english

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, …

…she so chooses. The lessons that Miss Moore provided were done so with a subtleness that led the recipient to self-discovery. Lessons learned this way are generally the most meaningful to us. This story is a tale of lessons, but it is also a lesson in itself: one can teach a more lasting lesson in a subtle, giving, caring way than if one tries to force feed a lesson. That is “The Lesson”. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **Bibliography**