In “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara we see that each character had their own experience when visiting the FAO Schwarz toy store. Sylvia is a young black girl growing up in Harlem with her cousin Sugar and the rest of her family. Miss Moore, a well-educated woman who wants builds a community and educate the youngsters that live in Harlem neighborhood. Miss Moore took these young kids on a little trip to show them the world outside their restricted society. FAO Schwarz Toy Store in Manhattan, known for its astronomically priced toys. Miss Moore uses her journey to the toy store to educate the young kids on how black Americans are denied equal opportunity to profit from the economy and society. Sylvia feels both anger and shame in the F. A. O. Schwartz toy store on Fifth Avenue because she knows she does not belong and cannot afford the toys there. Sylvia feels anger while visiting the F. A. O. Schwartz store because she realizes she can’t afford any of the toys on display.
Daily Archives: February 13, 2023
This story “The Lesson” gives a glimpse into the mind of a child growing up in the ghettos of the inner city. The narrator, Sylvia and her peers are taken on a trip to F.A.O Schwartz by Miss Moore. Miss Moore seems to be kind of a mentor to the children in the story. She is described as a college educated black American woman. She has a sense of obligation and duty to expose the children to the differences in class and society. Sylvia points out every detail of Miss Moore, from her hair, the way she speaks, even the way the parents react to her. I think Miss Moore being the opposite of what Sylvia is used to elicits her negative feelings towards her. I detect a great amount of destain from Sylvia towards Miss Moore. It’s as if Miss Moore’s way of mentoring gets under Sylvia’s skin. I believe Miss Moore does this knowingly to provoke thought. This is the set up of the day described in the story. Something that really stood out to me in the story was the power dynamic in the group of peers. Sylvia though young, seemed to be very opinionated and head strong. I view her as a leader in this group. It seems as if Miss Moore pointing out the glaring inequalities they all experienced, was a threat. This is highlighted when Sugar was intrigued by Miss Moores lesson. Sylvia immediately attempted to stop her from engaging with Miss Moore. After the day was concluded, Sylvia did get the lesson that was intended, thought she never admitted it to Miss Moore. She considers a toy clown that costs $35.00, and ends up questioning who are these people that shop here. I believe the job Miss Moore set out to do was […]
The boy in this story is very religious. In the book “Salvation” by Langston Hughes. He is very trustworthy and brave for everything he has accomplished and listens too.he is also very patient in waiting for things he wants. Some words I would describe him by would be brave, religious, patience, and hopeful. Reason being is because the boy put all his hopes into it because he would have met Jesus. He is very pure in everything he wants.at the end of the story the boy became hopeful and very disappointed in the fact that he waited all day for it and it never happened. He has changed to realize that everything in life doesn’t happen the way you want it to, and sometimes things aren’t the exact way others may have thinked about it. He has changed to notice the difference between things that may seem easy doesn’t happen in the same time span as you want it too.
In the short story “Salvation” by Langston Hughes. I would describe him as a loyal and trustworthy person. He’s also patient in the things he wants or believes in having. The boy seemed like an only child, someone who is easy to convince or easy to talk to. “Still I kept waiting to see Jesus.” This shows how patient he is about things he really wants, the author in this book shows how precious a human being is until things don’t go their way, they tend to change and adapt differently.in the end of the story he being sad and upset that he didn’t get the result he wanted too he never seen Jesus. He has changed in ways that sometime not everything that seems to be perfect are true and sometimes things doesn’t always happen the same moment you would like it too or the way you may like it.
In “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara both Qt and sugar both have a different experience when visiting the toy store and reflect on it. with sugar after they saw a toy in the store they started seeing things different and referring to a lot of things to what seen as the toy they have seen when at the book store. With Qt they as well felt different when going to the toy store and answering something correctly when ask by miss Moore. They then go Back to the mailbox and now have a different thought. i feel that Miss Moore wanted to tech these kids a lesson about the type of world they are living in and show them whats wrong and what’s right. They also learn about what it takes to save and spend money and how much they can save by just not spending and how it can 100% make a difference in life.
The boy in the story “Salvation” By Langston Hughes experienced a wide range of emotions while in the church. The boy expresses the values of trust and respect for his elders shown in paragraph two. He believes he will see Jesus because he heard his aunt and many old people explain that Jesus would come to him. He also expresses the value of honesty. In paragraph fifteen Hughes reveals the pain he feels for lying about seeing Jesus. He stated, “I was crying because I couldn’t bear to tell her that I had lied, that I had deceived everybody in the church” (15). Along with values and emotion, Hughes expresses self-definition. In the first paragraph, he states that he is a sinner. He also defines himself as a calm and thoughtful child. In Paragraph two he explains that he sat “calmly in the hot, crowded church, waiting for Jesus.” The boy is heavily anticipating the arrival of Jesus stated in paragraph 5 “Still I kept waiting to see Jesus. In the final paragraph, the boy regretted lying to his aunt, and to everyone in the church, he stated he was ashamed of himself and that he cried while he was in bed. He stated, “I cried, in bed alone, and couldn’t stop…[my aunt] woke up and told my uncle I was crying because the Holy Ghost had come into my life and because I had seen Jesus. But I was crying because I couldn’t bear to tell her that I had lied, that I had deceived everybody in the church, that I hadn’t seen Jesus, and that now I didn’t believe there was a Jesus anymore, since he didn’t come to help me. The boy started to question his belief after not being saved by Jesus, and that’s when […]
