Toni Cade Bambara

Raymond’s Run "Raymond's Run" is a short story by Toni Cade Bambara. It is narrated by Hazel Parker, known as Squeaky, whose strong voice lures the reader in immediately. The idea in the story is about how she has to take care of her older brother Raymond because he has a presumed disability. The central idea is that Squeaky is true to herself unlike others. The pivotal moment at the end shows Squeaky learning to be less self-centered by giving up her competitive running in order to start training Raymond for running. This happens after she wins a May Day race and has a moment of realization noticing Raymond mimicking her running. The story takes place in Harlem and Squeaky mentions the setting two times in contrast to the "country" where she used to live. First, Squeaky is waiting for the…

(1972) written by, Toni Cade Bambara a writer, teacher, editor, social activist, community organizer, and "product of the nineteen-sixties spirit" was born in 1939 and died of colon cancer in 1995” (Casmier). Bambara herself would have learned growing up during the 1940s and 1950s in New York City 's Harlem and Bedford-Stuyvesant communities. (Heller)Sylvia gives a sassy narration from a twelve year old on a learning experience that Miss Moore took a few kids from the Harlem ghetto neighborhood…

An expeditious overdose of reality shapes Harlem’s youth, showing them how much they need to work against the status quo and bring upon change. In “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara, the narrator, Sylvia, goes on a field trip into New York City and is angered by the unfair distribution of wealth that she experiences. A neighborhood college-educated woman, Miss Moore, inspires Sylvia to transform her anger into ambition and activism. To end the short story, Sylvia pledges that “ain’t nobody gonna…

In Toni Cade Bambara’s short story “The Lesson,” Miss Moore, an eccentric and odd woman that had “been to college” and found herself, “responsible for the young ones’ education” and takes them out (Bambara 330). One summer day, Miss Moore takes the local children out for some education; she takes Sylvia, Sugar, Flyboy, Junebug, Big Butt, Mercedes, and Rosie Giraffe out to the city. The story is narrated by Sylvia as they take a taxi to Fifth Avenue where there are many wealthy people. They go to…

As individuals we have an utter compulsion to better ourselves, and the instinctual belief of a better tomorrow. In the short story “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara, protagonist Sylvia and friends are introduced to a new way of living and naïvely forced to perceive the world in a whole new aspect, therefore stripped of what they once knew. Entering this unfamiliar world, they are exposed to what they could only dream of, delighted by their surroundings, Sylvia and her posse could not help but…

As we can see in “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara, The narrator, Sylvia has a strong feminist attitude and notably, she is full of hate and anger. She hates Miss Moore, who she perceives as trying to put on airs. She resents Miss Moore’s trying to improve their lives. At the end of the story, Sylvia realized that there is more world than her neighborhood, and she should have to develop new knowledge and new strategies to deal with this world, including the possibility that learning more the…

Toni Cade Bambara’s short story, “The Lesson”, is about a young black girl named Sylvia and her neighborhood friends. Sylvia and her friends live in the projects of New York City. Miss. Moore, who is an educated black women, wants the children in the neighborhood to be more exposed to the life outside the projects. She takes on the role as their “teacher” to help educate them to the more cultural aspects of life. Just as the title suggests there is many lessons to be learned throughout this…

Many problems are affecting economic development in most countries around the world. Among all the problems, education is one the most significant factors that challenge poverty. In today's society, the individual with no proper education is most likely not to get a good paying job. People with low paying job have to struggle just to make a living. Education comes in many forms of life, and it is essential because of the results of the knowledge learned from the valuable experience in life…

“Raymond’s Run”, a compelling short story written by Toni Cade Bambara which focuses in on Squeaky, a young girl who excels at running, started out conceited but grew considerate after she witnessed her mentally challenged brother, Raymond, run. She also had to keep Gretchen, her competitor, away from winning the first place prize. During the story, Squeaky became incensed when Gretchen’s clique said a few offensive remarks to Raymond, which made Squeaky want to hold the first place trophy in…

around the mail box to give them some lesson in which she wants no part in. The short story The Lesson written by Toni Cade Bambara was written in the time of 1972, and seems to have taken place during the summer time in one of New York City’s Harlem “ghetto” neighborhoods. With Sylvia as one of the main characters and also the narrator of the story, Bambara uses some satire and humor through Sylvia to set the theme and tone of the story. The…