The Lesson Essay

The Lesson I Learned My Lesson
Here is a time where I've learned my lesson. I was like a mini Dora the Explorer except, I was a brat.
I was so picky, such a princess, I got myself in trouble every day, I'd make everyone so stressed
out. I was your worst nightmare disguised as Dora the Explorer. I usually would like things my
way, and my way only. I felt if I was the who was always right and I was the smartmouth. I was the
definition of a brat. So, let me give background on how annoying I was. Sometimes I'd bark. I had
this habit of barking under furniture. For example, let's take a dining table, a fort, chairs, and
even in cabinets. It was a very odd habit but it was how I got attention and showed my anger. I
would bark as loud as my voice can roar. And every single time I did, was every single time I got
hung upside down and swung. My brother was in charge of teaching me lessons, and lessons I
didn't want to receive. Since I did actions he didn't want me to do and that I didn't like, he did the
same. And he would do this everyday because I would constantly irritate him. It seemed as if I
could never care anymore, because I actually had no idea why he would teach me lessons. Like I
said, I felt if I was always right and things had to go my way. If they didn't I'd throw temper
tantrums. It was bad. I would throw things. I would hurt myself, try to hurt the opposing person
who disagreed with my way. I use to barely eat, it was unhealthy. I usually ate an orange and a bag
of chips a day. I was force fed
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The Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara Essay
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...show more content...
Also, the people who have influence on color people, that they are not qualify for higher
education and good salary. As Martin Luther King Jr. said "Make a career of humanity. Commit
yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights. You will make a better person of yourself, a greater
nation of your country, and a finer world to live in" ( ). Sylvia struggle in the communities makes
her to be better person with the understand classism and the race. Also, makes her to fight for what
she deserve. Also, to have high income and equal right she have to have higher education. Then she
might will be able to change the view of classism and race in the communities. 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

Toni Cade Bambara The Lesson Essay
The Theme in The Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara
The theme in "The Lesson" by Toni Cade Bambara appears to be a lesson on
Social Class and having a choice which society you choose to live in. Miss. Moore who
takes on this responsibility to educate the young ones has more then a lesson to teach, but
a challenging group of city kids to come by. Sylvia and Sugar which seems to be the
leader of the group of neighborhood kids gives Miss. Moore that challenge and not give
her the satisfaction. Sylvia's stubborn and stern attitude is sear towards Miss. Moore
perhaps Sylvia got a bad impression of Miss. Moore from all that was said about her by
the grown–ups.
The narrator speaks as a second person and to me...show more content...
Moore is trying to come across. I feel that
Miss. Moore kept an eye on Sylvia the most then Sugar, Junebug, Flyboy, Rosie and
Mercede because Miss. Moore wants to get the message through to Sylvia, plus Sylvia is
the one who influences Sugar and the other kids.
When they arrived on Fifth Avenue that was when Sylvia and Sugar realize that
the society they are surrounded by is nothing like the one they live in. To me Sylvia
might have been kind of intimidated by her surroundings on Fifth Avenue that's why she
hesitated to go into F.A.O Schwarz. "So me and Sugar turn the corner where the entrance
is, but when we got there I kinda hung back" that was the line that gave me the
impression. Sylvia ,Sugar and the rest of the kids gets a taste of society on Fifth Avenue,
but it was miss. Moore who gives them the chance to experience it for themselves.

Society is often perceived as a rich and fashionable social class depending on how
you want to put it, but to the characters in the story of "The Lesson" They are naive, they
are experiencing something that is totally new and it would be understandable if they
didn't get Miss. Moore whole point of bring them to Fifth Avenue. It was obvious that
Sugar and Mercede didn't get the point they only know that white people are crazy
because of the prices they pay for a toy and fur coats. They

