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Reaction Paper On The House On Mango Street
Life is full of horrors and happiness. One may enjoy his or her childhood, while the next may not. One's identity depends on one's characteristics
and who yearn to become. Whether independent from one's family may bring happiness. Not all families bring joy, in fact some bring dismay and
sorrow. Esperanza faces the harsh reality of life in The House on Mango Street, as life is not perfect. People hide behind a false persona of
blissfulness and euphoria. Only those who truly know one another, see past the false persona and discover other's trueself. A bildungsroman style
of writing, The House on Mango Street focuses on Esperanza's transition into the new world, in which life is not what it may seems and can be
full of terrors that one might not have seen before in his or her sheltered and naive life. In Sandra Cisneros' House on Mango Street, Esperanza
learns to express herself, through the harsh realities of transitioning into adulthood, learning the dreadful roles of women in society and how one can
fall into a vicious cycle of violence, but can break the cycle through help from the community and the purpose of the author's' style of writing as it
influences the story was a whole. Esperanza discovers who she truly is, through an uprising regarding one's coming of age, as she strays from her
sheltered life and braces the real world, facing experiences of intimidation and horror. The House on Mango Street bases itself of a bildungsroman style
of writing. In which
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House on Mango Street Essay
The Loss of Innocence on Mango Street Often in literature, authors create plot by writing about characters maturing throughout the story. One work
that explores childhood to adulthood is The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. In this novella, Esperanza Cordero is a young girl who lives in
a poverty stricken area in Chicago. During the story, Esperanza grows up from being an adolescent to a young adult. In the novella, the theme is that
losing innocence brings about maturity. Cisneros expresses Esperanza growing up by juxtaposing vignettes. Tone is also used to enhance the change in
Esperanza's thoughts while maturing. Both the juxtaposition of vignettes and tone support the theme that the loss of innocence and the gaining of...show
more content...
Esperanza showing hatred toward Sally indirectly shows how Esperanza has matured. All in all, Esperanza Cordero's lack of innocence and
gaining of knowledge develops her into a more mature character. When a character is exposed to an incident in which his or her perspective is
forever changed, he or she will gain knowledge and maturity. An event such as being raped is an example of how one can lose his or her
innocence. The House on Mango Street leads the reader into analyzing his or her own life. It shows how Esperanza's pure view of life has changed to
become a more sophisticated and realistic one. Growing up is something that everyone, at one point or another, goes through. This loss of innocence is
something that is unavoidable and irreversible. When people lose their innocence, they gain maturity and gain knowledge. When a person losing the
pureness in them, they open their eyes and they are able to see the world for what it really
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Theme Of Identity In The House On Mango Street
The most important Theme in The House on Mango Street is identity. Identity is a very important part of everyone. Everything you experienced,
you have done in your life is what makes your identity, shapes our identity It is what defines a person and how people see that person. Without an
identity people would not know what kind of person they are. The book overall is talking about how the struggle of self definition Esperanza is
going through. "You will always be Esperanza. You will always be Mango Street. You can't erase what you know. You can't forget who you are"
(Cisneros 105). Esperanza has to face the fact that her every experience she had on Mango Street is what shaped her identity. The place that Esperanza
has...show more content...
Therefore, she became friends with Sally so she can meet her goal of becoming beautiful and cruel. But, once she got assaulted by a guy, she started
realised she does not want to be a beautiful and cruel girl. "Why did you leave me all alone? I waited my whole life. You're a liar. They all lied. All
the books and magazines, everything that told it wrong. Only his dirty fingernails against my skin, only his sour smell again. The moon that watched.
The tilt–a–whirl. The red clowns laughing their thick–tongue laugh" (Cisneros 99). She started to realize the Esperanza that wanted a boyfriend,
wanted to be like the other girls on the block all trying to impress boys, marrying at a young age was not the Esperanza she wanted to be. She saw
how men treated women like dogs being kept on a leash making them do everything they say. As of there she is unsure of who she is. Eventually,
Esperanza decides she does not need to set herself apart from the others in her neighborhood or her family heritage by changing her name, and she
stops forcing herself to develop sexually, which she is not fully ready for. She is finally accepts her place in her community and decides that the
most best way she can define herself is as a writer. "Not a flat. Not an apartment in back. Not a man's house. Not a daddy's. A house all my own. With
my porch and my pillow, my pretty
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Essay On The House On Mango Street
The chapter, My Name, gives many metaphors and similes that begin to help the reader understand Esperanza's battle to be acknowledged and
approved in society. "In English my name means hope. In Spanish it means too many letters. It means sadness, it means waiting," (Cisneros pg.10).
Esperanza explains the meaning of hope for Hispanic people in a few simple words: sadness and waiting. For millions, it represents the wait of a new
life, a better life for them. It's sadness, knowing many reject them in a land they were promised opportunity. This motif of repudiation and racial
discrimination appears frequently throughout the novel, which greatly affects Esperanza's life. The young protagonist also explains her fear of
inheriting her great–grandmother's...show more content...
Esperanza. I have inherited her name, but I don't want to inherit her place by the window," (pg.11). Cisneros makes the readers visualize awoman, time
creasing her skin, as she stares out the window, time passing by as she accepts the life that has whisked her away so suddenly, "as if she were a fancy
chandelier,". Esperanza is repulsed by the thought of having to follow in the footsteps of her great–grandmother, forced to throw her life away so
easily. She confesses as well that her classmates "say my name funny as if the syllables were made out of tin and hurt the roof of your mouth,".
Esperanza is singled out for this one issue: her name. Which greater delves into her insecurities when she begins talking about giving herself a new
name. "I would like to baptize myself under a new name, a name more like the real me, the one nobody sees," (pg.11). When people struggle to
accept her, she begins the struggle of accepting herself, desperately trying to find a way to conform to a society that tells her she's substandard. The
House on Mango Street gives many compelling vignettes that affect the main character greatly however, the chapter My Name reveals Esperanza's
insecurities and her willingness to be accepted into this new
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Essay On The House On Mango Street
What does a house represent? For most people a house is a shelter from the weather, a safe environment, a place where one finds stability and
strength, and where family gets together. In the novel written by Sandra Cisneros, "The House on Mango Street", the author tries to explain that
every person owns a home with which an individual identifies, it describes who one is, and determined by how a individual view itself, and so it is
what makes every person unique. However, for Esperanza, the House on Mango Streets symbolizes the struggles they went through and the poverty
they live in. In the first short story The House on Mango Street, Esperanza Cordero, describes the place where she and her family were living in as a
deteriorated building...show more content...
