After reading Toni Cade Bambara, I was struck by Sylvia’s complex response to the world around her. She carries an intense resentment toward Miss Moore, not just for the lesson she’s teaching, but for disrupting the comfortable ignorance that shields her from fully acknowledging economic inequality. Sylvia’s defensive and judgmental nature seems like a coping mechanism, a way to deflect the discomfort of realizing the systemic forces that keep her and her peers in a cycle of poverty. Rather than directly engaging with the lesson, she chooses to focus on the personal gain she managed to extract from the day—Miss Moore’s money. This irony reveals the tension between her disdain for wealth and her own desire for it. If I were to explore this theme in an essay, I might title it Sylvia’s Defiance: Between Awareness and Denial. Ultimately, her refusal to discuss the lesson outright suggests that, despite her resistance, Miss Moore’s words have left an impression she isn’t yet willing to admit.
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One thought on “Luis Ramirez Discussion 3”
Luis, this was posted on Tuesday of Week 4, so it cannot be credited.
Nonetheless, I did read it, and urge you to avoid the kind of abstract, overly general language that characterizes this post For example, you use phrasing like “Complex response to the world around her” without reference to specific scenes or quotes about her complexity or the world that happens to be around her. You also refer to “systemic forces that keep her and her peers in a cycle of poverty” and an ironical “tension between her disdain for wealth and her own desire for it.” Aren’t these socioeconomic issues? Is your essay veering into the very area you have been challenged to avoid? Please, please be specific and avoid using generic, abstract language that has no meaning without specific examples or quotes.