Literary Analysis 'The Lesson'
Celia Kane
3/09/2012
Eng 120
Section B01 Spring 2012
Literary Analysis Essay 2
"The Lesson": Significance of Miss Moore Taking the Children to New Environments
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
about how their lives differ from those of rich white children, nonetheless Miss Moore wants the
...show more content...
She used F.A.O. Schwarz, a very expensive toy store, to teach them a lesson and inspire them to
strive for success and attempt to better themselves and their situations. The extreme differences
between the children 's neighborhood and the neighborhood of the toy store are first illustrated by
the fact that the white people on Fifth Avenue wear furs and stockings even on a hot summer 's
day. "Then we check out that we on Fifth Avenue and everybody dressed up in stockings. One lady
in a fur coat, hot as it is"(Bambara 99). The children are thrown off balance in this neighborhood, as
if it were a foreign country where even the approach to temperature is different. To Miss Moore,
education is the key to more money and improved social conditions.
To Sylvia, being educated means seeing things as they are. Sylvia and Miss Moore both have a
considerable amount of pride. Sylvia thinks Miss Moore shows disrespect when she describes their
neighborhood as a slum and their families as poor. Bambara has indicated that Sylvia 's family is
striving for better conditions through the mention of the piano rental. Miss Moore views the
children 's acceptance of their economic condition as ignorance and their ignorance as disrespect for
their race. Miss Moore wants to change this attitude and encourages the children to demand more
from the society that keeps them down. By the end of the story, both of these characters have made
their points. Sylvia realizes

In regard to the topic of privilege, the short story The Lesson by Toni Bambara stresses that
education is a means to overcome poverty. This thematic statement is furthered constantly in the
text by literary elements such as setting, characterization and point of view. First, is the
characterization of Miss Moore. Throughout the story, Miss Moore demonstrates an interesting
comparison to the children. In many ways, she provides a contrast to them, which is shown
immediately in her introduction, "...this lady moved on our block with nappy hair, and proper
speech, and no makeup. And quite naturally, we laughed at her... Miss Moore was her name. The
only woman on the block with no first name". Furthermore, Miss Moore's obvious dedication and
value for education is somewhat unaligned with the children's own views about education.
Nonetheless, she aims to use the children's disadvantaged lives in order to prove to them the value
of education, which remains a central theme throughout the story. However, she is able to
accomplish this because of a few key commonalities between herself and the children. They do,
after all live in the same neighborhood, and, more poignantly, both face challenges associated with
being black in America. This point brings us to the next major literary element of the story:
setting. Published in 1972, it can be inferred that The Lesson takes place in this same era. The
1970's provided a key area of public and societal reform after the American Civil

The Lesson Character Analysis
In the story "The Lesson" by Toni Cade Bambara, the characters Sylvia, Sugar, and Mercedes are
different in their personalities, behavior, and the way they decide to handle the lesson taught by
Mrs. Moore, but alike by all living in poverty and having a positive elder as Mrs. Moore, to teach
them the lesson. Each of the characters have their own personalities but Sylvia's was worse than
Sugar and Mercedes. Sylvia was very smart, controlling, and disrespectful. Sylvia grew up faster
than most kids. She knew a lot at her age and seen herself as a grown up, compared to Mercedes
and Sugar. Sylvia liked to be in control of everyone and everything she was around, to include
sugar. Sylvia was jealous of Mercedes because she was more fortunate than...show more content...
Sylvia represents the modern society girl in poverty who is before their age and tends to make
grown up decisions in life because of lack of parent care. Gils like Sylvia in society also bully on
others and manipulate them, she's more of a ring leader, unlike Sugar. Sugar represents the
young girl in society who have no siblings and depends on kids like Sylvia to pave the way and
make decisions for them, so they want always be lonely in life and have a sister figure. As
mentioned in the story, Sylvia and sugar was both forced by their parents to go with Mrs. Moore
but sugar didn't complain and have a negative attitude as much as Sylvia did, which could have
also affected Sylvia's behavior. Mercedes represents a kid in modern society who is school smart
and talented. When kids like Mercedes show their talent they get bullied and picked on by kids like
Sylvia and sugar, as mentioned in the

