thesis statement the house on mango street

The House on Mango Street

Sandra cisneros, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

The House on Mango Street

Introduction to the house on mango street.

The most popular novel of its time, The House on Mango Street, by Mexican American writer, Sandra Cisneros published in the United States in 1984 and created a trend in new techniques in the fiction writing arena. It comprises vignettes, which tell the story of a young girl, Esperanza Cordero, a Chicana girl of just 12, living in the Latino quarters in the city of Chicago . The novel has proved a classic in Chicano literature, winning popularity with more than 20 translations in different languages and the sale of over 6 million copies worldwide even though the novel faced the threat of censorship because of its focus on domestic violence, sexual assault, poverty , and racism. It also has fetched American Book Award for Cisneros and was later adapted into a play staged in 2009 in Chicago under the name Tanya Saracho.

Summary of The House on Mango Street

The story of the novel comprises a year in the life of a young girl named Esperanza Cordero who belongs to the Chicana community . It’s a coming-of-age novel including Esperanza’s zeal to leave the neighborhood and lead a better life. Living in the poor neighborhood in the apartment has had adverse impacts on her young mind. She states that she has been living with her three brothers and sisters, and parents where she experiences a sense of inferiority on account of their shabby apartment. The girl gives a full account of her how they used to live before moving into this house. The reason is that they have been living from one apartment to another apartment as they did not have their own home. The house in this street is the last one on the list of the rented houses though it is not yet as the promised one as they used to think. According to her parents, it is just a primary abode for them. At school, she was made fun of because of her poverty and frustrated because people couldn’t pronounce her name properly.

Despite being a good house, this house has not been better than the previous ones. Esperanza, therefore, does not express her penchant for this house. Her dream is about a wooden, white, and big house with a good yard and trees , while this one is suffocating for her. Meanwhile, she takes to poetry to find expression of her feelings and starts explaining the nature of her family members especially Nenny, her younger sister, who imitates her and her neighboring friends with whom she plays such as Lucy and Rachel. Specifically, Mamacita, an elderly woman who refuses to go out of the house due to a lack of her English speaking skills.

Alicia is a hardworking girl who has high aspirations to leave this neighborhood and get a better job so have to study in the morning but her father makes her do the chores. Rafaela, the woman who won’t step out of the house because her husband locks her up as he is insecure about her beauty . Minerva, who like Esperanza is creative and fond of writing poems and has children and a husband who physically abuses her.  The most interesting moment in her life in that house arrives when all the children enjoy riding the Cadillac of Louie’s cousin but he faces immediate arrest by police for the act of stealing.

As time passes, Esperanza starts becoming mature not only physically but also sexually. These changes also change her worldview and ethical framework. She shapes her mindset to become women who do not surrender to a man’s dominance, yet showcases her ability to be an attractive woman to men. She, soon, becomes the friend of a highly beautiful girl, Sally, whose proactive dressing impresses her much. She also tells about her abusive but religious father. Once, her family was having a party in the monkey garden where Sally dances with the boy she like by showing off her expensive and elegant shoes by lowballing Esperanza of her poverty who couldn’t dance with the other boys because of her torn shoes.

However, on one occasion she does not stay loyal to her and ditches her for a boy when a band of unruly men exploits Esperanza’s vulnerability. Taking this attack heavily, she starts telling about other such suppressive experiences. Specifically, the episode of the man older than her reminds her that sexual exploitation is an ill deeply rooted in the social psyche.

Such other experiences prove highly traumatic for her. She sees that patriarchy is prominent in the current neighborhood, where she feels suffocated. When she attends a funeral where the three sisters see her and predict that she’s going to leave mango street. However, her meeting with Lucy and Rachel and their outgoing aunt shows that she has identified herself with Mango Street. As of now , she decides to resort to poetry to escape the situation emotionally but later escape physically too. The novel ends when Esperanza vows to help the residents of Mango Street, for they are very much with her in her memories.