She wanted to be a successful woman one day, and to be one she needed to go to the Catholic school, as her father had told her. The Catholic school
was expensive and her parents did not have the means to cover with all the tuition that is why she was in need to start working. Esperanza says
that in order to get hired at the Peter Pan Phone Finishers, she had to say the she was a year older (Cisneros 54). This demonstrates how deprived
the Cordero family were. That in order for Esperanza to attend a good school, she had to work as such a young age and even lied about her age so
she can get the job. In conclusion, the House on Mango Street to Esperanza symbolizes the battles they experienced and the neediness they went
through in order to succeed. Moving from one home to another, hoping that the next one was going to be a better home or the one they always dream
about. The neighborhood Esperanza lived in where everyone struggles to survive. Also the motivation that Esperanza had to one day leave The House
on Mango Street, to a better place, a better home with a beautiful front and back yard, and lots of tress surrounding her
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House On Mango Street Analysis
The House on Mango Street Reading the House on Mango Street was very interesting. It was fascinating to read someone else's story and be able
to relate to someone with a completely different life than me. It also compelled me to look at life through a different culture and growing up
experiences than mine and challenged me to think about things I initially would not think about. I enjoyed reading it because I was able to
mentally create a timeline of all the different vignettes, each of them showing me different little snippets of her growing up and figuring out how
to exist in the world. There was a reason for each story. Some of them had very clear lessons that she learned, others were experiences she went
through that she never forgot. Some were happy, others not so much. All of them combined made the story of her life growing up in the house on
mango street. This is why I think the dominant theme to this book is growing up. The struggles and the experiences one goes through to figure out
themselves and the world around them. A lot of the vignettes she wrote seemed to be her retelling parts in her life from a very young age all the way
into adulthood, but there are three in particular that stood out to me as stories that revealed her growing up. The first Vignette that I think really backs
up my theme is The Family of Little Feet. It depicts how Esperanza and her friends learn a lesson through a not very comfortable experience. They
seem to be teenagers at the time,
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House On Mango Street Reflection
Have you ever felt like the place you belonged to didn't belong to you? In The House on Mango Street, this is how the main character, Esperanza,
felt. The author, Sandra Cisneros, did a good job in portraying a girl who couldn't find her place. She had a problem accepting where she was from,
The House on Mango Street is heartfelt novel and is great to pass the time. In this story, you will be shown the lives of Esperanza, her sister Nenny,
their two best friends Rachel and Lucy, and the many people who lived on Mango Street. This book is about a girl who went from denying her place to
accepting it.
Esperanza was a little girl who always felt like she was destined to have more than what she had, which, quite frankly wasn't a lot. She...show more
content...
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.
By the end of the story, Esperanza accepted the fact that she lived on Mango Street even though she never felt she belonged. She learned that even
though she may leave Mango Street, Mango street would never leave her. In the chapter titled, The Three Sisters, who happened to be fortune tellers,
they told her that she would one day get her big house and a better
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Argumentative Essay On The House On Mango Street
In the book House on Mango Street, the author builds an argument stating that writing is a way to freedom and a better life. The author uses education,
freedom, and the remembrance of Mango Street to strengthen the logic and persuasiveness of the argument.
Alicia is a neighborhood girl who lives on mango street on which her mother died. She has to do all the chores such as cooking and cleaning while
trying to attend college. Alicia uses public transportation everyday to go to school so she can escape her life. One night, she stays up all night
studying and sees a mice, her father gives her a hard time about her studies and say the mise?? doesn't exist. He basically explains that her life is to
wake up morning after morning to make tortillas for her younger siblings lunches."Alicia, who inherited her mama's rolling pin and sleepiness, is
young and smart and studies for the first time at university." Alicia tries to use her education to have freedom, to leave herfamily and go have a better
life.
Mama explains to esperanza that she is free and doesn't need to rely on anyone, not even neither a man to take care of her. Esperanza already knows
how to speak two languages, sing, draw, and fix a television but...show more content...
Lucy and Rachel losing their baby sister was an awful tragedy, everyone gathered to view the baby before she was buried. The sisters compliment
Esperanza's name and tell her that she's very special. Her wish was a selfish wish and she starts to feel guilty. They tell her that she will always be
on Mango Street and even though she has to leave , she should come back for others. Alicia is lucky that she has somewhere to call home,
Guadalajara, and she will return there someday. "You live right here, 4006 Mango, Alicia says and points to the house I am ashamed of." Esperanza
refused that she doesn't have a home or come from Mango street until someone makes it better which is
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The House On Mango Street Essay
The Latina women in the male–dominated society of The House on Mango Street cannot envision their own autonomy because they are taught to need
a man to fulfill their life which allows these women to be easily manipulated. A woman's lack of power in a male–dominated society allows men to
manipulate women physically and sexually because their society believes in powerful men and powerless women. Alicia, a women in The House on
Mango Street, wants to study and go to school, but cannot because her father expects her to inherit her mother's role in society as powerless worker in
a factory. Her father demonstrates the common traditional views of a male in their male–dominated society. He states, "Anyway, a woman's place is
sleeping so she...show more content...
It was that simple" (Cisneros 96). Cisneros' choice to use the word "simple" to describe the amount of thinking it took for Sally to agree to the offer,
allows readers to understand the impact of the superiority of men in their society. A mans ability to manipulate a women is "simple," because society
gives all the power to the men, therefore men can control women. Consequently, women cannot achieve autonomy because they are constantly
controlled by men and think that they need a man to save them, but they will end up being controlled by that man and in turn give up all their power.
Without a positive role model to help the women believe that autonomy is achievable, the Latino women in Mango Street think that they need a man to
take care of them which allows readers to understand that women in male–dominated societies are easily manipulated through their desire to have a
man which denies them from achieving autonomy.
Because of the male–dominance in Esperanza's society, women fall short of their capabilities in life which denies their ability to achieve autonomy.
Men have all the control of their female partner and do not allow them to be the person they want to be and do the things that they want to do.
Cisneros uses the motif women by windows to represent the women that are trapped by their partners. Rafaela is the perfect example because she is
locked indoors always leaning out a window dreaming of a life where she is capable to do whatever she
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House on Mango Street essay
Growing Up in Poverty 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...show more content...
At first, she was a strong woman, but after her forced marriage she spent most of her days looking out a window and hoping for escape. Explaining
the interaction between both sexes of children on Mango Street, Esperanza states that the boys and the girls live in separate worlds. Even at a
young age, divisions between gender are present among the characters. By living in separate worlds, they are demonstrating real life situations that
are already occurring in society at that time period. All in all, unfair gender roles in society is another important theme illustrated in the beginning of
the novel. Lastly, the third theme portrayed in the first few chapters is society and class. Expounding the looks of her house, "Out back is a small
garage for the car we don't own yet and a small yard that looks smaller between the two buildings on either side" (4). The description of Esperanza's
home contains clues about their social class. Obviously, her family lives in poverty by living in a poor quality house in the impoverished Latino
section of Chicago. When a nun from Esperanza's school examines her house, she states, "You live there? The way she said it make me feel like
nothing. There. I lived there. I nodded" (5). She feels immensely judged by the woman who must live in a much higher social class. The way she says
the word there tells Esperanza that there is something wrong with her home.