The Lesson Essay
Social classes divide the people of a nation or country and have existed probably for as long as
human history itself. In the past, they have designated people to certain categories that determined
the opportunities and privileges that they could receive. In the past, the social class a person
belonged to was determined by which one he or she was born into, and this label generally stuck to
someone for life. In more recent history, broadened opportunity has opened up an escape for those
stuck in the lower classes. The social class a person is born into has become merely a starting point
in life, and where somebody ends up is decided by his or her determination. Through its plot,
characters, and use of certain symbols, Tony Cade...show more content...
This realization excites Miss Moore because she always tells the children that where they are is
who they are, but it does not have to be that way. Sylvia shows that she has learned that she can
break away from her social class when she says that nobody will beat her at anything. Bambara
also uses the character of Sylvia to develop the theme in "The Lesson." Throughout the story,
Sylvia boasts a rebellious and disrespectful attitude. As narrator, she says the story is set "back in
the days when everyone was old and stupid or young and foolish and me and Sugar were just
right..." (60). Sylvia's thoughts and actions display the feeling that she is better than everyone else,
such as laughing at Miss Moore's appearance, terrorizing the West Indian kids, and taking their hair
ribbons and money (60–61). She always wants to escape Miss Moore's lessons; she feels that it is
not fair for her to be stuck being bored with Miss Moore on a day that should be spent swimming
(61). The trip to F.A.O. Schwarz furthers Sylvia's anger towards Miss Moore because she is
exposed people who possess more than she. This experience makes Sylvia realize that she is not
above all people and ignites a desire to get ahead in life, which is expressed by the narrator's closing
thoughts, "But ain't nobody gonna

Reflection Paper On The Lesson
Reflection (Day 1)
The lesson was taught as planned. Initially students struggled to explain their thinking; however,
with more practice and substantial support, they began to get the idea, and were eager to explain the
different ways they represented a given number. Students learned the objectives, and the standards
well enough. Here are few examples of how students represented their thinking of the number five:
This lesson worked well for most students because students had the ability to explain their thinking
to some extent. However, language learners struggled to clearly articulate their strategies because of
language barriers. Also, students had diverse abilities; hence, some struggled to identify the number
itself, let alone,...show more content...
For my next lesson, I will continue to inquire, and question students' thinking of number sense. I will
also encourage students to use academic vocabulary when explaining their methods of representing a
number.
Reflection (Day 2)
The lesson was taught as planned because I employed gradual release strategies to help students
think of numbers in a different way. I demonstrated how I can represent a number using different
strategies. Likewise, students used their number sense to attempt to decompose the numbers. Most
of the students came up with at least two ways to think of a number.
Students grasped the concept well. Most of the students were able to grab cubes from the "grab
bag", tell me how many cubes they had, then show me a different way they can think of that number,
and finally label that number on a number board.
Student 1–1 correspondenceIdentify how many cubes grabbed as a wholeRepresent/decompose the
whole number using a strategy
1пѓјпѓјпѓј
2пѓјпѓј
3пѓјпѓј
4пѓјпѓјпѓј
5пѓјпѓј
6пѓјпѓјпѓј
7пѓјпѓјпѓј
8пѓјпѓјпѓј
9пѓјпѓјпѓј
10пѓјпѓјпѓј
Because this lesson was a buildup of the previous day, most students seemed to understand the
concept. However, the language learners, and students who usually struggle with identify basic
numbers struggled the most. They needed substantial support to understand, and use conceptual
learning to make meaning of numbers, and the various ways we can represents them. This lesson