Major Themes in The House on Mango Street

• Language: The language and the power that words carry is one of the major themes of the novel. Esperanza puts herself in comparison to other Latino speaking characters such as Mamacita who stays at home due to her lack of English, while Esperanza not only wields power through language but also knows how to mix in the society and win power as well as mobility. Her effort of learning names, words, and nicknames and then recall them to put into her story shows her gradual mastery over language and its uses in social mobility and progress.
• Gender: The novel also shows the theme of gender through Esperanza, the narrator . Her girlishness develops into strong adulthood, as she continues to master the English language. Despite having won power and a bit of freedom, she instantly comes to know her vulnerabilities as she sees Sally’s situation of being exploited and her being violated by the dominating patriarchy. When every other female character leaves her in the progress of life, she comes to know this gender vulnerability.
• Othering: The othering of the Latino community in the city of Chicago is another major theme of the novel. The reason is that most of the Latino community is not well-versed in the English language. This makes them work on manual jobs and earn much less. Less earning means to live in shabby apartments such as on Mango Street where Esperanza used to point out “there” to her teacher about the location of her apartment. This otherness creeps into her psyche and stays with her until they have a house of their own.
• Lives of Women: The story comprising vignettes also shows that it is the story about the lives of women. Although Esperanza talks about a few male characters they mostly live on the fringes. She, on the other hand, learns about marriage, motherhood, and other feminine responsibility from her mother, Marin, and Sally. However, as soon as she becomes young, she abandons this storying of the successful marriage due to the examples of Minerva, Mamacita, and Rafaela.
• Home: The novel also shows the importance of home through Esperanza’s story of her house located on Mango Street. The nostalgic recalling of her house and then strong desire to have their own house show that she, too, has an American dream. Although they finally get home yet it is not the house that she has desired. The story of the house on Mango Street, however, stays in her psyche, reminding her childhood, desires, dreams , and frustrations.
• Identity: The theme of identity in the novel emerges as a Latino individual in two ways; gender identity as well as Latino identity. When Esperanza dreams about adulthood and married life, it refers to her gender identity of which she is becoming aware of with her growth. However, when it comes to Latino identity, it emerges in the shape of their Spanish background as well as the Spanish language. For example, Meme Ortiz often becomes confused when she sees her double names and Mamatica does not come to terms with her confusing identity. Esperanza also faces the same dilemma throughout her life.
• Sexual Awakening: Esperanza comes to know about her sexual awakening when she meets boys and knows their interest in femininity. She feels that as Louis is being treated like a queen by Sire, she, too, deserves to be a queen of somebody. She, however, also knows the risks of feminine awakening in her. The punishment that Sally gets and Rafael meets, too, points to her fears of being a female.
• Coming of Age: The House on Mango Street also shows the theme of coming-of-age of Esperanza who knows that with adulthood comes responsibilities along with independence. She learns that although she is growing older, it has its own limitations, specifically, when it comes to being a female. That is why she declares that tameness is not her fate; rather, she would carve out her own path in American society.

Major Characters The House on Mango Street

• Esperanza Cordero: The first-person narrator of these vignettes, Esperanza is quite young of just eleven. She hates her name and wants to be called by some other name when she used to live in the Mango Street house. She is rather ashamed of the shabby outlook of her apartment as well as the penury in which the family has fallen on account of their ethnic and linguistic background. However, her desire to have a good house with a backyard never goes away even when she experiences her femininity having an upper hand in the patriarchal domination of Chicago. Her ideals of Mamatica and Rafael soon lose their appeal as she carves her own figure before becoming a writer.
• Mama: Another figure that constantly reverberates in her words, as well as sentences, is her Mama, who is not only a selfless, busy lady but is also a facilitator of her children to let them integrate into the American social fabric. An icon of femininity, she stays in Esperanza’s imaginations for a long on account of the lessons she has taught and the personality she has exuded to her. Sexually, gender uniqueness and robust figure are the hallmarks of Mama which do not let any other figure takes hold of Esperanza, specifically, until she is at home.
• Nenny or Magdalena: Her younger sister and lifelong friend, Nenny is the defender of Esperanza when she takes up brawls with the neighboring girls and is a constant refrain in her life full of frustrations and childish failures. Nenny is another figure after her mother who becomes an ideal for her on account of her strength and power to defend herself as well as other siblings. However, Esperanza does not like her obliviousness to others when playing.
• Sally: Sally is Esperanza’s best friend who often presents an example for others to follow. Being a flirtatious and experienced one, she becomes a bad role model for her to hook boys though she faces severe beatings from her father on account of her advanced thinking and determination to overcome her weak femininity.
• Alicia: An embodiment of putting her education into practice, Alicia is full of passions to make progress in life. She is fed up of doing menial jobs that the mothers used to do at that time and demonstrates to Esperanza how to change life as well as a career by changing the neighborhood and residential area. However, it does not work for Esperanza who has not forgotten Mango Street, let alone her house, and friends.
• Marin: Belonging to Puerto Rico, she appears in the novel doing babysitting and staying at home. She comes into contact with Esperanza when she teachers her and other girls of the area about the shenanigans of the boys. Despite having a fiancé, she does not stop dreaming American boys taking her away into the suburbs. Later, she goes back to Puerto Rico.
• Papa: Papa is Esperanza’s father who rarely appears in the novel. Working as a gardener after arriving from Mexico, he sets a yardstick for Esperanza to educate herself.
• Cathy: The significance of Catch in the novel lies in her association with Esperanza as she is her first friend in the neighborhood and then moves quickly away. She is not of Latino origin and as she leaves immediately within a week from the neighborhood, her impact on Esperanza is minimal.
• Carlos and Kiki: Both are Esperanza’s family members and appear quite often in the novel. Their appearance is often associated with Esperanza’s concept of the home where they also occupy a room.
• Louie: She is the eldest of the Oritz house and comes into contact with Esperanza through her friendship with other family members. Her cousin appears in a stolen Cadillac once and is arrested on the same day.

