Woman hollering reading guide

1. READING GUIDE ON WOMAN HOLLERING BY SANDRA CISNEROS
ANGLOPHONE LITERATURE II
Written by:
David Capacho Suarez
Ashton Hooker Howard
Andrea Stefanía Ortiz
Melissa Padilla Arias
Yisela Ramirez
Lina María Corredor
TEACHER:
Mónica del Valle
LA SALLE UNIVERSITY
FACULTAD DE EDUCACIÓN
LIC. EN LENGUA CASTELLANA, INGLÉS Y FRANCÉS

2. I. THE STORY
Plot
This story shows the complicated life of Cleofilas. She is a dreamy, naive and poor Mexican
woman. Unfortunately the story was written in an era where men have the control of everything
and his words were sacred and a woman always depends on men they must obey and fulfilling
them. In this case, Cleofilas depends of old father and his six brothers and she was treating as
a maid, later she got married with a Chicano who abused of her. The story continued with a lot
of conflicts that lead the protagonist, to think that one day her story will have an ending like
the romantic telenovela. Unfortunately in real life it does not go well. Finally, her greatest wish
is to return home so; she and two friends are been able to escape.
Cover: Characters:
 Cleófilas Enriqueta DeLeón Hernández: She's a
girl who loves telenovelas, she is drumy, submissive,
hard-worker and think that the marriage is the
happiness for women.
 Don Serafin (The Cleófila’s Father): Head of a
poor family, who loves her daughter and he let her
go with a Chicano (Juan Pedro)
 Juan Pedro: A Chicano’s man who works in the
United States. He is an oppressor. He hates his
house, his wife and really hates soap operas and
when his kids cry. He is not tall and he has Acne and
obviously he abuses his wife.
 Lady Soledad (Neighbor): She is widow and it
had a mystery.
 Señora Dolores (Neighbor): She is kind and very
sweet and she lost her sons and husband in a war,
she loves her because this one remember them.
 Chela: The Cleofilas’ best friend, she loves
watched soap operas with her.
 Graciela: She is a nurse who helps Cleofilas to escape to her husband.
 Felice: She is Graciela’s friend and helps to escape Cleofilas too. She drives her car and
screams like a man. (Tarzan)
 Triny: The laundromat attendant
Main Images/ Symbols:
 Hollering Creek: It has 2 symbols:
1. In the beginning when she arrives to new house, newlywed, she saw the creek and think
in happiness forever, the protagonist associates to shouts of joy, beauty and with a
romantic sense because she just made their dream come true (to marry)

3. 2. Later, the creek becomes pain, because it associates with the feeling of unhappiness and
anger because his new home is a total lack of control, it is full of violence and she is
unhappy.
 Lady Soledad y Señora Dolores: they represent the treatment had women according to age
and the place “the submission”. Women didn’t the opportunity to take decisions, they were
dependent, passive and they didn’t have the opportunity to change it.
 Lejania: Symbolizes as a kidnapped because she is not permitted communication with her
family and she must comply with the orders of her husband.
 The Scream by Tarzan: It symbolizes freedom, joy and independence by not being hold to
someone (Gomez, 2012)
Glossary:
 Chores: A small routine task, especially a
domestic one.
 Cockscombs: the comb of a domestic
cock.
 Creek: a stream smaller than a river.
 Doubloon: a former gold coin of Spanish
and Spanish America.
 Gauze: a transparent cloth of loose plain
or leno weave.
 Hoot: he mournful wavering cry of some
owl
 Hubbub: A loud confused noised, as of
many voices; tumult; uproar.
 Petticoats: a woman’s light undergarment
in the form of an underskirt or including a
bodice supported by shoulder straps.
 Pimple: a small, usually inflamed swelling
or elevation of the skin.
 Politely grins: to smile with the lips drawn
back revealing the teeth or express
(something) by suck a smile.
 Shrugged: to draw up and drop (the
shoulders) abruptly in a gesture
expressing.
 Threshold: The bottom part of a doorway.
 Yawns: to open the mouth wide and take
in air deeply, often as in involuntary
reaction to tiredness, sleepiness, or
boredom.
 Yelled: to shout, scream, cheer, or utter
in a loud or piercing way.
Source: www.wordreference.com
II. THE AUTHOR AN ITS TIME
SANDRA CISNEROS
She was born on December 20, in Chicago in 1954,
the third child and the only daughter in a family of
seven children. Her great grandfather had played the
piano for the Mexican president and was from a
wealthy background, she studied at Loyola university
of Chicago (B.A English 1976) and the University of
Lowa (M.F.A. Creative Writing 1978).
In her professional life, Sandra has worked as a
teacher and counselor to high school dropouts.
There, she taught creative writing. Cisneros worked