Short Story The Lesson
The short story "The Lesson" by Toni Cade Bambara was written in 1972. "The Lesson" was a
first–person point of view story, it was told by a young girl named, Sylvia. This story tells about
the shopping trip that the teacher of the class, Miss Moore, took the children. The main ideas of
this story are the economic life style, social inequality, and lack of equal education for the African
Americans. Miss Moore tries to teach the kids there is a better life in a small trip to the toy store.
Sylvia gets angry with Miss Moore taking them to the toy store, not understanding why she would
take them. The way Toni Bambara wrote "The Lesson" in first–person narration gives the story
realism. The story "The Lesson" is told by a little girl named Sylvia, and it is about her class and
Miss Moore going to a toy store. Before they leave, Miss Moore tells them how money is not
being fairly handed out in the country and tells them where they are living is called the slums
and that they are poor. They all get in two separate cabs; Sylvia and a couple of friends are in one,
Miss Moore and the rest of the class are in the other cab. When they got out they realized they are
on Fifth Avenue, as Sylvia explains "Then we check out that we on Fifth Avenue and everybody
dressed up in stockings. One lady in a fur coat, hot as it is. White folks crazy" (Bambara, 1972).
Miss Moore directs them to big windows of a building and they see all these nice things in windows
saying how much they really want

Lesson Learned Essay
Lesson Learned
There are so many events that change one's life that it is rather difficult to try and decipher which
of those events are most important. Each event changes a different aspect of your life, molding
how one's personality turns out. One of these events occurred when I was about twelve years old
and I attempted to steal from a Six Flags amusement park. My reasoning for stealing wasn't that I
didn't have the money, or even that I wanted what I stole all that badly, it was that all of my friends
had stolen something earlier that day and didn't get caught. After getting caught I resolved, because
the consequences are just not worth it, never to steal or give into peer pressure again.
It all began when a couple of friends...show more content...
Then out of nowhere, the ride releases and starts roaring around the track. As always the ride ended
far too soon and we set off for the next ride, "Twister Two."
On the way to "Twister Two" one of my friends suddenly had a candy bar in his possession. When
he was asked how he got it, he simply replied, "I stole it." It was so amazing to me that he could
do that, and act as if it was no big deal. To me stealing would be a thing that needed to be planned
and executed, but to him it was just another place that he ripped off. He explained that it is easy
to do, "you just grab what you want, wait 'til no one's looking, and then walk out." This is when I
first began pondering the idea of stealing. I had never stole before because I knew it was against
my morals, but there was that rebel in me that wanted to try it. He, on the other hand, had probably
stolen so many times that he could do it with his eyes closed, and he had never been caught. Lucky
him.
While in line for the next ride, I began debating whether or not I should try to steal something
before the end of the day. That thought was immediately shook of by the rattle of the roller
coaster that we were standing under. It always looked so unstable, with the entire thing made of
wood instead of metal, and the whole track would wobble and click when the cart flew by. That
was another ride that we would always need to get to early because the line would grow to

Summary of The Lesson Essay
Summary of The Lesson
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,...show more content...
Before going into the store, Miss. Moore tells the kids that they should first just look in the
window before going in. Sugar, one of the kids, asks if they can steal as if it were really an
option. Peering thru the window the kids began to see the cultural difference in where they were
from and the kids who must shop here. There was no way they could ever afford any of this stuff,
and they knew they did not belong. Miss. Moore was explaining what things were, how they
worked, and how much they are in comparison to things like allowances. Some of the things the
kids see, they see useless and it has to be explained why anyone would need such a thing, such as
the paperweight. Then the kids saw it, the sail boat that the kids saw in the window that was way
too expensive for any of them to ever own, one kid even recollected getting spanked for sinking a
boat that cost one dollar and this sail boat cost one thousand one hundred ninety–five dollars. The
kids were truly amazed by this. Sylvia was so confused that she thought that a real yacht would cost
about one thousand dollars. Miss. Moore decided it was then time for the kids to go into the store.
These strong willed kids who at the beginning of the story thought they were so sly, suddenly felt
awkward and afraid to go into the store. They felt that they did not belong. The kids walked gently,
hardly touching anything. Sylvia was upset that Miss. Moore