Writing Style of The House on Mango Street

Despite having written in the first-person narrative , The House on Mango Street shows the use of vignette or short memory flashbacks that occasionally bring forth fresh characters out of her sunken memory and makes them memorable on account of minor follies or achievements. The sentence style suits the vignette style writing as they are short, curt, and concise given mostly in colloquialism . The diction suits the sentence style and is easy and simple. The popularity of the novel lies in this simplicity as it suits the student as well as adult readers.

Analysis of the Literary Devices in The House on Mango Street

• Action: The main action of the novel comprises different life stories from the life of Esperanza about her house, the street, and the neighborhood. The falling action occurs when Esperanza comes to know that she does not belong to Mango Street. The rising action occurs when Esperanza realizes that whether she likes it or not, she is going to be an adult in any way.
• Anaphora : The novel shows examples of anaphora as given below, i. Before that we lived on Loomis on the third floor, and before that we lived on Keeler. Before Keeler it was Paulina, and before that I can’t remember . (House on Mango Street) ii. One day I will pack my bags of books and paper. One day I will say goodbye to Mango. I am too strong for her to keep me here forever. One day I will go away. (Mango Says Goodbye Sometime) The examples show the repetitious use of “before that” and “One day I will.”
• Allusion : The novel shows good use of different allusions. For example, i. It was my great-grandmother’s name and now it is mine. She was a horse woman too, born like me in the Chinese year of the horse—which is supposed to be bad luck if you’re born female—but I think this is a Chinese lie because the Chinese, like the Mexicans, don’t like their women strong. (My Name) ii. Marin’s boyfriend is in Puerto Rico. She shows us his letters and makes us promise not to tell anybody they’re getting married when she goes back to P.R.  (Marin) These examples show references to geographical locations as allusions used in the novel.
• Antagonist : Esperanza is her own antagonist as she worries about hiding her identity, growing up very soon, and the opinions of people around her.
• Conflict : The novel shows both external and internal conflicts. The external conflict is going on between Esperanza and her friends and the internal conflict is in her mind about her desires and reality.
• Characters: The novel shows both static as well as dynamic characters. The young girl, Esperanza, is a dynamic character as she shows a considerable transformation in her behavior and conduct by the end of the novel. However, all other characters are static as they do not show or witness any transformation such as Nenny, Kiki, Miran, Mama, Mamatica, and Alicia.
• Climax : The climax in the novel occurs when Sally leaves Esperanza after they meet in the Monkey Garden and she runs away leaving her alone to face the attack.
• Foreshadowing : The novel shows many instances of foreshadows as given the below examples, i. We didn’t always live on Mango Street. Before that we lived on Loomis on the third floor, and before that we lived on Keeler. Before Keeler it was Paulina, and before that I can’t remember. (The House on Mango Street) ii. The boys and the girls live in separate worlds. The boys in their universe and we in ours. My brothers for example. (Boys and Girls) The mention of the house in the first and boys in the second foreshadow that both events are going to play a vital role in the life of Esperanza.
• Hyperbole : The novel shows various examples of hyperboles such as, i. The boys and the girls live in separate worlds. The boys in their universe and we in ours. My brothers for example. They’ve got plenty to say to me and Nenny inside the house. (Boys & Girls) ii. Nenny, I say, but she doesn’t hear me. She is too many light-years away. She is in a world we don’t belong to anymore. (Hips) Both of these examples exaggerate things as boys have no universe and Nenny is not so far away as it should take light-years.
• Imagery : Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. For example, i. But in Spanish my name is madeout of a softer something, like silver, not quite as thick as sister’s name—Magdalena—which is uglier than mine. Magdalena who at least can come home and become Nenny. But I am always Esperanza. (My Name) ii. My great-grandmother. I would’ve liked to have known her, a wild horse of a woman, so wild she wouldn’t marry. Until my great grandfather threw a sack over her head and carried her off. Just like that, as if she were a fancy chandelier. (My Name) These two examples show images of feelings and movements.
• Metaphor : The House on Mango Street shows good use of various metaphors as given in the below examples, i. Just like that, as if she were a fancy chandelier. (My Name) ii. Cathy who is queen of cats has cats and cats and cats. Baby cats, big cats, skinny cats, sick cats. Cats asleep like little donuts. Cats on top of the refrigerator. Cats taking a walk on the dinner table. Her house is like cat heaven. (Cathy: Queen of Cats) These examples show that several things have been compared directly in the novel such as the first shows comparing her great grandmother to a chandelier and then Cathy is compared to a cat in the second.
• Mood : The novel shows various moods; it starts with a nostalgic mood but goes through a joyous, troubled, including calm and peaceful mood through the story and finally ends on a happy note.
• Motif : Most important motifs of the novel, The House on Mango Street, are houses, streets, women, and falling.
• Narrator : The novel is narrated by Esperanza who is also the protagonist of the novel. Hence, from the first-person point of view .
• Personification : The novel shows examples of personifications as given below, i. But the house on Mango Street is not the way they told it at all. It’s small and red with tight steps in front and windows so small you’d think they were holding their breath. (The House on Mango Street) ii. The nose of that yellow Cadillac was all pleated like an alligator’s, and except for a bloody lip and a bruised forehead, Louie’s cousin was okay. (Louis, His Cousin & His Other Cousin) iii. They are the only ones who understand me. I am the only one who understands them. Four skinny trees with skinny necks and pointy elbows like mine. (Four Skinny Trees) These examples show as if the house, the Cadillac, and the trees have lives and emotions of their own.
• Protagonist : Esperanza, the young girl, is the protagonist of the novel, The House on Mango Street. The novel starts with her description of the house and moves with her reminiscences about people, things, and places.
• Rhetorical Questions : The novel shows good use of rhetorical questions at several places such as, i. What do you think about when you close your eyes like that? And why do you always have to go straight home after school? You become a different Sally. (Sally) ii. Sally, who taught you to paint your eyes like Cleopatra? And if I roll the little brush with my tongue and chew it to a point and dip it in the muddy cake, the one in the little red box, will you teach me? (Sally) These examples show the use of rhetorical questions posed by Esperanza not to elicit answers but to stress upon the underlined idea.
• Setting : The setting of the novel, The House on Mango Street , is the Latino neighborhood of Chicago, USA.
• Simile : The novel shows good use of various similes as given in the below examples, i. The only people who ever enter the garden are a family who speak like guitars, a family with a Southern accent. (A House on My Own) ii. Beauty that is there to be admired by anyone, like a herd of clouds grazing overhead. (A House on My Own) iii. Not the shy ice cream bells’ giggle of Rachel and Lucy’s family, but all of a sudden and surprised like a pile of dishes breaking. (Laughter) iv. I want to be like the waves on the sea , like the clouds in the wind, but I’m me. One day I’ll jump out of my skin. (Bord Bad) These are similes as the use of the word “like” shows the comparison between different things.