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What a Home Really is in The House on Mango Street
"Home is where the heart is." In The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros develops this famous statement to depict what a "home" really
represents. What is a home? Is it a house with four walls and a roof, the neighborhood of kids while growing up, or a unique Cleaver household
where everything is perfect and no problems arise? According to Cisneros, we all have our own home with which we identify; however, we cannot
always go back to the environment we once considered our dwelling place. The home, which is characterized by who we are, and determined by how
we view ourselves, is what makes every individual unique. A home is a personality, a depiction of who we are inside and...show more content...
"I am an ugly daughter," she says. "I am the one nobody comes for" (109). She feels she can relate to the four skinny trees outside her window. "Four
skinny trees with skinny necks and pointy elbows like mine" (93). Just as the trees survive under a harsh environment, Esperanza finds difficulty in
accepting the neighborhood in which she lives. She is very self–conscious about her name, whose mispronunciation by teachers and peers at school
sounds ugly to her ears. She struggles with jealousy of her younger sister Nenny and cynically says that she "has pretty eyes and it's easy to talk...if
you are pretty" (109). Ashamed of most everything she identifies with, Esperanza is maturing with a very low perception of herself. She is not content
with her home and surroundings, and cannot be until she is happy with her own character.
The neighborhood is not exactly a pretty place as Esperanza describes it. She says, "here there is too much sadness and not enough sky. Butterflies
too are few and so are flowers and most things that are beautiful" (39). In the one year of Esperanza's life that this book covers, she is raped, abused,
and sees the death of the only person who would listen to her poetry– "Her name was Aunt Lupe and she was beautiful like [her] mother" (70). Her
discontent with the neighborhood surrounding the house on Mango Street and the rough times that she experienced caused her to want to move away
from
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The House on Mango Street Essay
As a young girl, Esperanza is a young girl who looks at life from experience of living in poverty, where many do not question their experience. She
is a shy, but very bright girl. She dreams of the perfect home, with beautiful flowers and a room for everyone. When she moves to the house of
Mango Street, reality is so different than the dream. In this story, hope (Esperanza) sustains tragedy. The house she dreamed of was another on. It
was one of her own. One where she did not have to share a bedroom with everyone. That included her mother, father and two siblings. The run down
tiny house has "bricks crumbling in places". The one she dreamed of had a great big yard, trees and 'grass growing without a fence'. She did not want
to abandon...show more content...
"She sits at become afraid to go outside". The leave home, she would need permission. She evolves from a victim of child abuse to a slave–like wife.
Esperanza sees this despair throughout her story.
In "My Name, "She looked out the window her whole life, they way so many women sit, with their sadness on an elbow". Abuse to Rafaela, again
subtle because she does not go out, in fear of husband. Poverty on Loomis, Keeler and Paulina; poverty is a way of life. The impact is for all
generations, the parents who cannot get out, the children that see it and the little ones who cannot know any better. The opportunities are limited in the
barrio. Esperanza was embarrassed when she pointed to her house "there". "There?", as if there was no place for a girl to live. But survival is
instinctive and there is a certain amount of barrio pride "Those who don't know any better come into our neighborhood scared. They think we are
dangerous. They think we will attack them with shiny knives. They are stupid people who are lost and got here by mistake." The victim of being
called a "rice sandwich". Hurt by the sister superior as she points to a row of ugly houses reminding Esperanza of the sin of being poor.
Machismo is something seen in the domestic situations throughout Hispanic people. The violence, the subservience that is expected and the men
believe the women are second and are second class citizens. There role is to be domestic housekeepers and to birth children. Alicia makes
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Sarah Kim
Ms. Padilla
Adv L.A.
18 August 2016
The House On Mango Street In the novel "The House On Mango Street," Sandra Cisneros shows the themes identity, family, and the house, through
Esmeralda's experiences. She demonstrates the theme of identity by telling the story of Esperanza, the main character, and how she finds out what
identifies her from others. Cisneros reveals that Esperanza's family helps her feel like she belongs to the house on Mango Street and not left out. The
house is an important theme of the novel because it helps Esperanza to look back and have a past that she is proud of by living in that house and
overcoming many hardships. The themes in the novel "The House On Mango Street," are identity, family, and the house. One important theme of the
novel "The House On Mango Street," is identity. Identity is shown throughout the novel by Esperanza. She struggles to fit her cultural inheritance, her
economic status, gender, sexuality, and ethnicity into one logical world. She wants to move out of the house on Mango Street and get a new house
for her family. But later on, she determines that she wants the house to herself where she can grow as a writer. Esperanza figures out that what
defines her more than anything is her ability to tell stories. Her writing abilities allow her to balance out herself to those aspects that once made her
feel different from her former peers. Aunt Lupe told Esperanza, "That's nice. That's very good, she said in her tired
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Sandra Cisneros purpose in this novel is to use a fictional character to narrate a young latino girls life and show readers how she portrayed the
narrator's hopes and dreams. Cisneros, a very driven individual, wants readers to strive and succeed. The author wants to inspire many and uses her
writing skills to get her message out to many. She uses Esperanza to prove to readers the American dream is possible and to go always beyond the
limits. Sandra Cisneros strives to tell a good story but also hopes to serve as an inspiration.
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House On Mango Street Culture
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to grow up in a different culture? Or face discrimination because of your gender? These are just some
of the challenges the character Esperanza encounters in the coming of age novel The House on Mango Street. Written by Sandra Cisneros, this book
depicts the life of an adolescent girl named Esperanza. The novel covers her time spent in a racially separated neighborhood where she experiences the
hardships that come with being a girl in her time and culture. Self–discovery, the responsibilities of women, and the clash of two different cultures are
all major themes throughout the story. To begin with, the theme of self–discovery is unmistakable in this novel. Discovering one's self is an important
...show more content...
Esperanza's neighborhood, home only to Mexican–American families, is separated from the rest of society. Many parents of these families were raised
in Mexico, and although their children now reside in America, they still expect them to continue to practice the traditions of their initial culture.
