The story “Primary Lessons” talks about a girl named Judith. She was getting ready for her first day of school, and she complained to her mother. Her father was gone, and he was in the navy. At school, her first class was English, she was the only one who understood it, because she was born in America. Soon she figured she was the teacher's pet, because she was putting the teacher's slipper on most of the time. She wasn’t the only one there was this on black kid named Lorenzo, but they were different, because he would do anything just to win a smile, but she barely had to do anything, this is partly because her dad was in the navy, and she was born in New York. One day she was in the room getting something and she overheard the teachers saying something about Lorenzo, and how he is poor, but then they moved to Judith saying that she should be saying the lines for a show in English and Spanish, because she was so good. She was astonished by this, because she thought that Lorenzo should do it, but they just picked her.
Lorenzo is discriminated against everywhere, because of things he has, like being African American. Lorenzo is even discriminated against at school, where they say everyone is equal, but he is discriminated against by his teachers because he is poor and he is African American. They secretly make fun of him, like during the talk one of the teachers says that they have a uniform and the other says that he will look like a bug in a glass of milk, which means that he looks ugly, and he will not be suited in the uniform. They also discriminate against him,in class, because they do not like him, they do not smile at him that much, even though he does a lot of good stuff, while other people try less like Judith, and they get high privileges. Also in the talk they called him poor, and they laughed at him a lot, and called him a parrot, meaning that he is talkative and they don’t like that about him. Also even though he is a great student, they were gonna pick him, but because they don’t like him they picked Judith instead of him, because they discriminated against him. This is how Lorenzo is discriminated against.
In the story there were many lessons learned everywhere, from being discriminated against to learning about discrimination. When Judith heard about the teacher's conversation she heard a valuable lesson about discrimination. When she heard the phrase “would look like a fly drowned in a glass of milk." She did not understand at first. When she asked her mom, she said that it means he looks different. She learned from this to never discriminate because she knows that everyone is the same person. She is also confused when she hears the phrase “He is a funny negrito, and, like a parrot, he can repeat anything you teach him.” She does not understand this but when she figures it out she understands that they are making fun of him, because he is African American. When she hears that they are also mocking him because he is poor, and they do not have money for clothing. We can also see that she is privileged more because of her dad, and she lived in New York, this obviously is not fair, because she has a better chance of being picked more, and has higher standards than other people. These are how many lessons are learned from everywhere.
School is used for education, and education is for learning new and good stuff, but in Judith’s school, her teachers discriminate against Lorenzo which is bad. School is not only about what is in the book, like if pollito is chicken in Spanish, and la plums is pen in Spanish, but school is also about life lessons, like not discriminating against other people. Like in the story the teachers discriminate against Lorenzo, and Judith learns about life and discrimination and it is not fair for some outside people, because they are from a different culture. Like they picked Judith instead of Lorenzo, because he is poor, and is African American. In the story it does not talk about that much of learning in the school, but more likely of the society around them, like how Lorenzo is discriminated against by the people a lot. Judith also learns about the society around her, and how some people are good, but some people are bad, and do not like some other people because they are different from others, like how the teachers do not like Lorenzo. This is how school is not only for education, but also about the society around the people.
The story “Primary Lessons” talks about a girl named Judith. She starts school, but does not want to go, soon she is found as the teacher's pet, because of her dad and she used to live in New York. She heard a conversation once from her teacher discriminating against another teacher's pet, but he must work very hard, because they do not like him, because he is different. Discrimination is bad, and discrimination means that people are treated unfairly, because they are different. In the story Lorenzo is discriminated against by his teachers and that is not fair, because they make fun of him, because he is different. In the story there are lessons learned everywhere, like how Judith learns never to discriminate against people because they are different like the teachers who discriminated against Lorenzo. School is not only used for education like learning new stuff, but also learning about the stuff in the real world, and like the society around them. The story “Primary Lessons” is a good book because it talks about life and how we should always be fair.
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