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Thesis On House On Mango Street

Min Seo Hyun (Mary) Grade 8 Ms.Birute 28th/Aug/2017 Mango Street Interpretive Essay Outline: A. Introduction Hook: House on Mango Street is a narrative book about one girl named Esperanza who live in Mango street and tell us that what is happening to Mango Street at the point view of Esperanza. Thesis statement: Esperanza has a variety of female role models in her life. Many are trapped in abusive relationships, waiting for others to change their lives. Some are actively trying to change things on their own. Through these women and Esperanza’s reactions to them, Cisneros’ shows not only the hardships women face, but also explores their power to overcome them. Topic sentence: There are many female role models around …show more content…

Marin said that “she’s going to get a real job downtown because that’s where the best jobs are, since you always get to look beautiful and get to wear nice clothes and can meet someone in the subway who might marry you and take you to live in a big house faraway.” (Cisneros,26-27) This mean she will change her life with man not her own. In this story’s background society is woman should work in a house and man should go outside and make money so this is like man should protect woman. Also, another character that similar with Marin is Rafaela. She is beautiful so her husband didn’t let her go outside of her house. Then, she never left outside and she just look outside through the window. This can be said that women rely on men and leave all responsibilities for men. In the past, this thought, same as them is very normal but as time passes, most people agree for gender equality. Then, literally, gender is being equal. But, Esperanza thought that woman should live in recognition of these thoughts and consider them after she met normal woman in that …show more content…

Lots of things can change when era changes except gender roles but after read this story, gender roles are changing distinctly than others. Even though it has changed a lot now, woman still has difficulty with when they get a job so we must strive until the equality of man and woman is evenly distributed. Esperanza make effort to improve her life and cultivate own self but not make effort to gender equality. She has interest in gender role but not that much so she think about it but not to act. From this essay, I have gave examples of how people might react to the idea about gender roles. However, we need to realize that women should take action for themselves instead of following

The House on Mango Street Reflection Paper

Self-exploration is hindered in this book and my life. I can very much identify with Esperanza perspectives on societal issues that Latin women face. A society dominated by men and women relying on them, whether it is a father, spouse or friend. Men are considered the strong reasonable as where women are weak and emotional, in turn women need men for protection. A young girl may have two story paths, one where she relies on the protection of her father while she watches her mother cater to him or two, witnesses the struggles of a single young woman and absence for a father. This book describes marriage as priority for every girl or else how could she survive; appearances and physical features are highly valued traits. This attitude is not one that Esperanza agrees with, nor do I. For example, Marin she is the girl standing on the street just “waiting for a car to stop, a star to fall, someone to change her life.” This character implies that she does not dream of actively setting life goals for herself and working to earn them, instead she will wait until a man makes it happen for her. The ideology behind this thought being that as a woman she must thrive to be as attractive as possible to heighten her chances of marriage and acquire

House On Mango Street Essay Thesis

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.