Essay About A Lesson
The report analyses concepts taught in two lessons and links them to proficiency strands, contents
descriptions, elaborations, general capabilities and cross–curriculum priorities outlined in the
Australian Curriculum. Furthermore, the report explores three best teaching practices commonly
used in the classroom and examines the benefits to students learning. Finally, a detailed lesson
outline will be created.
The first lesson ('Christie') observes Christie Kawalsky at Saint Albans East Primary School teaching
fractions to a Year 3/4 class (Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership [AITSL]
(Producer), n.d.–a). Christie demonstrates how teachers use concrete resources during explicit
numeracy lessons. Christie demonstrates...show more content...
Most importantly, Christie meets Curriculum standard 1.3 as she selects and uses resources and
strategies appropriate to the strength and needs of her diverse students.
The second lesson, ('Kelly') shows Kelly Rhinehart exploring addition and multiplication with a Year
5 class at Humpty Doo Primary (AITSL, n.d.–b). Kelly focuses on students learning mental
computation skills and developing automaticity through the use of open–ended eliciting. Kelly uses
eliciting to encourage students to investigate different strategies to solve math problems and explain
the process they used to find solutions, which not only empowers students to take control over their
learning and engage them in the learning activities but also reflects proficiency strand reasoning.
Furthermore, Kelly teaches students to recognise and use patterns and relationships when
developing strategies, which reflect the general numeracy capabilities (ACARA, n.d.–c). Kelly starts
the lesson with a warm–up activity of playing a dice game to learn nines timetable, which reflects
content description and elaborations of ACMNA098, as students learn to identify, describe and solve
multiples using number sequences (ACARA, n.d.–c,

The Lesson Essay
Social classes are a dividing system for people of a nation or country, and have existed for as long
as history can date back. In the past, it has designated people to certain categories that determined
the opportunities and privileges that they could receive. In the past, the social class a person
belonged to was determined by which one he or she was born into, and this label generally stuck to
someone for life. In more recent history, broadened opportunity has opened up an escape for those
stuck in the lower classes. The social class a person is born into has become a starting point in life,
and where somebody ends up is decided by his or her determination. In Toni Cade Bambara's "The
Lesson," the theme is about learning that a...show more content...
This realization excites Miss Moore because she always tells the children that where they are is
who they are, but it does not have to be like that. Sylvia shows that she has learned that she can
break away from her social class when she says that nobody will beat her at anything. Bambara
also uses the character of Sylvia, to develop the theme in "The Lesson." Throughout the story,
Sylvia boasts a rebellious and disrespectful attitude. As narrator, she describes the setting of the
story to be "back in the days when everyone was old and stupid or young and foolish and me and
Sugar were just right..." (60). Much of what Sylvia thinks or does displays the feeling that she is
better than everyone else, such as laughing at Miss Moore's appearance, terrorizing the West Indian
kids, and taking their hair ribbons and money (60–61). She always wants to escape Miss Moore's
lessons; she feels that it is not fair for her to be stuck being bored with Miss Moore on a day that
should be spent swimming (61). The trip to F.A.O. Schwarz furthers Sylvia anger towards Miss
Moore because she is exposed people who possess more than her. This experience makes Sylvia
realize that she is not above all people and creates a desire to get ahead in life, which is expressed
by the narrator's closing thoughts, "But ain't

Reflective Essay On Learning A Lesson
Learning a Lesson (*TRY TO GET TO 3 PAGES*)
Before third grade, I had always viewed the concept of education abstractly: as a thing people do to
get a job and earn money. Because of this, I didn't fully understand the importance of education, even
though my parents would always tell me that it's necessary to live. To me, education did not yet have
a defined value. I only thought of it as something that most people have. This completely changed
once I could comprehend the power of it in real–world contexts. My understanding of education
expanded from the idea of self–sufficiency to the opportunities to shape a person's life in their own
image.
My mom was the first person to explain to me why people go to school. She said, "school provides
the knowledge needed for a job, and that job provides money." I had stuck with that explanation
for years until I felt that it wasn't as complete as it could have been. Going to school didn't seem
as purposeful as it used to, and the value I held school as was shrinking. After a couple weeks of
increasing disfavor of school, I finally asked my dad for his input on why people go to school. He
told me that education allows people to not only support themselves, but also do good things for
others. With this statement, I felt a new hope for my schooling years and resumed my original
viewpoint on receiving education.
For the rest of the day, I thought about the impact education had on the lives of people working
influential jobs, and the

