(hook) Written by Sandra Cisneros, The House on Mango Street is a beautiful coming-of-age story from the perspective of a little Latina girl named Esperanza Cordero, who has just moved to a new house on Mango Street with her family. The story follows Esperanza and the people she encounters during her time on Mango Street as she struggles to find herself as an individual/her identity. During the story, Esperanza discovers how her culture and social class affects her, how she relates to the roles of women in her community, and how to process her hopes and dreams as she matures. These pieces eventually come together in order to help Esperanza form her identity. The shabby old house on Mango Street is all that Esperanza and her family can afford at the moment, as they are very poor. Esperanza is happy that her family owns a house, but she often feels ashamed and embarrassed to live in it. For example, one day, a nun that passes by asks Esperanza where she lives. When she points to her house, the nun asks, “You live there? The way she [says] it [makes] [her] feel like nothing. There. [she] lived there. [She] [nods].” (1.10) The way that the nun says the word “there” makes Esperanza feel very small, like there is something wrong with the house. Not only does Esperanza feel judged by people in her community, she also feels judged by outsiders. “Those who don't know any better come into our neighborhood scared. They think we’re dangerous. They think we will attack them with shiny
All the people on Mango Street were struggling to get by, but they seemed satisfied with just making it. Esperanza was not. There were characters like Esperanza’s mother who was a “smart cookie,” and could’ve been anything, but she let shame get the best of her and dropped out of school. There was also Rafaela who got married before the 8th grade just so she could move into her own house, but her husband never let her leave the house afterward. He never let her see her friends, and the highlight of her week was getting coconut or papaya juice from someone who would send it up in a paper bag attached to a clothespin since she couldn’t leave the house. Lastly, there was the time when she was left stranded by the tilt-a- whirl waiting for a friend that never came back and got molested by a group of boys. The only witnesses were the red clown statues that seemed to be laughing at her. Nevertheless, she let none of this stopped her from going forward and perusing her dream. She still seemed to be struggling with a sense of belonging, but maybe that’s because she didn’t.
Growing up on Mango Street, girls had to take two steps backward to take one forward. Just like ballroom dancing, women let men take the lead and sacrifice an extra step to continue moving on the floor. When Sally escaped from her father and married the marshmallow salesman, she had to give up her youth and femininity.
Hook: In the coming-of-age novel, House on Mango Street, the main character Esperanza narrates the story through her perspective of the situations she encounters as she grows older in her new neighborhood.
The House on Mango Street is a novel that seeks to bring awareness of Mexican-American culture and how it affects women in particular. Accordingly, Esperanza is used to portray what it is like to be a Mexican-American female in this world. Throughout the novel she learns what is expected of her and what is supposedly out of her reach. She finds her own identity to be influenced by her culture and socioeconomic status, which creates her to be independent and caring.
For example as stated on page 4, “ Our house would be white with trees around it, a great big yard and grass growing without a fence. This was the house Papa talked about when he held a lottery ticket and this was the house Mama dreamed up in the stories she told us before we went to bed. But the house on Mango street is not the way they told at all.”.When the reality of her parents expectations didn’t go the way hoped it created the initial reason for Esperanza’s dream about leaving Mango Street . If their house wasn’t that much of a downgrade to what they have wanted ,Esperanza may not have felt the need to dream about a whole new house of her own. As her character continues to grow, her reason of wanting her own house becomes much more meaningful . Essentially, Esperanza's house will not only show her taste in real estate, but her true self . In other words , her house will act as a safe haven , the place she can escape to express herself and show her true nature. Illustrated on page 87 ,” One day I’ll own my own house, but I won’t forget who I am or where I came from. Passing bums will ask,Can I come in? I’ll offer them the attic, ask them to stay, because I
The Novel, The House on Mango Street, was based on the writer Sandra Cisneros. She was writing this when she was living in Chicago. She was like Esperanza. She want though poverty. She has been heartbroken and deeply joyous. She inventing for herself who and what she will become. This is the life of Esperanza Cordero and based on Sandra Cisneros to all women out there.
“The House on Mango Street” was written to explain the lives of a family living in poverty in 1984. Coming from Esperanza’s point of view, this book gave her siblings and friends an idea of who the real Esperanza was and what her priorities were. In this book, Esperanza moves from city to city, house to house, with her family hoping for a real house. When she gets to the house on Mango Street, it is not what she expects. She meets new friends and has some crazy experiences. This book has many societal standards but, the most important three are responsibility, happiness, and fitting in.