Esperanza, like many other young Hispanics, is thrown into this situation along with her siblings. She tries to balance holding on to the customs of her
family with fitting in at school and among her peers. Despite her efforts to blend in, the severity of the segregation causes both the American and
Mexican cultures to conflict each other. Esperanza senses the grudge between the two cultures and tells readers that "those who don't know any better
come into our neighborhood scared. They think we are dangerous. They think we will attack them with shiny knives" (28). The Mexican–Americans in
Esperanza's community are regarded as lower class and threatening to the rest of society. As a result of this labeling, Esperanza will never be
completely like her white American peers. The amount of influence coming from her home culture changes her in a way that is so unlike the
Americans that she gives up trying to fit in. Instead, she decides to take the best of each culture and create her own way of living. To conclude, this
novel distinctly explores the theme of two different cultures striving to mix together. The House on Mango Street's main themes include self–discovery,
the roles of women, and the blending of two cultures to form another. Esperanza's journey on Mango Street is an inspiring one, teaching readers many
truths about life. From self–defining moments to the difficulties of womanhood, all themes expressed in this novel change people's view of the world
around
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Social Issues in The House on Mango Street Essay
The House on Mango Street: More than a Story In today's world there are countless social problems. People are often treated as an inferior or as if
they are less important for many different reasons. In The House on Mango Street, the author Sandra Cisneros addresses these problems. Throughout
the story Cisneros does a thorough job explaining and showing how these issues affect the public. This novel is written through the eyes of a young
girl, Esperanza, growing up in a poor neighborhood where the lifestyles of the lower class are revealed. Cisneros points out that, in today's society, the
expectation of women and their treatment, discrimination based on poverty, and discrimination because of a person's ethnicity are the major...show more
content...
Esperanza tells us many stories where it is evident that women are treated as possessions and often have little or no say in the affairs of the family.
Too often it seems that in Esperanza's experiences women are beaten by their husbands' or fathers'. One such example of a beating is when Sally
explains to Esperanza why she often has so many bruises. "He never hits me hard" (92), is how Sally tells Esperanza that her father often beats her.
During many instances in The House on Mango Street people are treated according to their wealth. People often look down upon Esperanza and her
peers with no reason except that they live differently because they have less money. During one part of the story Esperanza talks about strangers by
saying:
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 knives.
They are stupid people who are lost and got here by mistake. (28)
Cisneros shows how people often have misconceptions about people who are different from them and are often too quick to judge. This idea is
shown again when Esperanza is talking to a nun and the nun asks, Where do you live? She asked. There, I said pointing up to the third floor. You live
there?
There. I had to look to where she pointed– the third floor, the paint peeling, wooden bars Papa had nailed on the windows so we wouldn't fall
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Rhetorical Analysis Of The House On Mango Street
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros uses many rhetorical devices to push her viewpoint of how sexual maturity and individuality come
with age and experience. Cisneros' effective use of symbols, syntax, and tone convey and persuade Esperanza's upbringing. Cisneros uses simple
syntax and tells the story in vignettes to present the story as if it were told in Esperanza's eyes. Vignettes are short little descriptions of an event or
idea. The House on Mango Street is strictly told in vignettes which makes sense as it is told in a child's eyes. These vignettes tend to get larger as
the story progresses and as Esperanza becomes more aware of her surroundings. As a result of this, the vignettes not only become more complex, but
more mature as well. In vignettes such as "Hairs" and "My Name", Esperanza writes about simple innocent ideas like what she likes and does not like,
but later in the story vignettes such as "The Monkey Garden" and "No Speak English" cover much more mature situations such as the patriarchy and
rape in the near–poverty–line Latino neighborhood of Chicago. Esperanza finds herself in these situations because of how she begins to mature and
become an independent sexual being. With all of this information in mind, Cisneros uses the power of the vignette convey the fact that Esperanza is
becoming an individual sexual being.
Symbolism is key in this novel as Cisneros expresses a lot of information through symbols The concept of the high heels that the girls; Esperanza,
Lucy, Rachel, and Nenny had received showed one of their first tastes into their sexual maturity. Beforehand, Esperanza believed that boys in girls
live in separate social spheres as shown in the vignette "Boys & Girls" where she discusses how her brothers are best friends and that she wants
another friend, specifically a girl, to talk about her feelings and share her secrets with. This is also where Esperanza talks about another key symbol in
this story. In the vignette "Boys & Girls" Esperanza states "Until then I am a red balloon, a balloon tied to an anchor" (Cisneros 8). This is the first
key and memorable piece of symbolism in the story. As the red balloon suggests, Esperanza is a vibrant young lady with great potential,
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House On Mango Street Essay Thesis
Introduction
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.
Background Info: By writing in vignettes, she illustrates her emotions and the feelings she expresses towards the people that surround her.
Specifically: The roles of Esperanza's neighbors allow Esperanza to compare herself
As Esperanza goes into detail,The more Esperanza describes her neighbors the more Esperanza struggles with her place in society and desires to leave
her neighborhood.
Specifically:
Thesis: As the story continues, Esperanza matures mentally, emotionally, and sexually.
Body1
TS: Throughout the novel, Esperanza...show more content...
CM: At first, Esperanza's mental image of herself changes as she feels more confident with who and how superior she feels while walking in the heels.
CM: This is important because it is one of the first encounters Esperanza is comfortable and brandishes herself throughout the neighborhood.
CD: However, as
CM:
CM:
TRANS:
Body2
TS: Esperanza changes emotionally once she begins to like boys, particularly a boy in her neighborhood, Sire.
CD: In the vignette titles "Sire", Esperanza admits to trying not to look Sire in the eye, but instead stare straight, as she walks past him.
CM: This shows that
CM: This is important because
CD: Esperanza also admits that she would not mind taking Sire's girlfriend, Lois's place.
CM: However, Esperanza's mother continuously refers to Sire as the neighborhood punk which has a girlfriend that is on
CM:
TRANS:
Body3
TS: The final and most critical change Esperanza experiences is a sexual awakening.
CD: At the beginning of the novel, Esperanza describes her relations to the boys in her neighborhood as "a red balloon that is tied to an
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Essay on House On Mango Street
Women's Escape into Misery Women's need for male support and their husband's constant degradation of them was a recurring theme in the book
House on Mango Street. Many of Esperanza's stories were about women's dreams of marrying, the perfect husband and having the perfect family and
home. Sally, Rafaela, and Minerva are women who gave me the impression of [damsel's in distress].CLICHÉ, it's ok though. It's relevant
They wished for a man to sweep them of their feet and rescue them from their present misery. These characters are inspiring and strong but they are
unable to escape the repression of the surrounding environment. *Cisneros presents a rigid world in which they lived in, and left them no other hope but
to get married....show more content...
Cisneros presents the loneliness that Rafaela feels because of her husband's continuous imprisonment of her. Rafael's beauty is used as an excuse
in order to avoid the truth, male dominance in a woman's home. Esperanza explains that, "Rafaela who is still young gets locked
indoors because her husband is afraid Rafaela will run away since she is too beautiful to look at." (79). Thanks to these women,
Esperanza is able to avoid problems that come with a marriage. She is young and does not want to "look out the window her whole life,
the way so many women sit their sadness on an elbow" (11). Unlike most of the women in the book her escape is no longer the window.
"But that night he comes back and sends a big rock through the window"(85), shattering her glass hopes [???] and making her
turn to poetry as an escape. "Minerva is only a little bit older than me but already she has too kids and a husband who left."
