The House on Mango Street By Sandra Ciseros

1. 1st period Amy Chen The House on Mango StreetBy Sandra Ciseros

2. Table of Contents General Summary of the Novel………………………………….......1 Character Descriptions………………………………………………......3 Figurative Language Log………………………………………………….10 Theme Study…………………………………………………………………..17 Student Vignette……………………………………………………………..18 Back Page……………………………………………………………………….19

3. General Summary of the Novel In the vignette “My Name”, the name Esperanza means hope in English. In Spanish it means sadness, it means waiting. Esperanza inherited her name from her grandmother. Everyone from Esperanza’s school say her name funny. Esperanza’s grandmother spent her whole life looking out the window. She does not want to be like her, and she does not like her name. “Alicia Who Sees Mice” tells a story about a girl named Alicia who studies hard for university because she does not want to work in a factory or to wake up early in the morning and catch the hind legs hid behind the sink. In the vignette “A Rice Sandwich”, Esperanza feels it’s very special to be able to eat in the canteen. When she actually eats there, reality ruins her dream. Esperanza expressed the unique relationship between the four skinny trees and herself, as if the trees are strong symbols for Esperanza and her friends in the vignette “Four Skinny Trees”. “A Smart Cookie”, Esperanza’s mother educated her not to give up on education like she did because she could be somebody otherwise. The ironic statement from Esperanza “I was a smart cookie then” ends the vignette.

4. Character Description

5. Esperanza Esperanza is the narrator of the novel “The House on Mango Street”. She is an approximately twelve-year old Mexican-American girl. Her “hair is lazy. It never obeys barrettes or bands” (Cisneros 6). Esperanza is desperate for freedom, she compares herself to “a red balloon, a balloon tied to an anchor” (Cisneros 9). She does not think she belongs to Mango Street; she wants to become someone new. Esperanza does not like her name because “it means sadness, it means waiting” (Cisneros 10). Esperanza doesn’t want to inherit how her grandmother waited, and looked out the window her whole life after she already inherited her name.

6. Rachel & Lucy Rachel and Lucy said to Esperanza, “If you give me five dollars I will be your friend forever” (Cisneros 14). Esperanza gives them five dollars to the two Mexican-American girls, and they give her forever friendship. Lucy “has long legs” (Cisneros 15), and Rachel “is skinny” (Cisneros 16). The three of them ride the bike while a very fat lady shouts “You got quite a load there” (Cisneros 16). Rachel shouts back “You got quite a load there too” (Cisneros 16). Just like that, she’s a very sassy girl.

7. Marin Marin is from Puerto Rico. She’s a young woman who “gets money from selling Avon and taking care of her cousins” (Cisneros 26). Since she babysits a lot, Marin cannot leave the house. Esperanza says that Marin teaches them “if you count the white flecks on your fingernails you can know how many boys are thinking of you” (Cisneros 27). Marin becomes the only source for Esperanza and her friends to learn the boy world. Even though “Marin’s boyfriend is in Puerto Rico” (Cisneros 26), Marin dreams some white man might bring her out of Mango Street to the suburbs. Marin “is waiting for a car to stop, a star to fall, someone to change her life”.

8. Alicia Alicia “is young and smart and studies for the first time at the university” (Cisneros 31). Alicia, “whose mama died” (Cisneros 31). Her mother died, she has to take care of herself and her father. She wakes up early “and makes the lunchbox tortillas” (Cisneros 31). Alicia studies hard “because she doesn’t want to spend her whole life in a factory or behind a rolling pin” (Cisneros 32). She “is a good girl” (Cisneros 32). Alicia, who studies late at night, sees mice.

9. Sally Sally is “the girl with eyes like Egypt” (Cisneros 81). She is the most beautiful girl in school, “she flicks her hair back like a satin shawl over her shoulders” (Cisneros 81). She leans over the fence, Esperanza thinks “all you wanted, all you wanted, Sally, was to love and to love and to love and to love, and no one could call that crazy” (Cisneros 83). Sally really wants freedom and attention. Sally denies, “He never hits me hard” (Cisneros 92). Sally has an abusive father, “a girl who comes in with her pretty face all beaten and black” (Cisneros 92). Sally is not trustworthy, “Sally, you lied” (Cisneros 99). Sally leaves Esperanza to go with the boys. At the end, “Sally got married” (Cisneros 101) to escape.

10. Figurative Language Log

11. In the vignette “Hairs”, “But my mother’s hair, my mother’s hair, (repetition), like little rosettes (simile), like little candy circles (smile) all curly and pretty because she pinned it in pincurls all day, sweet to put your nose into when she is holding you, holding you (repetition) and you feel safe, is the warm smell of bread before you bake it (metaphor), is the smell when she makes room for you on her side of the bed still warm with her skin, and you sleep near her, the rain outside falling and Papa snoring” (Cisneros 6-7). This sentence contains many figurative language uses, just because of these uses; the sentence tends to become more alive, as if you are watching a movie. You can picture what is happening, you can smell the smell, and you can feel the warmth. Sometimes, you can get a flashback based on your own experiences.

12. After Esperanza sees Elenita, she thinks to herself, “A home in the heart, I was right. Only I don’t get it. A new house, a house made of heart. I’ll light a candle for you. (Foreshadowing)” (Cisneros 64). This sentence contains a strong foreshadowing. A home in the heart, Esperanza does not understand the meaning of this term that Elenita has used, which foreshadows she will learn from her future experiences as life goes on.

13. In the vignette “Four Skinny Trees”, Esperanza compares herself to the trees, “Four skinny trees with skinny necks and pointy elbows like mine (Smile & Personification)” (Cisneros 74). This describes Esperanza’s physical look to the readers, makes it easier to picture what Esperanza looks like.