' The Last Lesson, By Alphonse Daudet
In the short story written by Alphonse Daudet, "The Last Lesson" starts off with a young boy
with the name of Franz in which he is contemplating wither he should do the right thing and go to
school, or skip school and go spend the day out in the woods with the birds and animals. Franz
frantically decided to go to school, even though he was already late. As Franz hustled to school,
he had no clue that it was going to be the last time he would be going to school before everything
changed. Franz, along with the people of the town were notified that it would be the last day that
the school that this town revolved and grew up around, would no longer be the same. As the
towns people realized that their school that they grew up in and the only school their kids have
ever attended was being taken over by Berlin, and the German language. Most of the one's that
felt like they should show respect for which they did not show to the school when they were
younger, came and sat in the last French class that would ever be held inside of the school. The
amount of respect the town had for the school and for the teacher, Mr. M. Hamel, showed how
much the small things that someone might not like at the moment, might later realize was the
biggest impact on their life's. When the French and Prussia War first began, The Prussians were not
going after the life style of the people in which they grew up in and wanted to affect the lives of the
people of the small towns. Actually, the war began

The Lesson Analysis
The Power to change our life through Knowledge Knowledge is power, but knowledge does not
always come with power. Knowledge is the facts, a state of awareness or skills gained by a person
through experience or education. However, power has the ability or potential to do something
successfully and effectively. Withoutknowledge, you are not capable to perform your tasks
effectively and successfully. Education is important for us to gain knowledge. A person that is
knowledgeable leads to successful life. Toni Cade Bambara, the writer of "The Lesson," wrote this
story to expose the problem of social inequality and the lack of education for black children. She
also convinces us in her short story that the value of education (knowledge) and...show more
content...
Sylvia and her cousin Sugar lived in a very poor environment, dirty and, the communities have lack
of education. Sylvia doesn't like Miss Moore because she sees her as different. Miss Moore is too
unique in their community. She is well– educated and obviously can tell she is from the higher
socioeconomic status than the others in the neighborhood. Because of her well–educated
background, the parents in the neighborhood trust her indeed and she takes the responsibilities for
the children's education in the neighborhood. One day, Miss Moore plans a trip to bring the
children to visit F.A.O. Schwarz a very expensive toy store in Manhattan. It displays toys that cost
more than the entire incomes of the families of the children. Miss Moore intended to show the
children another aspect of life between Manhattan and where the children lived; to let them face
the reality of their life and, the most important is to inspire them to look forward to their future.
She also hopes the children can understand that, seeking knowledge as the power to change their
own life now. The character of Miss Moore best symbolizes knowledge because the children learn
a "lesson" about their lives. Her name "Moore" also rhymes with "more", not only because she can
gives more to those kids then most peoples. But she also wishes the children can have more and
want more in their

The Lesson Essay
The title of the story was provocative because I was interested to find out what lesson the writer
would try to convey. After reading the first paragraph I was sure that the message would have to be
a learning experience or rather one dealing with the impartialities of the upper and lower class. There
were different elements in the plot that also made the story very intriguing. A major one was that
narrator of the story was a young ghetto African–American girl. Sylvia's out take on life and her
eagerness to be in control at such a young age shifted my attention more towards what she saw and
experience rather than the situation her and her friends were facing. The story was set sometime
before the 1970's. And the neighborhood kids were...show more content...
Once the transition between the suburbs and the city was complete via taxi ride the story began
to shape itself into the life lesson that was intended. The children seemed to be acting like fish out
of water. This transition also seemed to be too much to handle for some of the kids as they
started to compare what they were seeing in the upscale toy store to what they had in their own
homes. As the mood kept changing the one constant in the story seemed to be Sylvia, the narrator
that kept us in touch with the her reality. The plot of the story was very fresh and unlike any type
of initiation story that I had read before. Besides being a learing tool for these young kids the
writer also used this as a way of expressing the disgust with what our economy and structure has
become. Towards the end of the story one of the kids lashed out with a phrase that set the writers
point into perspective, "Equal opportunity means and equal crack at the dough, don't it?"
I think this made the final black moment black enough to get the message across but not black
enough to distance ourselves from the characters and backgrounds.
This writer also uses many symbols to create a journey that the reader can flow easily through
while still receiving the entire moral of the story. Some of the symbols were the rallypoints where
the group met and left from. A mailbox was used for this to show how unconnected these people
were from the big city and to kind of make us

