the lesson .

Short Story Assignment

The Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara

1. The Lesson is a short story about a girl name Sylvia and her experience on a ‘field trip’ with her class to a toy store.

2. Leveled Questions
Level One
Where does the class go for the ‘field trip’?

Level Two
How is Mercedes much ‘different’ than the other students on the trip? Describe a time where you were you were either in Mercedes position or the other students.

Level Three
Which of the characters in the story do you think is somewhat similar to you? Explain why you chose this character.

3. Observation; Just doing some observing [Definitely jumping around with different subjects].

I strongly believe that Bambara’s The Lesson was interesting. Her use of slang and cuss words made me think about and do many things. Because of there not being any sort of editing with the characters’ words and their personalities, I wanted to keep reading to see what was going to happen next. The kids’ attitudes towards Miss Moore kept me thinking about what type of parents or households they may have.

Another thought about the story and its language made me realize how mature our class is thought to be. I know for a fact (coming from a large public high school) that if we were going to read a story like that in class, there would be a permission slip sent home to be signed by your parents, informing them of what we were going to be reading. I told my mom about the reading and showed her the various swear words used and being so used to permission slips, she was surprised we were reading it.

In a way, I felt sorry for Mercedes in the story. I do not think that she understood the certain situations her classmates were in and how she was more ‘spoiled’ than everyone in her class. I am not sure if I would label her in the upper class because I do not know they specific economic status of each student. However, I do not think that she fit in with the class. She talked about how her daddy would get her this expensive item at the toy store and at times it seemed like she was trying to show off what she had or what she could get.