House On Mango Street Role Model

Esperanza has a variety of female role models in her life. Many are trapped in abusive relationships, waiting for others to change their live. A female role model or friends seems to be important to Esperanza. Some of the women that are her role models are, Esperanza's great-grandmother, Marin, and Rafaela. Even though she may not have known these women very well they still impacted her life immensely , some showed the way that Esperanza did not want to live in her life to information about boys she found interesting.

The House on Mango Street Essay

"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.

Sexism In The House On Mango Street By Sandra Cisneros

In addition to Esperanza facing society's standards for women, so did many of the women on Mango Street. In this time period, countless women are stuck in gender roles. Sally says, “He never hits me hard” (Cisneros 92). Sally’s father makes her feel belittled when he abuses her because it is socially acceptable to hit your own daughter. Her father makes it seem like she is less valued than a male. Esperanza talks about Sally, “But Sally doesn’t tell about that time he hit her with his

Women In The House On Mango Street

The vignette “Beautiful and Cruel,” conveys the impact it has on Esperanza. In this vignette, Esperanza feels that she is “an ugly daughter” and “the one nobody cares about” (Cisneros 88). She does not need, or want, a man to lead her life, unlike the women she knows. She does not need, or want, a man to make decisions for her. Unfortunately, she still feels the pressure to look gorgeous and stunning: “Nenny has pretty eyes and it’s easier to talk that way

The House On Mango Street Women Essay

Society has built a role for women. And there’s no better example of this idea than The House on Mango Street, in which Esperanza describes specific moments of her life which lead her to believe in women independence and feminism. She has different ideas and thoughts on the definition of women and what they should be. Esperanza doesn’t fit into the constructed definition Mango Street has of how women should be.

The House On Mango Street Essay

This relates to the theme of the struggle for self definition, because at first Esperanza was under the impression she could change a man, but as she’s exposed to these horrible encounters she comes to the conclusion that boys and girls live in different worlds.

House On Mango Street Lessons Essay

In life, we are often deeply influenced by the people who surround us. Consider the age-old adage “Birds of a Feather Flock Together”; this familiar saying reminds us that, in life, we gravitate toward people who appeal to us, and those people can have a great impact on who we are and the choices we make. In Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street, Esperanza meets many women who play a role in her life. Some of the women impact her in negative ways, but others help her to see that she can make more of her life than what her Chicago neighborhood offers. Of all the women in Esperanza’s life, Esperanza is most influenced by her mother and Alicia because they teach her to rely on herself in order to escape Mango Street.

The House On Mango Street Analysis

The Novel, The House on Mango Street, was based on the writer Sandra Cisneros. She was writing this when she was living in Chicago. She was like Esperanza. She want though poverty. She has been heartbroken and deeply joyous. She inventing for herself who and what she will become. This is the life of Esperanza Cordero and based on Sandra Cisneros to all women out there.

House on Mango Street Essay

Currently Sandra Cisneros resides in San Antonio in a purple house and she describes herself as “nobody’s mother” and “nobody’s wife.” Both Frida Kahlo’s and Cynthia Y. Hernandez’s works convey the idea of having one’s culture limit one’s freedom and individuality. Cisneros and Esperanza are both victims of this idea and realize that the only way to live one’s life freely is to defy the roles and limitations created by one’s culture.

The House on Mango Street - Characterization Essay

In The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros, a little girl from a Latino heritage is given birth to. Not literally, but in the sense of characterization. Esperanza is a fictional character made up by Cisneros to bring about sensitive, alert, and rich literature. She is the protagonist in the novel and is used to depict a female’s life growing up in the Latino section of Chicago. Cisneros creates the illusion that Esperanza is a real human being to communicate the struggles of growing up as a Latina immigrant in a modern world, by giving her a name, elaborating her thoughts and feelings, and illustrating her growth as a person through major events.

In the novella, The House on Mango Street, Esperanza tells stories of the many women, young and old, she has met and learned about. Few of these women have been respected by the men in their lives. Most of these men consider women things to possess. Some of these men have their reasons, though inexcusable, for how they act. Very few are kind and considerate towards the ladies in their lives. The men in this novella all have their own stories that are inexplicably intertwined to the suffering of women. Investigating these stories shows that in Esperanza’s world, men treat women like property, and men treat women like they are to be used.

