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Jonghyun Choe

                                                                                         Period 3

                                                                              25 September 2011




       “My Name”, a vignette from Sandra Cisnero’s novel The House on Mango Street, as well

as Nellie Wong’s autobiographical poem “How a Girl Got Her Chinese Name” both examine the

relationship between one’s name and ones identity, shown by the use of imagery, attitudes

and metaphors throughout the stories. Although the narrators of the two different pieces feel

quite differently about their names, they both discover and define themselves through their

and others feelings about their names.

       In “My Name”, the narrator is a Hispanic girl who only possesses one name. Despite her

names positive meaning in English that means “hope”, both its Spanish meaning “sadness”, and

the history behind it are both negative. The narrator further compares her name to her father’s

songs as “songs like sobbing”. It seems like the first paragraph of vignette is trying to show how

the narrator rather dislikes her name as she thinks of the meanings of her name that are tied to

herself.

       In the second paragraph, the narrator tells of the origin of her name, which she got from

her great grandmother. The narrator describes her great grandmother as a “horse woman” (7),

which reveals that her great grandmother had a strong personality. The narrator further talks

about the background of her name, by saying that she would’ve liked to have known her great

grandmother, describing her as a “wild horse of a woman” (13). This shows the respect narrator

has towards her great grandmother as a person. However, the narrator adds on by saying that
she does not admire the life her great grandmother had, like a “fancy chandelier” (16). It is

evident in this paragraph that the narrator is curious about the origins of her name. By going

back and forth in different tenses, this demonstrates how the narrator seeks her identity with

the name she has. The result of this is again is in two-fold. The narrator respects her great

grandmother who had the same name as her as a person, but she does not want to “inherit her

place by the window” (22). This seems to be demonstrating how the narrator is scared of

having to live a life where she would be trapped by men just like her great grandmother, which

is causing the narrator to become confused with where exactly she belongs to.

       On the next paragraph, the narrator again talks about the different feelings she has

towards her name “Esperanza”, in Spanish and English. She says that when her name is said in

English, it sounds as if “the syllables were made out of tin and hurt the roof of your mouth” (24).

This use of mixed imagery clearly contrasts to earlier when the narrator says on the first

paragraph how her name means “hope”. In same manner, the narrator describes the sound of

her name in Spanish rather like a “softer something, like silver, not quite as thick as sister’s

name- Magdalena” (25). These mixed imagery used by the narrator contrasts between the real

meanings of the name “Esperanaza” to the actual feeling narrator experiences that seems to

create the confusion in discovering her identity in regards to her name.

       Towards the end of the vignette, the narrator says that she is “always Esperanza” (27),

and then she mentions how she desires to “baptize under a new name” (28) such as “Zeze the

X”(29) someday. The narrator has a tone of resignation towards her current name, and she

definitely wishes to have a name that will feel “more like the real” herself. Esperanza clearly has

a positive attitude at the end of the vignette although her confusion and negative feelings
towards her current name, and it is evident that she thinks the names are important to define

one’s personality and trait.

       In the narrative poem “How a Girl Got Her Chinese Name”, the narrator is a Chinese

originated girl who is given with various names throughout the story. The poem starts with the

teacher asking the narrator, “What do your parents call you at home?” (2). When the narrator

tells the teacher that her name is “Nellie”, the teacher “stressed the l’s, whinnying like a horse”

(5), then gives the narrator a new name “Nah Lei”, which means “Where or Which Place” (8).

The narrator does not really care about the meaning of the name she is given, and she instead

just practices “writing Nah Lei” over and over in order to get used to the new name.

       In the next stanza, we see that the narrator comes home and tells her parents about her

new name given. The narrator’s parents are very unhappy with the name “Nah Lei”, saying

“Nah Lei? Where? Which Place?” (17) and then gives the narrator a “Chinese name”, “Lai Oy”.

Unlike the narrator from “My Name”, Nellie seems to have jubilant attitudes towards her

changed names, because she does not question herself where the names originated from.

Instead, the narrator “giggled” as she thought of her Chinese name, knowing that “Lai Oy could

also mean lost pocket” as well as “Beautiful Love”.

       It is clear that unlike Esperanza, the narrator of “How a Girl Got Her Chinese Name” is

feeling much more comfortable with the name “Lai Oy”. This is shown on the eighth stanza

where the narrator now “pulls out the pocket” at school, where she feels rather positive than

negative like Esperanza. However, the ending of both stories contrast greatly. While

Esperanza’s attitude towards her name shifts from being negative to positive throughout the

story, “How a Girl Got Her Chinese Name” ends with Nellie saying “Between these names I
never knew I would ever get lost” (36-37).

       Both narrators face fear and they do not know where exactly they belong to culturally.

The fear faced by Esperanza is the fear of becoming tied to the heritage; she “doesn’t want to

inherit her place by the window” and because of this, she desires to have a new name and live

an entirely new life where she can become free. On the other hand, Nellie is scared for the

opposite reason. Her name is not tied by heritage, but the names “Nah Lei” and “Lai Oy” are

merely the ones given by her parents and teacher without any connections to Nellie’s identity

with the meaning. This causes Nellie to become confused from discovering who she really is

and she does not exactly know where she belongs truly.

       Both pieces are similar because both narrators are in situations where they are

bicultural and they are both frightened and do not exactly know where they truly belong to.

