Jordan Kenyon

Mr. Neuburger

ENG 102.104

8 February 2011

One Paragraph Essay

Different Walks of Life

In a Toni Cade Bambara's short story “The Lesson” the narrator, Sylvia, acts like she is on

top of the world and everyone else acts snobby and crazy. A central theme of the story is about

how everyone comes from different areas of life, and that the value of money varies from person

to person. Furthermore, throughout the story, Sylvia talks about money and how just a few

dollars means a lot to her. At one point she compares the price of a sailboat that costs $1,195 to

how much it would cost for her to make one. She says, “Who'd pay all that when you can buy a

sailboat set for a quarter at Pop's, and tube of glue for a dime, and a ball of string for eight cents?

It must have a motor and a whole lot else besides” (11). This shows how one thing can mean

over a thousand dollars to someone and that same thing can be just an extremely over priced item

to another person. The author, Bambara, does a great job at showing the contrast of people from

different financial areas and how they perceive things.

Works Cited

Bambara, Toni C. "The Lesson." 1972. Power of Language/Language of Power. Pearson

Custom, 2009. 7-14. Print.

193 Words