Theme Of Women In The House On Mango Street

In the time that the main character, Esperanza, is living, women are inferior to men. From the beginning of the book, Esperanza comes to the conclusion that men and women are living in “separate worlds,” and the fact women are almost completely powerless in their society. The women are often abused and never even have the chance to fend for themselves. “On Tuesdays, Rafaela's husband comes home… and then Rafaela… gets locked inside because her husband is afraid Rafaela will run away since she is too beautiful to look at” (79). This shows how over-possessive he is over Rafaela, even though he is rarely home. This is an example of neglect which is a common type of abuse. She has often been alone and people forget about her until she says, “ ‘Kids, if I give you a dollar, will you go to the store and buy me something?’,”. She never leaves the house because her husband would be angry with her if she left. In the chapter, “My Name,” she says that she gets her name from her great-grandmother. Her great-grandfather “threw a sack over her head and carried her off.... as if she was a fancy chandelier” (11). Esperanza later goes onto explain that her

In this story which is set in Chicago during the eighties, we follow the life of a young Latina girl, Esperanza. The author’s writing includes an explanation of the socioeconomic condition of the time while telling Esperanza’s story. Based on Esperanza’s description the family’s reality is

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The House on Mango Street

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Sandra Cisneros

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The House on Mango Street Full Book Summary

In a series of vignettes, The House on Mango Street covers a year in the life of Esperanza , a Chicana (Mexican-American girl), who is about twelve years old when the novel begins. During the year, she moves with her family into a house on Mango Street. The house is a huge improvement from the family’s previous apartment, and it is the first home her parents actually own. However, the house is not what Esperanza has dreamed of, because it is run-down and small. The house is in the center of a crowded Latino neighborhood in Chicago, a city where many of the poor areas are racially segregated. Esperanza does not have any privacy, and she resolves that she will someday leave Mango Street and have a house all her own.

Esperanza matures significantly during the year, both sexually and emotionally. The novel charts her life as she makes friends, grows hips, develops her first crush, endures sexual assault, and begins to write as a way of expressing herself and as a way to escape the neighborhood. The novel also includes the stories of many of Esperanza’s neighbors, giving a full picture of the neighborhood and showing the many possible paths Esperanza may follow in the future.

After moving to the house, Esperanza quickly befriends Lucy and Rachel, two Chicana girls who live across the street. Lucy, Rachel, Esperanza, and Esperanza’s little sister, Nenny , have many adventures in the small space of their neighborhood. They buy a bike, learn exciting stories about boys from a young woman named Marin, explore a junk shop, and have intimate conversations while playing Double Dutch (jumping rope). The girls are on the brink of puberty and sometimes find themselves sexually vulnerable, such as when they walk around their neighborhood in high-heeled shoes or when Esperanza is kissed by an older man at her first job. During the first half of the year, the girls are content to live and play in their child’s world. At school, Esperanza feels ashamed about her family’s poverty and her difficult-to-pronounce name. She secretly writes poems that she shares only with older women she trusts.

Over the summer, Esperanza slips into puberty. She suddenly likes it when boys watch her dance, and she enjoys dreaming about them. Esperanza’s newfound sexual maturity, combined with the death of two of her family members, her grandfather and her Aunt Lupe, bring her closer to the world of adults. She begins to closely watch the women in her neighborhood. This second half of The House on Mango Street presents a string of stories about older women in the neighborhood, all of whom are even more stuck in their situations and, quite literally, in their houses, than Esperanza is. Meanwhile, during the beginning of the following school year, Esperanza befriends Sally , a girl her age who is more sexually mature than Lucy or Rachel. Sally, meanwhile, has her own agenda. She uses boys and men as an escape route from her abusive father. Esperanza is not completely comfortable with Sally’s sexual experience, and their friendship results in a crisis when Sally leaves Esperanza alone, and a group of boys sexually assaults Esperanza in her absence.

Esperanza’s traumatic experiences as Sally’s friend, in conjunction with her detailed observations of the older women in her neighborhood, cement her desire to escape Mango Street and to have her own house. When Esperanza finds herself emotionally ready to leave her neighborhood, however, she discovers that she will never fully be able to leave Mango Street behind, and that after she leaves she’ll have to return to help the women she has left. At the end of the year, Esperanza remains on Mango Street, but she has matured extensively. She has a stronger desire to leave and understands that writing will help her put distance between herself and her situation. Though for now writing helps her escape only emotionally, in the future it may help her to escape physically as well.