14. Sally, the most beautiful girl at school, “the boys at school think she’s beautiful because her hair is shiny black like raven feathers (Simile) and when she laughs, she flicks her hair back like a satin shawl (Simile) over her shoulders and laughs” (Cisneros 81). She has beautiful hair, unlike Esperanza from previous vignette’s description. Sally has nice eyes too, “Sally is the girl with eyes like Egypt (Simile)” (Cisneros 81). This simile helps the readers to see an image of Sally’s eyes. Esperanza thinks “all you wanted, all you wanted (repetition), Sally, was to love and to love and to love and to love (Repetition), and no one could call that crazy” (Cisneros 83). The repetitions in this sentence enhance Sally’s desire on wanting freedom and attention.

15. Esperanza’s mother tells Esperanza that her “blouse will learn to stay clean (Personification)” (Cisneros 88). Clothes cannot learn to stay clean or act like a human being. This personification tells the readers that as Esperanza grows older, she will learn to keep her blouse to stay clean, but in a more lively way.

16. Esperanza’s mother has a beautiful velvety voice, “today while cooking oatmeal she is Madame Butterfly (Allusion)” (Cisneros 91). Her mother sings opera, which the readers would get a better idea from this allusion. After Esperanza’s mother educated her to never give up on education, Esperanza thinks to herself, “I was a smart cookie then (Irony & Metaphor)” (Cisneros 91). Esperanza does not think she’s a smart cookie, and the metaphor included is a great way to express it.

17. Theme Study One theme from the novel “The House on Mango Street” that is important is the differences and levels between the two different sexualities, the stereotypical ways of viewing them and the desire on escaping the situation. Esperanza says “Until then I am a red balloon, a balloon tied to an anchor” (Cisneros 9). Esperanza does not have a best friend to share her secretes to. She thinks the boys and the girls live in two different worlds; her brother would not talk to them once they are outside the house. He shows that it’s an embarrassment to talk to girls out in the public. Esperanza compares herself to a balloon tied to an anchor because a balloon is supposed to fly, she wants to have a real friend and have more space to spare her feelings. Esperanza’s grandmother looked outside the window her whole life, Esperanza clearly states that, “I wonder if she made the best with what she got or was she sorry because she couldn’t be all the things she wanted to be. Esperanza. I have inherited her name, but I don’t want to inherit her place by the window” (Cisneros 11). Esperanza expressed the desire on exiting the life she would probably have in some years. Her grandmother spent her life waiting, waiting for things to happen, waiting for the guiltiness on not be able to be what she wanted to be to go away. Esperanza has a goal to become the opposite of her grandmother. Alicia, who spends nights on studying, who rides “two trains and a bus, because she doesn’t want to spend her whole life in a factory or behind a rolling pin” (Cisneros 32). The women have to wake up early to make tortilla stars, to work in a factory if they don’t have any education background. Nobody fixes the swollen floorboards; they have to catch the hind legs hide behind the sink, beneath the tub. Alicia, whose mother died, who studies hard to avoid the pattern that’s going on in every woman’s life. Esperanza begins her own quiet war, “Sure. I am one who leaves the table like a man, without putting back the chair or picking up the plate” (Cisneros 89). This reflects how men act in that society. There are no gentlemen, only the ones who leave things to the women and control everything. After Sally gets married, “She sits at home because she is afraid to go outside without his permission. She looks at all the things they own: the towels and the toaster, the alarm clock and the drapes. She likes looking at the walls, at how neatly their corners meet, the linoleum roses on the floor, the ceiling smooth as a wedding cake” (Cisneros 102). Sally’s new husband doesn’t give her any permission on anything. He would not let her go outside, talk on the telephone, look out the window, and he would not let anyone to visit her. He gets all the control in the family. She is afraid of him too, just like most of the wives on Mango Street. Sally thinks she escaped from her old life; instead, she steps in another miserable form of life. The ironic ending comparing the ceiling smooth as wedding cake is opposite from Sally’s new rough life.

18. Student vignette Celebrating the holidays with my family is especially fun because of the laughter and the feeling when you get after seeing everyone in a long time. Now in the states, we celebrate most of the western holidays with friends. The most missed holiday by me is definitely the Chinese New Year. I haven’t gotten a chance to celebrate it with my entire family in a long time. Before I moved, we would clean the whole house together to get a clean start for the New Year and hang all the red decorations to get the spirit up. My cousin and I are the most excited ones since we get excited about well the holidays, the snow… but the most exciting part is getting the red pockets full but money from our relatives. The night before the New Year’s Day, there is definitely going to be a big dinner party in our house. My uncle and grandma are mainly in charge on food. After dinner for about two hours, the family would change into new clothes and pray for happiness and health in the next year. Not every family prays, instead this is just a tradition in our family. After that, we would all gather up together in front of the TV to watch the New Year’s show which keeps us entertained until midnight. The show keeps on going until about two, but I never know because the anemic feeling I get for being up too late makes me go to sleep. About 6 in the morning, we wake up and dress up nicely, have the New Year’s morning drink (another family tradition), and go outside to wish the neighbors happy new year. The sky is blue without a single cumulus. For us kids, it’s time to get the red pockets by saying a happy new year to the people who has them. Even though it’s the same for us every year, but I never get tired of the holiday spirit. Everything is new and we start all over again after the bell of New Year’s rings.

19. Back page Everyone should at least try to read this book because you can learn so many from just these thin pages. You can really feel the diverse between the society that we live in and an unique view from Esperanza. The usage of languages in this book is just amazing, it’s a deeper world with a lot of interesting things to think about. So you should give it a chance and try it out!  Amy Chen