The Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara

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by Bailey Gausling12 views·Updated Nov 30, 2021
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  1. Hello class.
  2. Today, I'm going to inform you guys about the lesson by Toni cade bambara
  3. A little bit about her is that she
  4. was originally named Melatonin working kate at birth,
  5. She changed her name at such an early age of six,
  6. she added to the surname bambara after
  7. finding it among her great grandmother's belongings.
  8. She was born in Harlem new york and that's where she draws
  9. most of her inspiration from her work from her own life experiences.
  10. She died at age 56 from colon cancer.
  11. She was a teacher and a civil rights activist.
  12. As an african american woman, she was very involved in social work.
  13. She even traveled to communist cuba and Vietnam to research
  14. woman and that's her on the right hand side there.
  15. Little bit of why this story and author is my favorite is
  16. because the importance it carries in our day to day lives.
  17. I feel like economic and racial inequality is
  18. still prevalent and this story does a great
  19. job and informing not only an older audience about it but a younger audience as well,
  20. and Toni cade bambara cared about the issues as she
  21. spent most of her life dedicating it to social work.
  22. So as far as the plot echoes, the story begins with Miss more,
  23. the teacher of the class designed to take the kids in her class on a field trip
  24. that find her patronizing from their area Harlem which
  25. is a poor um neighborhood in african american neighborhoods
  26. to an expensive toy shop in midtown, which is in Manhattan, a more upper class area.
  27. The kids in her class find her patronizing and due to
  28. her proper speech for nappy hair and things of that sort.
  29. That's what
  30. the narrator Sylvia notices white people who she addresses as crazy because
  31. there's a white woman wearing a four coat even though it's hot outside
  32. Before the kids enter the toy store they noticed on the display case.
  33. Um these high end price choices,
  34. one that they're particularly interested in is
  35. the sailboat that's listed for $1,195.
  36. The kids are confused as to why somebody would spend
  37. this much on that because the ones back in their part
  38. of town they can get for 50 cents, but obviously there are lesser quality
  39. Sylvia and her other classmates, sugar are resistant to go in the store,
  40. but Mercedes pushes her way right in
  41. Sylvia is upset by the way wealthy people spend their money.
  42. So Sylvia begins to get angry about the inequality is an injustice that take place.
  43. It's emphasized how some spend what it would take to feed a whole family on one toy.
  44. The story ends with sugar asking if Sylvia wants
  45. to get ice cream with their extra taxi fare
  46. because on the way to the toy store they
  47. couldn't calculate a proper tip for the driver,
  48. so instead they just pocketed It.
  49. However, Silvia says that she needs
  50. to take some time to think about everything that had happened today.
  51. The main theme of this story is
  52. the unfair intersectionality between racial and economic inequality
  53. because being a certain race makes it difficult for minorities
  54. to achieve the same financial success as white people would.
  55. And this also emphasizes
  56. how people from poor poor neighborhoods struggle for financial success as well.
  57. MS moore helps emphasize this theme as she takes the kids on the
  58. field trip to show them the inequalities that take place in this world.
  59. Then even at the end of the story, she says, imagine for a minute,
  60. what kind of society it is in which some people can spend on a toy,
  61. what it would cost to feed a family of six or even seven.
  62. What do you think?
  63. She showcases how people with higher incomes spend their money on unnecessary
  64. things while others who live in poverty struggle for basic necessities.
  65. Sylvia is also another character that helps emphasize the theme
  66. we witnessed Sylvia's growth as she directs her anger
  67. away from this is more into the wealthy people
  68. and then she just make that comment on the white woman in fur coat despite the heat.
  69. One lady in a fur coat, hard as it is white folks crazy is what she said.
  70. It showcases that someone of that race in
  71. a nicer neighborhood can't afford an expensive coat.
  72. So she chooses to show it off despite the weather.
  73. The setting of the story also emphasizes the theme as it takes place in New york city
  74. and the first story is the poor african american
  75. neighborhood in Harlem where the kids are from,
  76. a miss Morris from versus the toy store in a wealthier part of the city in Manhattan,
  77. which is predominantly white and here at the toy store they see them
  78. being able to spend their money on these expensive toys almost like it is nothing.
  79. The point of view also helps emphasize the theme
  80. of the story as its first person via Sylvia,
  81. the narrator.
  82. Um the purpose of this was so that people can recognize what it
  83. can be like to grow up with the hardships these kids have to overcome
  84. and it shows how important it is to become aware of these issues at such a young age,
  85. So you don't go blind sided into the world as well.
  86. Sylvia, being at such a young age, being able to recognize
  87. the inequalities in this world and becoming angry at them.
  88. She even says in the story for some reason, this pisces her me off when she sees the,
  89. when she describes the price of the choice is unbelievable.
  90. She later realizes the reason why this place is her office,
  91. because people with higher incomes spend their money on unnecessary things.
  92. It also emphasizes how becoming educated
  93. and having education is very important
  94. because if their circumstances keep them living in the projects,
  95. then they will most likely
  96. have a harder time coming out of them