In the novel, The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, a young confused girl has trouble finding herself as she grows up in the Latino section of Chicago. Esperanza and her family move to a small, crumbling red house in a poor urban neighborhood. Determined, she decides that someday she will leave and move somewhere else and totally forget everything about Mango Street. Throughout the novel, Esperanza significantly matures sexually and emotionally. The many stories of her neighbors gives a full image of what Mango Street is like and showing the many possible paths Esperanza may follow in the near future. However towards the end, she begins to write as a way of expressing herself and as a way to escape the
The House on Mango Street is a collection of vignettes written by Sandra Cisneros that is about a young Mexican-American girl named Esperanza, and the struggles of her life as she transitions from childhood into adulthood. Esperanza wants to find her true identity, but the conflicts and struggles that she faces throughout the story. Her town is a part of her adventure to find her self identity. She picks herself up, learning and figuring herself out throughout the novel. The author uses symbolism throughout the vignettes to convey the deeper meaning of conflicts developed in the novel, to show the difficulties of growing into adulthood.
In a series of vignettes, The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros, covers a year in the life of Esperanza, who is about twelve years old. During the year, she moves into a house on Mango Street. It is the first home her parents actually own, however she has had a plethora apartments in her life. However, the house is not what Esperanza has dreamed of, for the reason that it is run-down and cramped. For the duration of the vignettes, the readers watch Esperanza struggle but overall mature. In the rest of the vignettes, the readers receive a glimpse of the lives of the women on Mango Street. When reading the readers get to learn and understand these women. They are extremely important because they act as character foils to help the readers better understand Esperanza. During the novel, the women on Mango Street are confined and go through many struggles. The reader also learns about Esperanza's identity.
The world is not always fair, but don’t let that hold you down. Make the best of the cards you are dealt. In the Sandra Cisneros novel, The House on Mango Street, Esperanza, the main character, struggles to find happiness on Mango Street. In her youth, Esperanza moved from place to place quite frequently. Before she lived on Mango Street, she lived on Loomis, Keeler, Paulina, and in several other homes on several other streets. The story is about Esperanza’s experience on Mango Street and her self-discovery. She tries to figure out who she is in the light of the stereotypes of the Latina women she is surrounded by. Growing up in the barrio, Esperanza learns that Latina women are treated poorly by men and marry at an extremely young age.
Sandra Cisneros was born in Chicago in 1954. Sandra was internationally acclaimed for her poetry and fiction. The House on Mango Street takes place in modern times. Esperanza and her family live in a suburban style city. Her family moved to a different condo each time they had a kid, until they moved to Mango Street.
When people face obstacles they forget that those same experiences and tragedies often shape an individual's outlook on life and inspire personal growth from within. The novel, The House on Mango Street reminds its readers that even in the worst of times there are still lessons to be learned as seen through the eyes of a girl named Esperanza. The coming of age story deals with dark underlying struggles blanketed in the innocent viewpoint of a child forced to grow up frighteningly quick. The main protagonist, a young Chicano girl, shows the audience of the importance of learning from past experience in order to form an identity entirely based on the individuals own volition. Sandra Cisneros, The author of The House on Mango Street, uses Esperanza's struggles caused by her race,gender, and economic status to instill the theme of self discovery through one's identity.
Esperanza is jealous of the “special kids” who live too far from school to go home for lunch and eat at the “canteen.” Esperanza, wishing she can eat her lunch there too, attempts to convince her mother to write her a letter granting her permission to pack a lunch and eat in the “canteen.” Her mother is reluctant at first, claiming that soon all of the children in the house will want lunches, but Esperanza uses her wit to convince her otherwise. The next day at lunchtime, Sister Superior refuses her mother’s awkwardly writing letter. She claims that Esperanza lives close to home and must eat there. Sister Superior points to an ugly row of houses across the boulevard, accusing Esperanza of living there. Esperanza, upset that she is unable to
Reading I don’t really like it , but my english teacher made our whole class read this book The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros. It's about a girl named Esperanza who moves to this small red house. She can’t wait to move into her dream house.