towards his brother by telling him he wants a Sandy Andy toy instead of the BB gun (Shepard 479). Ralphie knows that if he tells his little brother he wants a Sandy Andy, his brother will not copy his desire for the BB gun and his chances for getting his BB gun will increase. His mother tells him that he will “shoot one of [his] eyes out” throughout the short story, but Ralphie continues to find different ways to hint that the toy is perfect for him so he can still get his beloved BB gun for Christmas (480). Ralphie’s consistent banter for the BB gun is a prime example of how the toy industry’s marketing is successful. Marwick explains that “advertising aimed at kids deliberately undermines the parent-child relationship, by encouraging children to nag their parents for what they want” (2). Children are taught to continue to ask for the toys they want and they will get them in time just as Ralphie gets his glorious BB gun for Christmas. Children can easy fall into the marketing strategies of toy

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.

The kids that go in the trip in “The lesson” learn this when they go into the toy store. “ Imagine for a minute what kind of society is in which some people can spend on a toy what it would cost to feed a family” (Bambara 101). A simple item like a toy would have a different value for somebody who does not have enough money to afford basic needs such as food. On “ Commencement speech, Kenyon College” the author mentions a similar point of view. He says how everybody is living their own story, and how situation will be different for everybody. “ In this traffic, all these vehicles stuck and idling in my way: it’s not impossible that some of these people in SUVs have been in horrible auto accidents” (Wallace 318). Both authors mention that people will have experienced different things in their lives that will make an everyday situation such as buying a toy or being cut off in traffic really different from every person’s

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

Janice was confronted with problems where she had to make choices on how solve them. The first one concerned Mrs. Wemberly, s/p colon resection who was requesting for attention. Instead of sending Nurse Mark to see the patient, she decided to check on her which actually led to a better outcome after her talk with the patient. This particular instance showed that Janice prioritized and valued her patient first over the schedule meeting with the VP. If Janice didn’t

The story takes place in the year 632 After Ford, the era that is being used in the book. The era began on the moment that the first Ford Model T was built. In the first chapter the Director of the London Centre for Culture and Conditioning is giving the freshmen a tour around the centre and explains how people are being produced. This is done by removing an egg from a female and fertilizing them in a test tube. By adding certain substances, it is possible to determine to which class the person will belong. This may differ from alpha (smart) to epsilon (stupid). Another element in the process is the conditioning of the children at a young age. They get to hear bands during their sleep which confirms that their class is the best and that their