finer things in life (AG)

Finer Things in Life (AG)

In “The Lesson” Toni Cade Bambara writes about a group of young kids living in a poverty stricken area. Miss Moore, an older woman from the neighborhood who is their teacher, takes the kids on a field trip to F.A.O. Schwartz to see toys that cost as much as the rent that their parents pay. She is trying to show the kids that they too can make every effort in life for the finer things. The story is seen from the point of view of one of the children named Sylvia. Sylvia doesn’t really like Miss. Moore. Even with her unlinking of Miss. Moore, Sylvia does start to soak up certain events during the field trip and at the end she still walks away showing her toughness, but with a much newer understanding of life.

The story starts off with Sylvia describing Miss Moore as a lady “with nappy hair and proper speech and no makeup” (210). Sylvia and the rest of the children show very little fondness of their new teacher. She says that ...