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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — The House on Mango Street — Effects On Poverty In the House On Mango Street

Effects on Poverty in The House on Mango Street

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Published: Apr 29, 2022

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A House On Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros is a poignant and powerful coming-of-age novel that delves into the experiences of a young Latina girl growing up in a working-class neighborhood in Chicago. The novel is a collection [...]

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82 The House on Mango Street Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

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👍 good research topics about the house on mango, ❓ house on mango street essay questions, 🏆 best the house on mango street topic ideas & essay examples.

• Culture and Identity: “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros The past is a driving force for the future and it is hard to erase that part of an individual’s life.
• Esperanza and Other Female Characters in “The House on Mango Street” Esperanza, in turn, hides her treatment to Nenny under the guise of frivolity and deliberately does not consider her a friend. We will write a custom essay specifically for you by our professional experts 808 writers online Learn More
• Sandra Cisneros Literary Style Her poetic approach, use of vignettes and the Spanish language in her books ‘The House on a Mango Tree’ and ‘Caramelo’ indicates a unique style that makes them easy to read and understand.this paper reviews […]
• The Analysis of Two Literary Works In this paper I would like to analyze the novel The House on Mango Street, written by Sandra Cisneros and the short story The Gift of the Magi by O.
• Identity and Ethnicity in “The House on Mango Street” by Cisneros The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros is a novel telling the story of Esperanza, a young Latina who moves to Chicago and grows up in a community of Puerto Ricans and Chicanos.
• Gender in “The House on Mango Street” In the book, the theme of gender inequality and the unwillingness to live like the women of the neighborhood-under the control of men, is expressed through the thoughts and narrative of the main character, the […]
• “The House on Mango Street,” a Novel by Sandra Cisneros The title of the book is in the context of the house that Esperanza lives in, which her family had shifted into at the beginning of the novel.
• Themes and Writing Styles in “A Rose for Emily” and “The House on Mango Street” The House on Mango Street is a work of fiction, but the author breaks the conventional rules of form and plot.
• “The House on Mango Street” Novel by Sandra Cisneros Speaking both to the reader’s mind and his/her soul, Cisneros makes him/her believe in her vision of the world and see people with the eyes of a little Mexican girl in her novel The House […]
• Cultural Hybridity in Cisneros’ “The House on Mango Street” To broaden my knowledge regarding modern literature, I focused on examining the examples of novels and stories related to the problem of diversity in American literature.
• “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros The vignettes presented in The House on Mango Street describe the daily experiences of Esperanza, and they demonstrate the particular features of the Mexican Americans’ life in a low-income neighborhood.
• “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros Every situation is individual and people and their actions are framed by the conditions and circumstances of their personal lives, as well as those of people in the close circle.”The House on Mango Street” by […]
• An Analysis of the Main Themes in “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros
• The Real Definition of Home in “The House on Mango Street”
• Function of Space in Sandra Cisneros’ “The House on Mango Street”
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• The Portrayal of the Sexual Violence Against Female Adolescents in “The House on Mango Street”
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• The Story of the Life of Esperanza Cordero in “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros
• The Never-Ending Dreams in Sandra Cisnero’s “The House on Mango Street”
• An Analysis of Irresponsible Behavior in “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros
• The Difficulties of Being Alienated in “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros
• Violence in “The House on Mango Street”
• The Apparent Misplacement of the Word “Strong” in “The House on Mango Street”
• Identity Conflict in “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros
• The Impact of the “Shame of Poverty” Concept on Esperanza’s World View in “The House on Mango Street”
• American Social Classes in “The House on Mango Street”
• The Significance of Language Adaptation in Cisneros’ “The House on Mango Street”
• The Theme of Coming of Age in “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros
• Female Sexuality in “The House on Mango Street”
• The Struggle of a Latina Woman in “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros
• Restricted Freedom of Women in Cisneros’ “The House on Mango Street”
• The Challenges of Living as an Immigrant in the United States in “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros
• Kate Chopin’s “The Awakening” and Sandra Cisneros’ “The House on Mango Street” Comparison
• The Sexist Prejudices Affecting Women in “The House on Mango Street”
• The Hardships and Abuse of Machismo in “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros
• The Feminism and Machismo in “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros
• Social Issues in “The House on Mango Street”
• The Utilization of Esperanza’s Growth and Maturity in “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros
• The Central Theme, Plot, Background of the Author, and the Downfall of American Childhood in “The House on Mango Street”
• The Simple House in “The House on Mango Street”, an Article by Toni Cade Bambara
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• The Portrayal of Latino Women as Inferior in Sandra Cineros’ Novel “The House on Mango Street”
• Theme of Discrimination in “The House on Mango Street”
• The Definition of the American Dream by the Narrator’s Family in “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros
• The Degrading Attitudes Towards Women Portrayed in “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros
• The American Dream in “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros
• Women’s Literature Contributions of Sandra Cisneros’ “The House on Mango Street”
• Theme of Oppression in “The House on Mango Street”
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• Harsh Realities and Beauty in “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisnero
• Dynamics and Structures of Power and Oppression in the Hispanic Community in “The House on Mango Street”
• What Does “The House on Mango Street” Ultimately Seem to Value?
• Why Doesn’t Esperanza Consider “The House on Mango Street” a “Real House”?
• What Is a Good Thesis Statement for “The House on Mango Street”?
• How Are Sex and Violence Linked in “The House on Mango Street”?
• What Is the Purpose of the Internal Rhymes That Appear in Many Vignettes of “The House on Mango Street”?
• How Do Race and Gender Come Into Conflict in “The House on Mango Street”?
• What Does “The House on Mango Street” Say About the Process of Growing Up?
• In What Ways Does Writing Set Esperanza Apart From Her Neighborhood in “The House on Mango Street”?
• What Is Esperanza From “The House on Mango Street” Ashamed of?
• Why Did Cisneros Chooses Not to Try to Represent Dialect, Slang, or Accents in “The House on Mango Street”?
• What Is Esperanza’s Relationship to Her Identity as a Mexican American in “The House on Mango Street”?
• Why Does Esperanza Want a “Real House” in “The House on Mango Street”?
• What Is Esperanza’s Experience With Racism Throughout “The House on Mango Street”?
• How Do Esperanza’s Dreams Evolve Throughout “The House on Mango Street”?
• What Does “The House on Mango Street” Suggest About Racism and Prejudice?
• How Does “The House on Mango Street” Express the Importance of Place, Culture, and Environment?
• What Comment Does “The House on Mango Street” Make on Issues of Gender Roles?
• How Is Esperanza’s Identity Shaped by Her Community in “The House on Mango Street”?
• What Is the Main Lesson of “The House on Mango Street”?
• What Does Elenita Mean by “A Home in the Heart” in “The House on Mango Street”?
• Why Does Esperanza Want to Change Her Name in “The House on Mango Street”?
• How Does Esperanza’s Decision to Let Bums Into Her House Show a Change in Her Since the Beginning of “The House on Mango Street”?
• Why Does Louie’s Other Cousin Get Arrested in “The House on Mango Street”?
• What Is Esperanza’s “Quiet War” All About in “The House on Mango Street”?
• Why Does Sally’s Father Beat Her in “The House on Mango Street”?
• What Is the Overall Message of “The House on Mango Street”?
• How Is Language Used to Divide and Include in “The House on Mango Street”?
• What Makes Esperanza From “The House on Mango Street” Angry?
• How Does Cisneros’ “The House on Mango Street” Impact and Influence the Latino Experience in America?
• What Can We Learn About Life in Chicago From Cisneros’ “The House on Mango Street”?
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• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2023, December 4). 82 The House on Mango Street Essay Topic Ideas & Examples. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/the-house-on-mango-street-essay-examples/

