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    The essay discusses the short story "The Lesson" by Toni Cade Bambara. It describes how Miss Moore takes her students, who come from poor surroundings, on a field trip to an expensive department store. The children feel ashamed because they cannot afford the items in the store. After the trip, one child notes that equal opportunity means an equal chance to pursue happiness and financial success. The overall lesson is that through hard work and belief in oneself, people can achieve more than their backgrounds might suggest, regardless of where they come from.

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    The essay discusses the short story "The Lesson" by Toni Cade Bambara. It describes how Miss Moore takes her students, who come from poor surroundings, on a field trip to an expensive department store. The children feel ashamed because they cannot afford the items in the store. After the trip, one child notes that equal opportunity means an equal chance to pursue happiness and financial success. The overall lesson is that through hard work and belief in oneself, people can achieve more than their backgrounds might suggest, regardless of where they come from.

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    15 views1 page

    Zanetta Sanders

    Uploaded by

    Renee Sanders
    The essay discusses the short story "The Lesson" by Toni Cade Bambara. It describes how Miss Moore takes her students, who come from poor surroundings, on a field trip to an expensive department store. The children feel ashamed because they cannot afford the items in the store. After the trip, one child notes that equal opportunity means an equal chance to pursue happiness and financial success. The overall lesson is that through hard work and belief in oneself, people can achieve more than their backgrounds might suggest, regardless of where they come from.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
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    Zanetta Sanders

    Mr. Larry Neuburger

    English 110 Section 101

    11 February 2011

    Single Paragraph Essay Two

    The Lesson Unlearned

    In the short essay titled “The Lesson” written by Toni Cade Bambara who writes about a

    valuable lesson of life. The author sheds light to her readers’ that living in poor surroundings

    doesn’t mean you can never have rich things. The author writes through the voice of a young girl

    who only wants to have a good time with her friends; therefore the young girl ignores the lessons

    that Miss Moore tries to get her and her classmates to understand. Miss Moore takes her students

    in an expensive department store, while having a hidden agenda the entire time. When preparing

    to walk in the store; the children seem to be reluctant to even enter the department store. “…

    when we get there I kinda hang back. Not that I’m scared, what’s there to be afraid of, just a toy

    store. But I feel funny, shame… (12)” The children felt ashamed because they couldn’t afford

    the things inside the store. After the field trip was over, Miss Moore asked the children what they

    learned from visiting an expensive store. One of the children responded that “Equal chance to

    pursue happiness means an equal crack at the dough, don’t it (14)? The child that spoke those

    words is absolutely correct. After reading this story one would have learned that it doesn’t matter

    where you live or where you come from; by working hard and believing in yourself, everyone

    can have the finer things in life.

    Bambara, Toni Cade. “The Lesson.” Power of Language, Language of Power: Collection of

    Readings. New York: Pearson Custom Publishing, 2009. 7-14. Print.

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