Toni Cade Bambara The Lesson Essay

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

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

Beginning with the Great Depression, this event was regarded as having begun in 1929 with the Stock Market crash. The depression had devastating effects on the country. The stock market was in shambles. Many banks couldn't continue to operate. Farmers fell into bankruptcy. Quarters of the working force, or 13 million people, were unemployed in 1932, and this was only the beginning. The depression lasted over a decade, with hundreds of thousands of Americans losing their jobs, businesses failing, and financial institutions collapsing. Bambara, born in 1939, experienced the backlashes of the great depression as a small child. Growing up poor, Bambara was encouraged by her mother to explore her imagination, to daydream and to follow her inner motives. The Lesson, a short story written by Bambara, is about a young girl named Silvia that over the course of one afternoon, she is forced to an unpleasant awareness of the unfairness of the social and economic system that prevailed in the 1960s. Sylvia lives in a “slum” neighborhood. Only one person in the neighborhood distinguishes herself – Miss Moore. She is college educated and takes it upon herself the “responsibility for the young ones’ education” and exposes them to the world outside of their neighborhood and the truth it holds. On the afternoon the story takes place, she takes a group

In many pieces of classic literature, the theme is often misinterpreted. Poems, sonnets, and short stories frequently have misleading titles that put false ideas into the readers’ minds. Readers often begin reading a work with a biased opinion of the contents of the story. The superficial theme of a story is obvious, but the less obvious theme can have the most powerful message. In Toni Cade Bambara’s short story, “The Lesson,” the apparent theme is poverty and wealth, but the true theme is the misapprehension of everything not being as it seems.

“The Lesson’’ by Toni Cade Bambara compared the life between poor and rich people. The action was “Back in the days when everyone was old and stupid’’ (317). The society was divided in two parts. Some of them were so rich, they could “spend on a toy what it would cost to feed a family of six or seven‘’ (325). Many people were upset because of high prices and separation between classes. Some people would say “This is not much of a democracy’’ (325).

Sylvia, from “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara, and I have experienced a very similar realization of our naivety. The good grades came easy in my high school English classes. I assumed they would in English 1102 as well, but I could not have been more wrong. This class has been especially trying, but I can honestly say that I have grown as a result of it. The unexpected bad grades I received influenced me to fully grasp and understand the errors I made throughout my essays, in order to create clear works that exhibit all of the necessary requirements. I intend to portray my strengths and weaknesses in my portfolio by specifically discussing my complications with introductions, generalizations, and grammatical errors.

"Imagine for a minute what kind of society it is in which some people can spend on a toy what it would cost to feed a family of six or seven. What do you think?" (Miss Moore). This saying from Miss Moore had helped the readers to understand the setting of “The Lesson”. The author Bambara whom were born and raised in New York City in which it is also the setting of this short story. Toni Cade Bambara was born as Miltonia Mirkin Cade in 1939. The name Bambara came from her great-grandmother’s trunk when she found a sketchbook in which it is the signature. Success came to her early, but did not continue rapidly. Bambara studied multiple majors in several different countries and that is where she finds her inspiration to write her stories. Social injustice inspired her to write a book stated the issue of African-American at the moment.

When discussing the bases of a well functioning society, the environment and residential area plays a crucial role. I chose the article, “How segregated are middle class blacks?”, and in this in depth article, the main focus is on the long-standing brawl between blacks living out of “ghetto” residential environments. Compared to their counterparts, middle class whites are usually stationed in better living conditions, granted they earn the same amount of income as a middle class black individual. This article does not only touch base on the institutional discrimination within the middle class community, but also race and poverty in middle class America.

The short stories “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara and “A&P” by John Updike were both very odd to read the first time as it seemed they had a pointless plot but the more you read it, the more you started to be able to form an idea of what the plot of the stories are but the settings for both stories were very easy to identify. Going along with the plot, it seemed that both stories had very quick endings that left me in a state of “Is that really how it ends?” as they both seemed to end on a weird note. The Lesson ends with a girl from Harlem racing one of her friends away from an old lady who she took four dollars from while the story A&P ends with a 19 year old cashier boy quitting his job and shortly realizing

I chose to write about "the Lesson" by Toni Cade Bambara. This short story caught my attention because Bambara focuses on the economic injustices of African Americans. "The Lesson" by Toni Cade Bambara should have been included in ENC 1102 because her work was influenced by the Civil Rights Movement and Black Nationalist movements in the 1960's. It detailed the struggles and injustices African Americans had to endure during that time.

Although America is often called the land of the free, where everyone has the opportunity to achieve greatness. There is a deep set system of inequality and unfairness a lot of people are born into. The majority of people, whether or not the inequitable case burdens them, choose to turn a blind eye. Nevertheless, the characters in “The Lesson” are born into this lifestyle and begin to realize it’s unfortunate and enraging complexion on their journey. In the short text “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara the children of the story experience firsthand the system of inequality they have been born into.

In the short story “The Lesson”, Toni Cade Bambara portrays young children who receive a lesson about social status and American society. The main character, Sylvia, is a dynamic character who ends up being awakened to the inequality that she is faced and her fellow children are faced with. The story takes place in the 70’s, where Miss Moore brings the children to F.A.O. Schwartz, a very expensive toy store, even by today’s standards. The children are shocked when presented with the products in the toy store. They can not comprehend the idea that people would spend such absurd amounts of money on toys because the money could be spend on an abundance food that they are currently struggling to provide. Sylvia does not like this economical gap in her life, and wants it to change. Through characters, point of view, and dialogue, Bambara highlights the division between the rich and poor that exists in American society and motivates readers to want change.