Toni Cade Bambara’s short story‚ "The Lesson‚" takes place in inner city New York. The main character‚ Sylvia‚ is a fourteen year old African American girl‚ who tells the story in a first person narrative. Sylvia mentions Miss Moore‚ a teacher who felt that it was her duty to help underprivileged children learn. Miss Moore felt there was a lesson to learn at FAO Schwartz‚ a very expensive‚ upper class toy store in downtown Manhattan. The reason Miss Moore brings the children to FAO Schwartz is captured
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Toni Cade Bambara uses her story “The Lesson” to point out that America is still not an equal society because of the different income level between rich people and poor people. She considers that the different income levels people have build up the different environment they live in‚ and where people are born may cause who they are if Americans keep ignoring the unequal facts appear around them. (253-259) Bambara’s story gives readers a good view from poor people to look at the differences between
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The short story‚ “The Lesson‚” by Toni Cade Bambara‚ portrays one of the most interesting themes in literature‚ the initiation story. The story illustrates a group of kids who live in the slums in New York city. They are unaware of their environment‚ and Ms. More is conscious of this situation. In a basis‚ she teaches the kids life lessons to help them strive for success and attempt to better themselves and their situations. In this occasion‚ she brings them to a toy story‚ but not just a common
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Miss Moore Character Traits “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. One
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Jura Kim Eng 102 The Lesson Bambara’s “The Lesson” takes place during the 1960s and focuses on elements of economic inequality and education. A voluntary‚ unpaid instructor‚ Miss Moore‚ aims to teach an invaluable lesson to several impoverish students living under the bottom class of economy. In an effort to encourage their academic development‚ Miss Moore exposes her students to reasons for education while shining light on her statement‚ “Where are we are is who we are‚ but it don’t necessarily
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Raymond’s Run‚ a short story by Toni Cade Bambara‚ was an anticlimactic story that I strongly disliked. It was introduced to me in ways that were completely irrelevant to the plot of the story‚ its title was very misleading‚ and the plot was childish and disappointing. Firstly‚ I was introduced to Raymond’s Run with three words: runner‚ disability‚ and responsibility. After reading the story‚ I saw that these three words made me believe that the story would be about a boy‚ Raymond‚ who had a disability
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Toni Cade Bambara’s short story “The Lesson” is told from the perspective of a young girl named Sylvia. Sylvia is not the most reliable reliable narrator as a result of her age and upbringing- she forms opinions of others based on how they relate to her life; if a completely innocent person happens to affect her life in a way that inconveniences her‚ he or she will be portrayed only in a negative light whether or not this is deserved. Throughout the story‚ she frames her Miss Moore‚ who is her neighbor
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In Toni Cade Bambara’s short story‚ “The Lesson”‚ Sylvia is a young‚ rebellious poverty stricken girl whose attitude towards education is negative. Though portrayed as a strong minded figure in the story‚ Sylvia’s lack of knowledge of social inequality makes her a cynical character that does not conform to the values of life. In the story‚ she is confronted with a lesson that changes her perception of the disadvantages the poor has in contrast to the rich. Bambara creates a host of characters‚
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resources available and take advantage of opportunities that most people do not. Usually‚ things can happen where advantage of opportunities cannot always be taken‚ but it was quite different around this time. In the stories‚ “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara and “Horatio Alger” by Harlon L. Dalton conveys the message that success is not always the easiest to grasp‚ but taking advantage of opportunities is hard especially as African-Americans. In “The Lesson”‚ an angered girl named Sylvia is taken on
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Gorilla‚ My Love With All The Boys and Girls: Stories of Betrayal “Gorilla‚ My Love” by Toni Cade Bambara and “Boys and Girls” by Alice Munro are known as initiation stories. These kinds of stories usually end with the main character reaching a “moment of illumination” (p.504). By the end of the story‚ they tend to either grow as a person or gain personal knowledge. “Gorilla‚ My Love” and “Boys and Girls” also have a common theme: betrayal. The main characters of both these stories are exposed
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