(83) She is a perfect example of a woman who is subjected to the consequence of suffering because of marriage She "writes... on little
pieces of paper that she holds in her hand for a long time" (84). Like unhappily married women, she always takes him back even after the
incessant beatings. "She has many troubles, but the big one is her husband who left her and keeps on
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Reaction Paper On The House On Mango Street

  • 1. Reaction Paper On The House On Mango Street Life is full of horrors and happiness. One may enjoy his or her childhood, while the next may not. One's identity depends on one's characteristics and who yearn to become. Whether independent from one's family may bring happiness. Not all families bring joy, in fact some bring dismay and sorrow. Esperanza faces the harsh reality of life in The House on Mango Street, as life is not perfect. People hide behind a false persona of blissfulness and euphoria. Only those who truly know one another, see past the false persona and discover other's trueself. A bildungsroman style of writing, The House on Mango Street focuses on Esperanza's transition into the new world, in which life is not what it may seems and can be full of terrors that one might not have seen before in his or her sheltered and naive life. In Sandra Cisneros' House on Mango Street, Esperanza learns to express herself, through the harsh realities of transitioning into adulthood, learning the dreadful roles of women in society and how one can fall into a vicious cycle of violence, but can break the cycle through help from the community and the purpose of the author's' style of writing as it influences the story was a whole. Esperanza discovers who she truly is, through an uprising regarding one's coming of age, as she strays from her sheltered life and braces the real world, facing experiences of intimidation and horror. The House on Mango Street bases itself of a bildungsroman style of writing. In which Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 2. House on Mango Street Essay The Loss of Innocence on Mango Street Often in literature, authors create plot by writing about characters maturing throughout the story. One work that explores childhood to adulthood is The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. In this novella, Esperanza Cordero is a young girl who lives in a poverty stricken area in Chicago. During the story, Esperanza grows up from being an adolescent to a young adult. In the novella, the theme is that losing innocence brings about maturity. Cisneros expresses Esperanza growing up by juxtaposing vignettes. Tone is also used to enhance the change in Esperanza's thoughts while maturing. Both the juxtaposition of vignettes and tone support the theme that the loss of innocence and the gaining of...show more content... Esperanza showing hatred toward Sally indirectly shows how Esperanza has matured. All in all, Esperanza Cordero's lack of innocence and gaining of knowledge develops her into a more mature character. When a character is exposed to an incident in which his or her perspective is forever changed, he or she will gain knowledge and maturity. An event such as being raped is an example of how one can lose his or her innocence. The House on Mango Street leads the reader into analyzing his or her own life. It shows how Esperanza's pure view of life has changed to become a more sophisticated and realistic one. Growing up is something that everyone, at one point or another, goes through. This loss of innocence is something that is unavoidable and irreversible. When people lose their innocence, they gain maturity and gain knowledge. When a person losing the pureness in them, they open their eyes and they are able to see the world for what it really Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 3. Theme Of Identity In The House On Mango Street The most important Theme in The House on Mango Street is identity. Identity is a very important part of everyone. Everything you experienced, you have done in your life is what makes your identity, shapes our identity It is what defines a person and how people see that person. Without an identity people would not know what kind of person they are. The book overall is talking about how the struggle of self definition Esperanza is going through. "You will always be Esperanza. You will always be Mango Street. You can't erase what you know. You can't forget who you are" (Cisneros 105). Esperanza has to face the fact that her every experience she had on Mango Street is what shaped her identity. The place that Esperanza has...show more content... Therefore, she became friends with Sally so she can meet her goal of becoming beautiful and cruel. But, once she got assaulted by a guy, she started realised she does not want to be a beautiful and cruel girl. "Why did you leave me all alone? I waited my whole life. You're a liar. They all lied. All the books and magazines, everything that told it wrong. Only his dirty fingernails against my skin, only his sour smell again. The moon that watched. The tilt–a–whirl. The red clowns laughing their thick–tongue laugh" (Cisneros 99). She started to realize the Esperanza that wanted a boyfriend, wanted to be like the other girls on the block all trying to impress boys, marrying at a young age was not the Esperanza she wanted to be. She saw how men treated women like dogs being kept on a leash making them do everything they say. As of there she is unsure of who she is. Eventually, Esperanza decides she does not need to set herself apart from the others in her neighborhood or her family heritage by changing her name, and she stops forcing herself to develop sexually, which she is not fully ready for. She is finally accepts her place in her community and decides that the most best way she can define herself is as a writer. "Not a flat. Not an apartment in back. Not a man's house. Not a daddy's. A house all my own. With my porch and my pillow, my pretty Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 4. Essay On The House On Mango Street The chapter, My Name, gives many metaphors and similes that begin to help the reader understand Esperanza's battle to be acknowledged and approved in society. "In English my name means hope. In Spanish it means too many letters. It means sadness, it means waiting," (Cisneros pg.10). Esperanza explains the meaning of hope for Hispanic people in a few simple words: sadness and waiting. For millions, it represents the wait of a new life, a better life for them. It's sadness, knowing many reject them in a land they were promised opportunity. This motif of repudiation and racial discrimination appears frequently throughout the novel, which greatly affects Esperanza's life. The young protagonist also explains her fear of inheriting her great–grandmother's...show more content... Esperanza. I have inherited her name, but I don't want to inherit her place by the window," (pg.11). Cisneros makes the readers visualize awoman, time creasing her skin, as she stares out the window, time passing by as she accepts the life that has whisked her away so suddenly, "as if she were a fancy chandelier,". Esperanza is repulsed by the thought of having to follow in the footsteps of her great–grandmother, forced to throw her life away so easily. She confesses as well that her classmates "say my name funny as if the syllables were made out of tin and hurt the roof of your mouth,". Esperanza is singled out for this one issue: her name. Which greater delves into her insecurities when she begins talking about giving herself a new name. "I would like to baptize myself under a new name, a name more like the real me, the one nobody sees," (pg.11). When people struggle to accept her, she begins the struggle of accepting herself, desperately trying to find a way to conform to a society that tells her she's substandard. The House on Mango Street gives many compelling vignettes that affect the main character greatly however, the chapter My Name reveals Esperanza's insecurities and her willingness to be accepted into this new Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 5. Essay On The House On Mango Street What does a house represent? For most people a house is a shelter from the weather, a safe environment, a place where one finds stability and strength, and where family gets together. In the novel written by Sandra Cisneros, "The House on Mango Street", the author tries to explain that every person owns a home with which an individual identifies, it describes who one is, and determined by how a individual view itself, and so it is what makes every person unique. However, for Esperanza, the House on Mango Streets symbolizes the struggles they went through and the poverty they live in. In the first short story The House on Mango Street, Esperanza Cordero, describes the place where she and her family were living in as a deteriorated building...show more content... She wanted to be a successful woman one day, and to be one she needed to go to the Catholic school, as her father had told her. The Catholic school was expensive and her parents did not have the means