An Immaginative and Reflective Response to Toni Cade Bambara's 'The Personal Statement

An Immaginative and Reflective Response to Toni Cade Bambara's 'The Lesson' - Personal Statement Example Mm-hmm. And you better not nurse your wounds or cry. Or she'd give you somethin to cry about. Momma didn't play. She was serious. Yes child . . . those were the days. Sylvia got it easy, she just don't know. One day she walked her lil ass off in this house with Sugar draggin behind her, and I knew somethin was wrong. She had been with that Miss Moore. Miss Moore needs to get some place and sit down, cause she ain't no better that the rest of us . . . just cause she went to college. Ump! Anyway, that child comes off in here with nuthin to say, and she always has somethin to say. She flopped down on the couch and monkey-see-monkey-do-Sugar, flopped down beside her. I didn't say nuthin either, cause I didn't know what game they were playing. Besides I had my own game to play in about an hour. I work hard all week. Weekends I want to knick my shoes off, listen to some blues, or some of that jazz they be playing up here. Me and some other mothers, from down home, get together now and then to play dominoes. We Anyway, they were talkin about some rich folks' toy store. Talkin about how much rich folks pay for their toys. They were all worked up. I first got mad. I told them that they got toys. Appreciate what you got. But they said stuff about how they didn't even know what they didn't have. And this is supposed to be the land of opportunity or some shit about the pursuit of happiness. So we shouldn't just settle for stuff like my "DOMINOES." Well when I told her I like me some dominoes, my girl said under her breath, "Yeah that's 'cause that's all you know!" "Yeah." Sylvia agreed. "Miss Moore's so-called educational trips" I glared at them with my eyebrows raised. "Miss Moore wants to teach us shit we don't know." Sugar answered as humbly as she could. I told 'em I knew I shouldn't let 'em go no where with that crazy bitch. And what I say that for "I beg your pardon!" Sylvia mimicked Miss Moore. "Miss Moore taught us what real money is. And that right now we don't have none. But that's gonna change." "Yeah baby . . . that's gonna change." I agreed with her 'cause she reminded me of why we came here in the first place. And how I can't forget that. Can't let my baby forget that neither. Yep, they say it takes a village to raise a child. Your Name 3 Part 2-Short Analysis of Continuing Education I chose to write an imaginative text from the point of view of Sylvia's mother as a response to "The Lesson". I entitled it "Continuing Education". In the response l kept the context of Bambara's "The Lesson" for the setting, the characterizations, and the voice. Although with the change in point of view, came a change in narrator. Sylvia's mother was a reliable narrator. I chose a summarized dialog to present the story more as a reflection of what might have happened in an imaginative continuation of "The Lesson". I attempted to show how the story affected the main characters and their lives. My attempts addressed some areas that were not clear, such as what went on with the mothers in the apartment that they spent time in. I wanted to provided incite to why the children were not allowed. As