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The Lesson By Toni Cade Bambara - Online Term Paper

The Lesson By Toni Cade Bambara

The author of “The Lesson” is Toni Cade Bambara who lived from 1939 to 1995 . It seems the author wrote about her own experiences. The main characters in the story are Miss Moore, Sylvia and Sugar. The narrator is Sylvia: a young girl who puts up a rough, tough front as protection from her poor, modern day, New York City environment. She deals with the circumstances in her life that she feels she has no control over, with a hard, mean act. Sylvia’s cousin, Sugar, is smart but lets Sylvia bully her. Sugar holds herself back to avoid Sylvia’s anger and because they are close friends. Sugar easily figured the ten percent tip for the taxi driver on the way downtown. She also makes a rather ...

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Sylvia, Sugar, Mercedes, Fat Butt, Flyboy, Junebug, Q.T., and Rosie Giraffe. A mixed bag, but all share the same poor life. They are treated to a taxi ride instead of the usual subway downtown and the group is exposed to Fifth Avenue and the richness of the people in that part of the city. At the expensive toy store, their minds are stretched beyond belief at the price of toys. Miss Moore cleverly interjects a few questions to get them thinking. It works; even on stubborn Sylvia who thinks she got away with something by not returning the change from the taxi ride, never dreaming Miss Moore planned it that way. The story concludes with Sylvia feeling something weird in her chest and instead of running off with Sugar to spend the four dollars left from the taxi ride, she heads in a different direction to “think this day through”.
Sylvia physically heading in a different direction is symbolic of the change she is feeling due to what she has been exposed to. I believe these are the ...

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The Lesson By Toni Cade Bambara. (2004, July 13). Retrieved January 7, 2026, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-Lesson-By-Toni-Cade-Bambara/10974

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"The Lesson By Toni Cade Bambara." Essayworld.com. July 13, 2004. Accessed January 7, 2026. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-Lesson-By-Toni-Cade-Bambara/10974.

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PAPER DETAILS

Added: 7/13/2004 01:25:17 PM
Category: Book Reports
Type: Free Paper
Words: 581
Pages: 3

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