Manny Salazar
Jennifer Wiley
WRT 101 M-W 10:40-11:55
November 26, 2012
“The Setting of the House on Mango Street”
The short story, “The House on Mango Street,” is a story that is centered within a particular neighborhood, which is evidently inhabited by middle-to-lower class folks. Although the introduction of the story does not state a specific location, it is safe to say that it is not the typical neighborhood where you would find rich white folks living. For example, the house where the protagonists live is described as almost collapsing due to brick damage; something that would not be an issue within a richer neighborhood. Evidently, the setting is one of the most important elements that constructs the first chapter. The House on
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The text also explains how their mom would share stories with them describing how their dream home would look like. That most likely gave them hope and made them fantasize about someday living in a better home. However, the story portrays how the narrator became more realistic and pessimistic about their situation. In the last paragraph of the story, the narrator’s parents state that their current life style is only temporary, but the narrator insists that nothing will change any time soon. Being the oldest of all the children, she has matured and become more aware that overcoming financial barriers are considerably long processes, and that their situation will not change from one day to the next.
The purpose of “The House on Mango Street” is to create a mental picture within the reader’s head. Throughout reading it, we get a sense of what the family has gone through, and what the severity of their struggles really are. The setting helps us see that their life styles have improved gradually, but they are still not where they want to be on the economic ladder. Even though their situation seems to improve, the narrator makes it clear that they are nowhere close to what she envisions her life in her dreams. The narrator’s pessimistic point of view opens the audience’s mind, and helps us see their situation more realistically. However, somewhere deeply, the narrator still holds on hope that someday they will be
With all of the bad things going on around Esperanza, she was very optimistic and made the best of everything she could. For example, in chapter one, Esperanza explain how she and her family had always grown up poor and that they always had dreams of one day owning a big beautiful house like the ones that they saw on television. One with a back yard and a basement. When Esperanza's family was forced to move her parents had purchased the first house that they could afford so they wouldn't have to continue paying rent. The house was nothing like what they had spoke of or dreamt about. But Esperanza states, "I then knew I had to have a house. One I could point to. But this isn't it. The house on Mango Street isn't it. For the time being, Mama said. Temporary, says Papa. But I know how those things go.." Within this paragraph it shows that Esperanza isn't exactly happy about where she is living but she is going to make the best of it and do what she has to do to get out of there and have a house of her own. One that she can point to.
Imagine feeling like you don’t belong and never will, or that the odds of your success is a slim chance to none. The House on Mango Street written by Sandra Cisneros, leads us into a world of poverty, broken dreams, and slithers of hope. The House on Mango Street follows the life of a young girl by the name of Esperanza Cordero, who occupies her childhood in an indigent Latino neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois. The books expresses her dire need to have a place where she can call home, and escape the harsh reality of her expected life. Though, her life on Mango Street is bearable with help of her little sister Nenny, her two best friends Rachel and Lucy, and her other friend Sally. On her journey to adulthood, Sandra Cisneros will show how Esperanza assimilates into a mature young lady, who truly find her identity, and develops emotionally as well as physically.
When first coming to this country as a Hispanic American you may face a lot of difficulties and find more problems than the average white American. Hispanic people go through different adversities and have trouble overcoming them. In The House on Mango Street the main character Esperanza is the one that narrates the story, she explains what it is like to live on Mango Street. She shows the readers that living on Mango Street is perceived as a terrible area, if one were looking from the outside in. But those that live there feel that they live in fair living conditions. The fact is most of the people who live on Mango Street don 't know what it 's like to live outside of mango street. In the story, they show a lifestyle that most Hispanic people deal with especially the ones that come to America and have to figure out how to make ends meet. In The House on Mango Street, the novel has many themes and problems, such as gender inequality, stereotypes, and language barriers. With short stories like "Aria" and "the myth of Latin Woman," a solution is always found. Sometimes there is a simple solution and other times, it is not so easy to find, or there 's just no solution to solving the characters problems and they are still trying to look for results.