However these pieces contrast because the reasons for these feelings felt by the narrators are

opposite and they have different attitudes towards the meaning of their names.

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Comparative essay final

  • 1. Jonghyun Choe Period 3 25 September 2011 “My Name”, a vignette from Sandra Cisnero’s novel The House on Mango Street, as well as Nellie Wong’s autobiographical poem “How a Girl Got Her Chinese Name” both examine the relationship between one’s name and ones identity, shown by the use of imagery, attitudes and metaphors throughout the stories. Although the narrators of the two different pieces feel quite differently about their names, they both discover and define themselves through their and others feelings about their names. In “My Name”, the narrator is a Hispanic girl who only possesses one name. Despite her names positive meaning in English that means “hope”, both its Spanish meaning “sadness”, and the history behind it are both negative. The narrator further compares her name to her father’s songs as “songs like sobbing”. It seems like the first paragraph of vignette is trying to show how the narrator rather dislikes her name as she thinks of the meanings of her name that are tied to herself. In the second paragraph, the narrator tells of the origin of her name, which she got from her great grandmother. The narrator describes her great grandmother as a “horse woman” (7), which reveals that her great grandmother had a strong personality. The narrator further talks about the background of her name, by saying that she would’ve liked to have known her great grandmother, describing her as a “wild horse of a woman” (13). This shows the respect narrator has towards her great grandmother as a person. However, the narrator adds on by saying that
  • 2. she does not admire the life her great grandmother had, like a “fancy chandelier” (16). It is evident in this paragraph that the narrator is curious about the origins of her name. By going back and forth in different tenses, this demonstrates how the narrator seeks her identity with the name she has. The result of this is again is in two-fold. The narrator respects her great grandmother who had the same name as her as a person, but she does not want to “inherit her place by the window” (22). This seems to be demonstrating how the narrator is scared of having to live a life where she would be trapped by men just like her great grandmother, which is causing the narrator to become confused with where exactly she belongs to. On the next paragraph, the narrator again talks about the different feelings she has towards her name “Esperanza”, in Spanish and English. She says that when her name is said in English, it sounds as if “the syllables were made out of tin and hurt the roof of your mouth” (24). This use of mixed imagery clearly contrasts to earlier when the narrator says on the first paragraph how her name means “hope”. In same manner, the narrator describes the sound of her name in Spanish rather like a “softer something, like silver, not quite as thick as sister’s name- Magdalena” (25). These mixed imagery used by the narrator contrasts between the real meanings of the name “Esperanaza” to the actual feeling narrator experiences that seems to create the confusion in discovering her identity in regards to her name. Towards the end of the vignette, the narrator says that she is “always Esperanza” (27), and then she mentions how she desires to “baptize under a new name” (28) such as “Zeze the X”(29) someday. The narrator has a tone of resignation towards her current name, and she definitely wishes to have a name that will feel “more like the real” herself. Esperanza clearly has a positive attitude at the end of the vignette although her confusion and negative feelings
  • 3. towards her current name, and it is evident that she thinks the names are important to define one’s personality and trait. In the narrative poem “How a Girl Got Her Chinese Name”, the narrator is a Chinese originated girl who is given with various names throughout the story. The poem starts with the teacher asking the narrator, “What do your parents call you at home?” (2). When the narrator tells the teacher that her name is “Nellie”, the teacher “stressed the l’s, whinnying like a horse” (5), then gives the narrator a new name “Nah Lei”, which means “Where or Which Place” (8). The narrator does not really care about the meaning of the name she is given, and she instead just practices “writing Nah Lei” over and over in order to get used to the new name. In the next stanza, we see that the narrator comes home and tells her parents about her new name given. The narrator’s parents are very unhappy with the name “Nah Lei”, saying “Nah Lei? Where? Which Place?” (17) and then gives the narrator a “Chinese name”, “Lai Oy”. Unlike the narrator from “My Name”, Nellie seems to have jubilant attitudes towards her changed names, because she does not question herself where the names originated from. Instead, the narrator “giggled” as she thought of her Chinese name, knowing that “Lai Oy could also mean lost pocket” as well as “Beautiful Love”. It is clear that unlike Esperanza, the narrator of “How a Girl Got Her Chinese Name” is feeling much more comfortable with the name “Lai Oy”. This is shown on the eighth stanza where the narrator now “pulls out the pocket” at school, where she feels rather positive than negative like Esperanza. However, the ending of both stories contrast greatly. While Esperanza’s attitude towards her name shifts from being negative to positive throughout the story, “How a Girl Got Her Chinese Name” ends with Nellie saying “Between these names I
  • 4. never knew I would ever get lost” (36-37). Both narrators face fear and they do not know where exactly they belong to culturally. The fear faced by Esperanza is the fear of becoming tied to the heritage; she “doesn’t want to inherit her place by the window” and because of this, she desires to have a new name and live an entirely new life where she can become free. On the other hand, Nellie is scared for the opposite reason. Her name is not tied by heritage, but the names “Nah Lei” and “Lai Oy” are merely the ones given by her parents and teacher without any connections to Nellie’s identity with the meaning. This causes Nellie to become confused from discovering who she really is and she does not exactly know where she belongs truly. Both pieces are similar because both narrators are in situations where they are bicultural and they are both frightened and do not exactly know where they truly belong to. However these pieces contrast because the reasons for these feelings felt by the narrators are opposite and they have different attitudes towards the meaning of their names.