"82 The House on Mango Street Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." IvyPanda , 4 Dec. 2023, ivypanda.com/essays/topic/the-house-on-mango-street-essay-examples/.

IvyPanda . (2023) '82 The House on Mango Street Essay Topic Ideas & Examples'. 4 December.

IvyPanda . 2023. "82 The House on Mango Street Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." December 4, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/the-house-on-mango-street-essay-examples/.

1. IvyPanda . "82 The House on Mango Street Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." December 4, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/the-house-on-mango-street-essay-examples/.

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IvyPanda . "82 The House on Mango Street Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." December 4, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/the-house-on-mango-street-essay-examples/.

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The House on Mango Street

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Prologue-Chapter 5

Chapters 6-13

Chapters 14-21

Chapters 22-29

Chapters 30-38

Chapters 39-44

Character Analysis

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Important Quotes

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Discussion Questions

What is Esperanza’s relationship to her identity as a Mexican American? Cite examples from the text where she grapples with her Mexican heritage and her desire to achieve the American dream. 

Why does Esperanza want a “real house”? Why is she so disappointed with the house on Mango Street? Why does she want a house of her own so badly?

What is Esperanza’s experience with racism throughout the text?

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The House On Mango Street Figurative Language

Overall, Esperanza's biggest challenges are found in the beginning, middle, and end of the story. At the beginning of the story, Esperanza struggles with her feelings about where she lives. She is embarrassed by the appearance and stifling atmosphere of the apartment. Figurative language is used when it says, "Until my great-grandfather threw a sack over her head and carried her off." In the middle of the story, Esperanza struggles with the feelings of her name. She thinks that her name means bad luck, is embarrassed about it and lacks self-confidence due to her great-grandmother. Her great-grandmother was submissive to her husband, which is something she does not want to be. Figurative language is used when it says, "Until my great-grandfather

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