The Lesson By Toni Cade Bambara Summary
Toni Cade Bambara has quite a unique style of writing. She does not have the typical "proper"
style as other authors do, which shows drastically in her short story "The Lesson." Bambara was
born in New York and grew up in Harlem which explains her high influence of writing about African
American lifestyles. In "The Lesson" she writes about a poverty stricken African family who meet a
rich woman that moves into their neighborhood to teach the children. Bambara's unique voice comes
to life in this short story when she uses informal words and phrases, has a relaxed and informal tone,
and incorporates irony into her story. Using all of these components make for an outstanding story
and makes it more realistic and somewhat more relatable. Unlike many authors, Bambara gets into
the...show more content...
For example the main character says, "And she was black as hell, cept for her feet...and she was
planning these boring–ass things for us to do..." (Bambara 2000). Many readers who grew up in
"isolated" communities may think of these words as offensive or inappropriate, however, to the rest
of the world these are common words and enhance the story at large. The use of curse words such as
ass, bitch, hell, shit, and goddamn open the eyes of the reader to see life in the slums. These are
mere children, yet cursing is common for them because of the lifestyle they live. In the slums the
language they use is not always the most formal. They use many forms of slang and do not talk as
the "Rich white people do". Bambara makes this story much more believable and relatable when
she writes in the same language that residence from the slums speak. Informal language that is used
by the children are "Puredee" (2001), instead of pretty "so we headin down the street" (2001) which
is improper English, "Specially" insteadof

Point Of View: The Lesson Essays
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,...show more content...
Sylvia hated her "nappy hair and proper speech". She despised the way her parents kissed her ass.
But most of all, she hated that Miss Moore had a college education, something her parents did not
have. That "nappy–head bitch" had seen parts of the world that Sylvia had not, she had experienced
things in life that Sylvia may never see. This is part of the reason Sylvia hated her so much. But
Sylvia also did not like Miss Moore because she opened her eyes to the reality that her life is not
as perfect as she thought. She thought that life was perfect the way it was, a care free life with no
education. She continues to say that she would rather have fun than listen to her. Then, Miss
Moore takes the kids on a certain "fieldtrip" to the toy store. Miss Moore prepares to teach the
difference of how people spend money. Sylvia feels insulted and thinks that Miss Moore thinks
they are stupid when she asked what money was. Miss Moore asked if they knew how much to tip
a cab driver. Sylvia wanted to keep the money and save it to eat barbeque. Stealing seems to be
common within the group. When they go into the toy store, Sugar seriously asked, "Can we
steal?" (358) Ms Moore quickly refused and walked them around the toy store. The kids ss Miss
Moore takes the kids around the toy store to see the toys. The kids were shocked when they saw the
prices of the toys.

The Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara Essay
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 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...show more content...
At times, she asks them to question the way of things, and realize that they are not receiving
enough of the prosperity that they deserve to have. We see that as society struggles against new
ideas, so did the children. They did not readily take to Mr. Moore's indoctrination. In the text the
author says that "And then she gets to the part about we all poor and live in the slums, which I
don't feature. And I'm ready to speak on that , but she steps out in the street and hails two cabs
just like that." 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. We see the first signs of comprehension in the group. Things change as the
laid back nature of the girls is shattered when Sugar comes up with an important observation. She
says that " I don't think all of us here put together eat in a year what that sailboat costs." Sugar
realizes

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