In the collection of vignettes, The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros develops the theme that people should not be devalued because of their financial circumstances through metaphors of classism, the motif of shame, and the contrast between minor characters Alicia and Esperanza’s mother. Esperanza, the protagonist, is a Mexican-American adolescent living in the rural Chicago region. She occupies a house on Mango Street with her father, mother, two brothers, Carlos and Kiki, and little sister, Nenny. Mango Street is filled with low-income families, like Esperanza’s, trying to adapt to their difficult circumstances. Esperanza realizes it is difficult, but she dreams of leaving her house and Mango Street altogether.
After having read the novel “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros I will now concentrate on the background of the novel that moved Sandra Cisneros to write it by investigating the novel with special regard to its different dimensions.
The House on Mango Street is a collection of vignettes written by Sandra Cisneros that is about a young Mexican-American girl named Esperanza, and the struggles of her life as she transitions from childhood into adulthood. Esperanza wants to find her true identity, but the conflicts and struggles that she faces throughout the story. Her town is a part of her adventure to find her self identity. She picks herself up, learning and figuring herself out throughout the novel. The author uses symbolism throughout the vignettes to convey the deeper meaning of conflicts developed in the novel, to show the difficulties of growing into adulthood.
When passing through a poor neighborhood, have you ever thought, “this place is dangerous.” even though you just see what’s on the surface? The dirty buildings, run down stores, and unkempt roads persuade us to perceive that neighborhood in a negative light, but you might do this unconsciously because ever since we were young, socioeconomic status is what separates the “good”, from the “bad”. Sandra Cisneros’, House on Mango Street, shows us how harmful having a previous notion of a place or person can be. In the novel, we meet Esperanza Cordero, a girl whose parents never strived above the working class. Because of their low income, they are forced to move into neglected homes on the verge of crumbling, their final stop being Mango
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.
The urban experience is different for each individual, for living in a society that is constantly being revised and adapting to a newly innovated lifestyle provides a variety of identities and goals. Despite technical advancements in communities changing rapidly, the migration of people and their cultural histories has never failed to make urban cities such as Chicago unique and diverse. The House on Mango Street, written by Sandra Cisneros, introduces the topics of education, the eagerness to “escape” poverty, and the struggle of growing up female to readers, ultimately showcasing the difficulty of being raised in a low income home, common in highly populated areas. Despite the continuum of time, the hardships of poverty creates an extra challenge
The confines of the Mango Street. In stories, games, or even life, there is hidden meaning behind things we don't even see, but once we come back to it we can see it more clearly and find details we missed. In “The House On Mango Street”, Sandra Cisneros explores a hidden theme in the story which shows the struggles of personal goals, and gender roles, while showing the symbol of the shoes. She portrays that to the audience using Esperanza and other women, revealing how society expects women to act, while shaping their dreams and identities. Sandra Cinero's novel “The House On Mango Street”, references throughout the novel that Esperanza wants a new home to escape the confines of Mango Street and dreams of having a place where she could finally belong and be herself.
Lindsey Rietzsch once said “A negative attitude drains, a positive attitude energizes.” This quote means that having a negative attitude lowers your self versus having a positive attitude where is actually increases attitude and it energizes you by inspiring you. “The House on Mango Street” sets up in Chicago, where the narrator(Esperanza) lives on Mango Street. The House on Mango Street that Esperanza lives in is really bad condition and old. It is so small that the narrator has to share beds in the same room with her family. Esperanza begins to lower her self esteem because she does not like where she lives and every time when some asks, “Where do you live?” She wants a real house that she could point to and she thinks the House On Mango street is not. But later, along the times, Esperanza’s negativity of herself begins to slowly change by looking at nature and take a closer look at the environment she lives in. Cisnero shows that knowing and being able to accept where our background is from is an important part of growing in life also as determining the real you.
The House on Mango Street characterizes a community of girls and women restricted in their movements within the barrio. The roles of these girls and women are translated through the eyes of a child. When women in the
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.
Everyone has challenges in their life, their feelings behind their actions make them who they are. In the novel The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros there are many conflicts which explore the characters, to get to know them closer. The internal conflict is used to discover the identity of the main character, Esperanza.
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.