to cover with all the tuition that is why she was in need to start working. Esperanza says that in order to get hired at the Peter Pan Phone Finishers, she had to say the she was a year older (Cisneros 54). This demonstrates how deprived the Cordero family were. That in order for Esperanza to attend a good school, she had to work as such a young age and even lied about her age so she can get the job. In conclusion, the House on Mango Street to Esperanza symbolizes the battles they experienced and the neediness they went through in order to succeed. Moving from one home to another, hoping that the next one was going to be a better home or the one they always dream about. The neighborhood Esperanza lived in where everyone struggles to survive. Also the motivation that Esperanza had to one day leave The House on Mango Street, to a better place, a better home with a beautiful front and back yard, and lots of tress surrounding her Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 6. House On Mango Street Analysis The House on Mango Street Reading the House on Mango Street was very interesting. It was fascinating to read someone else's story and be able to relate to someone with a completely different life than me. It also compelled me to look at life through a different culture and growing up experiences than mine and challenged me to think about things I initially would not think about. I enjoyed reading it because I was able to mentally create a timeline of all the different vignettes, each of them showing me different little snippets of her growing up and figuring out how to exist in the world. There was a reason for each story. Some of them had very clear lessons that she learned, others were experiences she went through that she never forgot. Some were happy, others not so much. All of them combined made the story of her life growing up in the house on mango street. This is why I think the dominant theme to this book is growing up. The struggles and the experiences one goes through to figure out themselves and the world around them. A lot of the vignettes she wrote seemed to be her retelling parts in her life from a very young age all the way into adulthood, but there are three in particular that stood out to me as stories that revealed her growing up. The first Vignette that I think really backs up my theme is The Family of Little Feet. It depicts how Esperanza and her friends learn a lesson through a not very comfortable experience. They seem to be teenagers at the time, Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 7. House On Mango Street Reflection Have you ever felt like the place you belonged to didn't belong to you? In The House on Mango Street, this is how the main character, Esperanza, felt. The author, Sandra Cisneros, did a good job in portraying a girl who couldn't find her place. She had a problem accepting where she was from, The House on Mango Street is heartfelt novel and is great to pass the time. In this story, you will be shown the lives of Esperanza, her sister Nenny, their two best friends Rachel and Lucy, and the many people who lived on Mango Street. This book is about a girl who went from denying her place to accepting it. Esperanza was a little girl who always felt like she was destined to have more than what she had, which, quite frankly wasn't a lot. She...show more content... 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. By the end of the story, Esperanza accepted the fact that she lived on Mango Street even though she never felt she belonged. She learned that even though she may leave Mango Street, Mango street would never leave her. In the chapter titled, The Three Sisters, who happened to be fortune tellers, they told her that she would one day get her big house and a better Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 8. Argumentative Essay On The House On Mango Street In the book House on Mango Street, the author builds an argument stating that writing is a way to freedom and a better life. The author uses education, freedom, and the remembrance of Mango Street to strengthen the logic and persuasiveness of the argument. Alicia is a neighborhood girl who lives on mango street on which her mother died. She has to do all the chores such as cooking and cleaning while trying to attend college. Alicia uses public transportation everyday to go to school so she can escape her life. One night, she stays up all night studying and sees a mice, her father gives her a hard time about her studies and say the mise?? doesn't exist. He basically explains that her life is to wake up morning after morning to make tortillas for her younger siblings lunches."Alicia, who inherited her mama's rolling pin and sleepiness, is young and smart and studies for the first time at university." Alicia tries to use her education to have freedom, to leave herfamily and go have a better life. Mama explains to esperanza that she is free and doesn't need to rely on anyone, not even neither a man to take care of her. Esperanza already knows how to speak two languages, sing, draw, and fix a television but...show more content... Lucy and Rachel losing their baby sister was an awful tragedy, everyone gathered to view the baby before she was buried. The sisters compliment Esperanza's name and tell her that she's very special. Her wish was a selfish wish and she starts to feel guilty. They tell her that she will always be on Mango Street and even though she has to leave , she should come back for others. Alicia is lucky that she has somewhere to call home, Guadalajara, and she will return there someday. "You live right here, 4006 Mango, Alicia says and points to the house I am ashamed of." Esperanza refused that she doesn't have a home or come from Mango street until someone makes it better which is Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 9. The House On Mango Street Essay The Latina women in the male–dominated society of The House on Mango Street cannot envision their own autonomy because they are taught to need a man to fulfill their life which allows these women to be easily manipulated. A woman's lack of power in a male–dominated society allows men to manipulate women physically and sexually because their society believes in powerful men and powerless women. Alicia, a women in The House on Mango Street, wants to study and go to school, but cannot because her father expects her to inherit her mother's role in society as powerless worker in a factory. Her father demonstrates the common traditional views of a male in their male–dominated society. He states, "Anyway, a woman's place is sleeping so she...show more content... It was that simple" (Cisneros 96). Cisneros' choice to use the word "simple" to describe the amount of thinking it took for Sally to agree to the offer, allows readers to understand the impact of the superiority of men in their society. A mans ability to manipulate a women is "simple," because society gives all the power to the men, therefore men can control women. Consequently, women cannot achieve autonomy because they are constantly controlled by men and think that they need a man to save them, but they will end up being controlled by that man and in turn give up all their power. Without a positive role model to help the women believe that autonomy is achievable, the Latino women in Mango Street think that they need a man to take care of them which allows readers to understand that women in male–dominated societies are easily manipulated through their desire to have a man which denies them from achieving autonomy. Because of the male–dominance in Esperanza's society, women fall short of their capabilities in life which denies their ability to achieve autonomy. Men have all the control of their female partner and do not allow them to be the person they want to be and do the things that they want to do. Cisneros uses the motif women by windows to represent the women that are trapped by their partners. Rafaela is the perfect example because she is locked indoors always leaning out a window dreaming of a life where she is capable to do whatever she Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 10. House on Mango Street essay Growing Up in Poverty 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...show more content... At first, she was a strong woman, but after her forced marriage she spent most of her days looking out a window and hoping for escape. Explaining the interaction between both sexes of children on Mango Street, Esperanza states that the boys and the girls live in separate worlds. Even at a young age, divisions between gender are present among the characters. By living in separate worlds, they are demonstrating real life situations that are already occurring in society at that time period. All in all, unfair gender roles in society is another important theme illustrated in the beginning of the novel. Lastly, the third theme portrayed in the first few chapters is society and class. Expounding the looks of her house, "Out back is a small garage for the car we don't own yet and a small yard that looks smaller between the two buildings on either side" (4). The description of Esperanza's home contains clues about their social class. Obviously, her family lives in poverty by living in a poor quality house in the impoverished Latino section of Chicago. When a nun from Esperanza's school examines her house, she states, "You live there? The way she said it make me feel like nothing. There. I lived there. I nodded" (5). She feels immensely judged by the woman who must live in a much higher social class. The way she says the word there tells Esperanza that there is something wrong with her home. Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 11. What a Home Really is in The House on Mango Street "Home is where the heart is." In The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros develops this famous statement to depict what a "home" really represents. What is a home? Is it a house with four walls and a roof, the neighborhood of kids while growing up, or a unique Cleaver household where everything is perfect and no problems arise? According to Cisneros, we all have our own home with which we identify; however, we cannot always go back to the environment we once considered our dwelling place. The home, which is characterized by who we are, and determined by how we view ourselves, is what makes every individual unique. A home is a personality, a depiction of who we are inside and...show more content... "I am an ugly daughter," she says. "I am the one nobody comes for" (109). She feels she can relate to the four skinny trees outside her window. "Four skinny trees with skinny necks and pointy elbows like mine" (93). Just as the trees survive under a harsh environment, Esperanza finds difficulty in accepting the neighborhood in which she lives. She is very self–conscious about her name, whose mispronunciation by teachers and peers at school sounds ugly to her ears. She struggles with jealousy of her younger sister Nenny and cynically says that she "has pretty eyes and it's easy to talk...if you are pretty" (109). Ashamed of most everything she identifies with, Esperanza is maturing with a very low perception of herself. She is not content with her home and surroundings, and cannot be until she is happy with her own character. The neighborhood is not exactly a pretty place as Esperanza describes it. She says, "here there is too much sadness and not enough sky. Butterflies too are few and so are flowers and most things that are beautiful" (39). In the one year of Esperanza's life that this book covers, she is raped, abused, and sees the death of the only person who would listen to her poetry– "Her name was Aunt Lupe and she was beautiful like [her] mother" (70). Her discontent with the neighborhood surrounding the house on Mango Street and the rough times that she experienced caused her to want to move away from Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 12. The House on Mango Street Essay As a young girl, Esperanza is a young girl who looks at life from experience of living in poverty, where many do not question their experience. She is a shy, but very bright girl. She dreams of the perfect home, with beautiful flowers and a room for everyone. When she moves to the house of Mango Street, reality is so different than the dream. In this story, hope (Esperanza) sustains tragedy. The house she dreamed of was another on. It was one of her own. One where she did not have to share a bedroom with everyone. That included her mother, father and two siblings. The run down tiny house has "bricks crumbling in places". The one she dreamed of had a great big yard, trees and 'grass growing without a fence'. She did not want to abandon...show more content... "She sits at become afraid to go outside". The leave home, she would need permission. She evolves from a victim of child abuse to a slave–like wife. Esperanza sees this despair throughout her story. In "My Name, "She looked out the window her whole life, they way so many women sit, with their sadness on an elbow". Abuse to Rafaela, again subtle because she does not go out, in fear of husband. Poverty on Loomis, Keeler and Paulina; poverty is a way of life. The impact is for all generations, the parents who cannot get out, the children that see it and the little ones who cannot know any better. The opportunities are limited in the barrio. Esperanza was embarrassed when she pointed to her house "there". "There?", as if there was no place for a girl to live. But survival is instinctive and there is a certain amount of barrio pride "Those who don't know any better come into our neighborhood scared. They think we are dangerous. They think we will attack them with shiny knives. They are stupid people who are lost and got here by mistake." The victim of being called a "rice sandwich". Hurt by the sister superior as she points to a row of ugly houses reminding Esperanza of the sin of being poor. Machismo is something seen in the domestic situations throughout Hispanic people. The violence, the subservience that is expected and the men believe the women are second and are second class citizens. There role is to be domestic housekeepers and to birth children. Alicia makes Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 13. Sarah Kim Ms. Padilla Adv L.A. 18 August 2016 The House On Mango Street In the novel "The House On Mango Street," Sandra Cisneros shows the themes identity, family, and the house, through Esmeralda's experiences. She demonstrates the theme of identity by telling the story of Esperanza, the main character, and how she finds out what identifies her from others. Cisneros reveals that Esperanza's family helps her feel like she belongs to the house on Mango Street and not left out. The house is an important theme of the novel because it helps Esperanza to look back and have a past that she is proud of by living in that house and overcoming many hardships. The themes in the novel "The House On Mango Street," are identity, family, and the house. One important theme of the novel "The House On Mango Street," is identity. Identity is shown throughout the novel by Esperanza. She struggles to fit her cultural inheritance, her economic status, gender, sexuality, and ethnicity into one logical world. She wants to move out of the house on Mango Street and get a new house for her family. But later on, she determines that she wants the house to herself where she can grow as a writer. Esperanza figures out that what defines her more than anything is her ability to tell stories. Her writing abilities allow her to balance out herself to those aspects that once made her feel different from her former peers. Aunt Lupe told Esperanza, "That's nice. That's very good, she said in her tired Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 14. Sandra Cisneros purpose in this novel is to use a fictional character to narrate a young latino girls life and show readers how she portrayed the narrator's hopes and dreams. Cisneros, a very driven individual, wants readers to strive and succeed. The author wants to inspire many and uses her writing skills to get her message out to many. She uses Esperanza to prove to readers the American dream is possible and to go always beyond the limits. Sandra Cisneros strives to tell a good story but also hopes to serve as an inspiration. Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 15. House On Mango Street Culture Have you ever wondered what it would be like to grow up in a different culture? Or face discrimination because of your gender? These are just some of the challenges the character Esperanza encounters in the coming of age novel The House on Mango Street. Written by Sandra Cisneros, this book depicts the life of an adolescent girl named Esperanza. The novel covers her time spent in a racially separated neighborhood where she experiences the hardships that come with being a girl in her time and culture. Self–discovery, the responsibilities of women, and the clash of two different cultures are all major themes throughout the story. To begin with, the theme of self–discovery is unmistakable in this novel. Discovering one's self is an important ...show more content... Esperanza's neighborhood, home only to Mexican–American families, is separated from the rest of society. Many parents of these families were raised in Mexico, and although their children now reside in America, they still expect them to continue to practice the traditions of their initial culture. Esperanza, like many other young Hispanics, is thrown into this situation along with her siblings. She tries to balance holding on to the customs of her family with fitting in at school and among her peers. Despite her efforts to blend in, the severity of the segregation causes both the American and Mexican cultures to conflict each other. Esperanza senses the grudge between the two cultures and tells readers that "those who don't know any better come into our neighborhood scared. They think we are dangerous. They think we will attack them with shiny knives" (28). The Mexican–Americans in Esperanza's community are regarded as lower class and threatening to the rest of society. As a result of this labeling, Esperanza will never be completely like her white American peers. The amount