Audre Lorde- How she illustrated what her teachers were like.

Audre Lorde did a wonderful job of illustrating to her readers what each of her teachers was like. She starts chapter three (from her book Zami: A New Spelling of My Name) by explaining how she was always getting in trouble by her mother for constantly misbehaving.  This was taken to note by a Librarian who at first Audre thought “was just another mile-high woman about to do her in.” But to her surprise, and relief, Mrs. Baker (the library lady) greeted her with a quiet and comforting voice.  She offered to read her a story to which Audre agreed. To this day she still remembers the titles of the books read to her that day. She also remembers that they all rhymed and had large pictures. Afterward, Mrs. Baker handed her the books they had just read. Lorde then exclaimed loudly “I want to read!” I believe that this is an important piece of information to the reader as it portrays just how significant the librarian's deed was to Lorde. She goes on to say that after that experience she was “sold on reading for the rest of her life”.

            

       With her mother’s help, she mastered how to read and write her name to the best of her ability. This for her age was pretty advanced. It was now time to start kindergarten. Lorde illustrates her teacher’s personality by talking about the first day of school, and the task the students were asked to complete. Her teacher came around to everyone’s desk and wrote the first letter of their name on the corner of their papers. The students were then supposed to copy the letter with their own black crayon. This was a problem for Audre because she was taught never to draw with a crayon, and thought you were never supposed to. When she was denied a pencil, she became frustrated and told her teacher that she couldn't write her letter. Her teacher then began to threaten to call her mother and accused her of not trying.  After forcing herself to try again, she ended up writing not just the first letter, but her whole name. Instead of being praised for this, she was humiliated and embarrassed yet again. She remembers her teacher saying “You don’t even want to try to do as you’re told.” Lorde was made to believe that she had actually done something wrong. She clearly expresses how discouraged she felt by this.

           
       Her mother decided it would be best to enroll her in the first grade at the catholic school that her sisters go to. Sister MPH ran the first grade. Lorde provides incredible examples of what her encounter with this teacher was like. She starts out by saying of her: “It always felt like Sister MPH hated either teaching, or little children.” That to me was a good way of outlining what Lorde was thinking and feeling at the time. Another thing she said that was significant to me was how she quickly learned in school that “caring for” did not always mean “caring about.” She explains that in the classroom, she was always bouncing back and forth between the “fairies group” and the “brownies group”. This was mainly because of her inability to recognize numbers. But also because Sister MPH often refused to believe Lorde was actually as smart as she was. She was accused of not being truthful on an assignment when, in fact, she had been. At one point the teacher even instructed the class to offer a prayer for Lorde to stop being such a “trouble maker”.

            

       I like the way Audre Lorde illustrated to her readers what emotions she was feeling based on what her teachers were like. It really goes to show just how important it is to have encouraging people in your life. If it weren't for Mrs. Baker the librarian being so calm and sweet, Lorde may have never found her passion for reading and writing. She says Mrs. Baker’s deed saved her life.