ANTOGONISTIC ENLIGHTENMENT
The universal themes in "The Lesson" and "The Prisoner Who Wore Glasses", are appealing because their authors generate similar insights, despite structural and material differences in treatment. "The Lesson" draws attention to a what blacks have learned as children throughout their history in America; that each generation will suffer some degree of unequal opportunity and that each individual is empowered to effect the severity of that measure. The protagonist in "The Prisoner Who Wore Glasses", is strikingly remarkable mainly due to the fact that initially he is described quite feebly. It is through the story's development that he is later revealed to be durable, deep, and determined. These qualities enable him to successfully petition for humane treatment, in a racially oppressive climate, without begging the question of propriety. Brille is a political prisoner in racially segregated South Africa, anyone would assume
Sylvia's reactions to seeing a lady on Fifth Avenue in a fur coat, " . . . as hot as it is ", is characteristic of her ideals. She comments, "White folks crazy " in her surmised observation and limited insight (5). Window shopping at F.A.O. Schwartz, Sylvia and her companions are amused and flabbergasted at the prices of things they have no appreciation for; they are outraged at the prices for things they have gotten more cheaply. Sylvia assumes she knows what money is because she can steal it easily enough, she has trouble, though, dealing with the fact that people have money for things she doesn't know enough about to want (2) & (3). She realizes that she lives very differently from the "crazy people" who can afford them. Sylvia's later enlightenment is foreshadowed in describing herself and Sugar as "surly, . . .one of Miss Moore's words" (2). Evident influence is compounded when she decides to spend some time to th
Some common words found in the essay are:
South Africa, Wore Glasses, Schwartz Sylvia, Moore Sylvia's, Fifth Avenue, Miss Moore's, Sylvia Hannetjie, Sylvia's Hannetjie's, prisoner wore, wore glasses, prisoner wore glasses, Prisoner Wore, , initially described,
Approximate Word count = 627
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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