of influence coming from her home culture changes her in a way that is so unlike the Americans that she gives up trying to fit in. Instead, she decides to take the best of each culture and create her own way of living. To conclude, this novel distinctly explores the theme of two different cultures striving to mix together. The House on Mango Street's main themes include self–discovery, the roles of women, and the blending of two cultures to form another. Esperanza's journey on Mango Street is an inspiring one, teaching readers many truths about life. From self–defining moments to the difficulties of womanhood, all themes expressed in this novel change people's view of the world around Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 16. Social Issues in The House on Mango Street Essay The House on Mango Street: More than a Story In today's world there are countless social problems. People are often treated as an inferior or as if they are less important for many different reasons. In The House on Mango Street, the author Sandra Cisneros addresses these problems. Throughout the story Cisneros does a thorough job explaining and showing how these issues affect the public. This novel is written through the eyes of a young girl, Esperanza, growing up in a poor neighborhood where the lifestyles of the lower class are revealed. Cisneros points out that, in today's society, the expectation of women and their treatment, discrimination based on poverty, and discrimination because of a person's ethnicity are the major...show more content... Esperanza tells us many stories where it is evident that women are treated as possessions and often have little or no say in the affairs of the family. Too often it seems that in Esperanza's experiences women are beaten by their husbands' or fathers'. One such example of a beating is when Sally explains to Esperanza why she often has so many bruises. "He never hits me hard" (92), is how Sally tells Esperanza that her father often beats her. During many instances in The House on Mango Street people are treated according to their wealth. People often look down upon Esperanza and her peers with no reason except that they live differently because they have less money. During one part of the story Esperanza talks about strangers by saying: 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 knives. They are stupid people who are lost and got here by mistake. (28) Cisneros shows how people often have misconceptions about people who are different from them and are often too quick to judge. This idea is shown again when Esperanza is talking to a nun and the nun asks, Where do you live? She asked. There, I said pointing up to the third floor. You live there? There. I had to look to where she pointed– the third floor, the paint peeling, wooden bars Papa had nailed on the windows so we wouldn't fall Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 17. Rhetorical Analysis Of The House On Mango Street The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros uses many rhetorical devices to push her viewpoint of how sexual maturity and individuality come with age and experience. Cisneros' effective use of symbols, syntax, and tone convey and persuade Esperanza's upbringing. Cisneros uses simple syntax and tells the story in vignettes to present the story as if it were told in Esperanza's eyes. Vignettes are short little descriptions of an event or idea. The House on Mango Street is strictly told in vignettes which makes sense as it is told in a child's eyes. These vignettes tend to get larger as the story progresses and as Esperanza becomes more aware of her surroundings. As a result of this, the vignettes not only become more complex, but more mature as well. In vignettes such as "Hairs" and "My Name", Esperanza writes about simple innocent ideas like what she likes and does not like, but later in the story vignettes such as "The Monkey Garden" and "No Speak English" cover much more mature situations such as the patriarchy and rape in the near–poverty–line Latino neighborhood of Chicago. Esperanza finds herself in these situations because of how she begins to mature and become an independent sexual being. With all of this information in mind, Cisneros uses the power of the vignette convey the fact that Esperanza is becoming an individual sexual being. Symbolism is key in this novel as Cisneros expresses a lot of information through symbols The concept of the high heels that the girls; Esperanza, Lucy, Rachel, and Nenny had received showed one of their first tastes into their sexual maturity. Beforehand, Esperanza believed that boys in girls live in separate social spheres as shown in the vignette "Boys & Girls" where she discusses how her brothers are best friends and that she wants another friend, specifically a girl, to talk about her feelings and share her secrets with. This is also where Esperanza talks about another key symbol in this story. In the vignette "Boys & Girls" Esperanza states "Until then I am a red balloon, a balloon tied to an anchor" (Cisneros 8). This is the first key and memorable piece of symbolism in the story. As the red balloon suggests, Esperanza is a vibrant young lady with great potential, Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 18. House On Mango Street Essay Thesis Introduction 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. Background Info: By writing in vignettes, she illustrates her emotions and the feelings she expresses towards the people that surround her. Specifically: The roles of Esperanza's neighbors allow Esperanza to compare herself As Esperanza goes into detail,The more Esperanza describes her neighbors the more Esperanza struggles with her place in society and desires to leave her neighborhood. Specifically: Thesis: As the story continues, Esperanza matures mentally, emotionally, and sexually. Body1 TS: Throughout the novel, Esperanza...show more content... CM: At first, Esperanza's mental image of herself changes as she feels more confident with who and how superior she feels while walking in the heels. CM: This is important because it is one of the first encounters Esperanza is comfortable and brandishes herself throughout the neighborhood. CD: However, as CM: CM: TRANS: Body2 TS: Esperanza changes emotionally once she begins to like boys, particularly a boy in her neighborhood, Sire. CD: In the vignette titles "Sire", Esperanza admits to trying not to look Sire in the eye, but instead stare straight, as she walks past him. CM: This shows that CM: This is important because CD: Esperanza also admits that she would not mind taking Sire's girlfriend, Lois's place.
  • 19. CM: However, Esperanza's mother continuously refers to Sire as the neighborhood punk which has a girlfriend that is on CM: TRANS: Body3 TS: The final and most critical change Esperanza experiences is a sexual awakening. CD: At the beginning of the novel, Esperanza describes her relations to the boys in her neighborhood as "a red balloon that is tied to an Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 20. Essay on House On Mango Street Women's Escape into Misery Women's need for male support and their husband's constant degradation of them was a recurring theme in the book House on Mango Street. Many of Esperanza's stories were about women's dreams of marrying, the perfect husband and having the perfect family and home. Sally, Rafaela, and Minerva are women who gave me the impression of [damsel's in distress].CLICHÉ, it's ok though. It's relevant They wished for a man to sweep them of their feet and rescue them from their present misery. These characters are inspiring and strong but they are unable to escape the repression of the surrounding environment. *Cisneros presents a rigid world in which they lived in, and left them no other hope but to get married....show more content... Cisneros presents the loneliness that Rafaela feels because of her husband's continuous imprisonment of her. Rafael's beauty is used as an excuse in order to avoid the truth, male dominance in a woman's home. Esperanza explains that, "Rafaela who is still young gets locked indoors because her husband is afraid Rafaela will run away since she is too beautiful to look at." (79). Thanks to these women, Esperanza is able to avoid problems that come with a marriage. She is young and does not want to "look out the window her whole life, the way so many women sit their sadness on an elbow" (11). Unlike most of the women in the book her escape is no longer the window. "But that night he comes back and sends a big rock through the window"(85), shattering her glass hopes [???] and making her turn to poetry as an escape. "Minerva is only a little bit older than me but already she has too kids and a husband who left." (83) She is a perfect example of a woman who is subjected to the consequence of suffering because of marriage She "writes... on little pieces of paper that she holds in her hand for a long time" (84). Like unhappily married women, she always takes him back even after the incessant beatings. "She has many troubles, but the big one is her husband who left her and keeps on Get more content on HelpWriting.net