4. in colleges as well, administrating the
arts’ department. In addition she has
been invited as a writer to many
universities including the University of
California, Berkeley, and the
University of Michigan.
This writer is the author of several
books including The house on mango
street, Caramelo, Loose woman,
Woman hollering creek and most
recently, Have you seen Marie?.
She also has founded two
organizations that serve writers: the
Macondo foundation and the Alfredo
Cisneros del moral foundation.
As a consequence of her work and goals, she has been honored with numerous awards including
the MacArthur Fellowship, two National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, and a Texas Medal
of the Arts. This wonderful woman has been writing for more than 45 years, publishing for
more than 35, and earning her living by her pen for more than 18 years. Her books has been
translated into more than twenty languages and published internationally.
Reviews
This review and reflection of the story "woman hollering creek" reflects some features of the
Mexican culture. The story of "woman hollering creek" emphasizes and focuses on the social
woman’s role, and how it is the behavior of a woman when has a married life with a man.
This story is distinguished by literary voice and style. Actually, we found some predominant
names in a Latino community. The attitudes that the writer wants to express in her stories are
clues which seeks the reader understands from own
point of view. Either way, Cisneros also desires to
describe some feminist views, at the moment that
Cleófilas wants to get rid of this life. Cleófilas has a
significant gesture: the feeling she has with the creek
as an attraction and other, for the myth of “La
Llorona”. Finally, "Woman hollering and creek" has
some similarities with the traditional myth of La
Llorona.
III. CONNOTATIONS
The connotations that we can assign to this creek are
synonymous of loneliness, reconciliation and hope, It
is understood that these connotations are the result of
an own posture or opinion of who makes the analysis

5. of this story. Cleófilas, believed that she would
have a happy marriage, as shown in the soap
opera she watches, but her reality turned out
to be very different.
The narrator in this story is third person
because he/she is not a character, it just only
reports on events and lets the reader supply
the meaning. Thus, we discover these ones
that happen in the Cleófilas’ life with Juan
Pedro. Besides, we can identify the three
important moments in this short story: First,
the exposition where we know about the
proposal by Juan Pedro to Cleófilas and how
the life of her before married with him was.
The rising action or crisis comes when Juan
Pedro slapped her and she realized what kind
of man is her husband. Finally, the resolution
or denouement when Cleófilas is helped by
two women (Felice and Graciela) to escape from her husband and beginning a new life in San
Antonio without abuse and mistreatment. In addition, the main themes are: male chauvinism,
abuse against women, Mexican culture, and the legend about La Gritona / La Llorona (Woman
Hollering).
In the other hand, this short story can have a different interpretation depending on the
perspective of the reader. For us, this story illustrates the stereotypes that people have about
the Chicano women through the description of each female character. Nevertheless, the men is
shown from a Hispanic perspective: a young lady must marry him and serve him. He possess
her. He can do whatever he wants with her, even abuse her. The men is in charge and the
women must obey.
This contrast gives the text a chance to change the stereotypes, that is why Cleofilas character
grows up along the story, she understands that life is not like the telenovelas she is used to
watch and dream about, thanks to all her unfortunately experiences with her husband and her
family, she becomes a stronger woman with clear goals, knowing what she wants and what she
doesn’t want. The same happens with the Chicano women, with their lives they learn how to
become stronger, and how to achieve their goals without having a man by their side. We
consider that the Woman Hollering Creek is an allegory of the Chicano woman.
IV. WORKSHEET
 Do you think that the story Woman hollering creek has relation with the traditional story
of La Llorona? Why?
 For what reason do you think Cleofilas cries? Was it for resentment, or for pain? Why?

6. V. CYBERGRAPHY
 Short Story: Woman Hollering Creek by Sandra Cisneros
 Bio. (2008, April 18). Retrieved November 16, 2014, from
http://www.biography.com/people/sandra-cisneros-185853#synopsis
 Sandra Cisneros. (2013, November 13). Retrieved November 16, 2014, from
http://www.sandracisneros.com/bio.php
 Wikipedia. (2014, November 07). Retrieved November 16, 2014, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandra_Cisneros
 Gomez, L. f. (Julio - Diciembre de 2012). Universitas Humanistica Nº 74. Recuperado el
16 de Noviembre de 2014, de Cleofilas y la llorona:
http://revistas.javeriana.edu.co/index.php/univhumanistica/article/view/3644/3181
(Article in Spanish)