st person. It is, however, used differently in each work. While the use of we is most effective in A Rose for Emily in quickly engaging the reader, it is most prominent in achieving a strong emotional engagement in Richard Cory. The short story and the poem here have used a similar literary technique, but it has achieved different goals in each of the writings.Short stories and poems do, nevertheless, use similar devices to achieve the same goals. The use of first person is extremely effective when writing in a specific dialect. Toni Cade Bambara uses first person to have the narrator of The Lesson (p. 57) tell the story in the vernacular of a poor African American neighborhood in New York. The main character Sylvia tells the story using phrases such as puredee hot (2) and talk about his mama something ferocious (3). By having the main character tell the story, rather than a third person narrator, Bambara is able to tell the story in nonstandard English. The use of a first person narrator who speaks slang is especially effective in a short story because it reveals much about who the character is and the culture in which the story takes place. Bambra is able to expose the main character Sylvia much more deeply when she is the one telling story. In describing the events taking place Sylvia also reveals her attitudes toward them. Thus the author can reveal more about the character in a smaller amount of writing. Through Sylvias narration, the reader is able to easily understand her economic struggle, her cynicism towards the lesson Miss Moore is trying to teach through her trip to the toy store and her confusion in class differences. Sylvias thoughts and harsh words communicate her resentment when she thinks to herself how she cant stand Miss Moore the nappy-head bitch and her goddamn college degree (2). When thinking about the expensive toys in the store, Sylvia wonders what kind of work people do that can afford those toys and how come s...
