"The Lesson"

“The Lesson” is a short story about a poor group of kids who go into a rich part of a city to realize that the economy, democracy, and the world are not fair.


Level One Question:
Who is Miss Moore and where did she take the kids?

Level Two Question:
Why would the students not have seen this before, even though they live close by?

Level Three Question:
What would you do/how would you react if you saw this situation?



The purpose of “The Lesson” is for the reader to see fortunate people and how they benefit from wealth through the eyes of a little girl. In addition to the girl’s point of view, the reader also sees how the other kids react to the teacher and to the stores. The author is doing this to show the reader that the poor do not always know about the world outside of their normal lives. This is exemplified when the children are oblivious to how much an actual boat or model really costs. They are used to making contraptions by themselves, which are cheap. They have never been in this setting before.

This short story also shows how some poor people can be afraid or they feel awkward to be in public around rich people. They feel like interlopers when they try to assimilate into the wealthy culture. In this story, the poor recognize that they are in a lower class and they feel inferior. I believe the teacher, Miss Moore, brought the kids to upscale New York City to show them how the wealthy live and how there are inequalities in society. By doing this, the children started questioning democracy and were trying to make sense of why people were living in poverty. I also think she did this to motivate the kids and to get them to think they belong anywhere that the rich belong. At the end, this shows through when Sylvia says “but ain’t nobody gonna beat me at nuthin.” This means she is willing to work hard to improve her status in society and will strive to be better than others, including the rich people in F.A.O. Schwartz.

The theme of this story is that poor people do not have an equal opportunity to experience the same things as rich people do. Despite this, poor people still have morals and will strive to be their best.