Audre Lorde's Essay
Audre Lorde describes her teachers in several ways, but she lacks in physical descriptions and mostly uses the teachers own words and actions to describe her to the reader. Her kindergarden teacher is described mostly with direct quotes from the teacher, saying things like “a big girl like you” pg. 68 and “We will have to tell her mother about that” pg. 70. By doing this she gives us the impression this teacher does not respect her or does not care for children. Only once is she physically described by the author and she doesn’t even remember what color her skin is. This tells the reader looks are not important, it also gives us the ability to put a face in the story, making it easy to relate. The nun that taught her in first grade was vaguely described as “big”, “blonde”, and “eighteen” pg 71. Lore also describes the actions of the teacher, like her disciplinary beliefs and methods such as the division of the class into “ the Fairies and the brownies” pg 71. This gives the reader the idea of what she acts like but not her physical appearance, again leaving her looks to the reader to relate to by placing a face in the story.