Compare And Contrast The Ways Cisneros And Piercy Feel About Names

Esperanza is confused on the meaning of her name. She is not confident, and she does not like a lot of things about herself. The author states in the vignette, “My Name”, “In English my name means hope. In spanish it means too many letters It means sadness, it means waiting” (Cisneros 10). She contradicts the meaning of her name. She does not like it. She finds it too confusing. The English and Spanish meaning are completely different. Hope and sadness are almost exact opposites. Esperanza does not know what her name means, and so she does not know who she really is. She thinks people are judging her based off of her name. She does not

A time in the story where Esperanza feels ashamed of her home is when a nun points “...to a row of ugly three-flats, the ones even the raggedy men are ashamed to go into" (94), and asks if one of the homes belongs to Esperanza. Even though the house did not really belong to Esperanza, she knew her real house wasn't much nicer than the houses the nun pointed to. Esperanza also shows negativity when she complains about her name. Esperanza didn't always like the name she was given, because she doesn't want to end up like her great grandmother, who was forced into marriage, and is basically trapped inside. Esperanza inherited her name, but "[doesn't] want to inherit her place by the window" (51). Esperanza also shows a negative attitude is when she explains that her name “...means sadness, it means

In The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, Esperanza’s name causes her to feels trapped and hopeful for a new identity. When Esperanza says “I have inherited her name, but I don’t want to inherit her place by the window” (Page 11) in My Name. The quote is talking about how even though Esperanza shares a name with her great-grandma she does not want to share her sadness in life. This quote is important because Esperanza feels trapped because of many different things including her name and her social economic status. However, her name is something she can never really get away from unless she goes through the difficult process of changing.

After Esperanza reads Aunt Lupe one of her poems, her aunt tells her that she might be able to use her writing to be set free and find her real identity; however, Esperanza didn’t figure out the real meaning of her aunt’s words until her aunt passed away. After her aunt dies, Esperanza is confronted by shame and guilt, which also happen to be the feelings that Aunt Lupe felt in the years that took her to pass away (she was embarrassed to be a burden on her family for so many

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.

At several points within “The Approximate Size of my Favorite Tumor,” Alexie plays with the use of nicknames to relay relationships between characters. A name is an integral part of one’s identity, being given at birth and held on to till death, representing who a person is. Sometimes people go by different names depending on how close the person is to another. Names are altered to tease lovingly or show sincerity. Such an instance takes place within the text. Surnames in the Native American community differ from that of western society. Descriptions took the place of a typical last name, creating more intimate and interesting names. For example, the main character of this excerpt is

A poignant figure in Esperanza’s life is her own grandmother. In fact, Esperanza was given her birth name after her grandmother. A touching gesture that came from good faith. A name may have some value, but for Esperanza there was a high intrinsic quality to such a simple component. Despite, never encountering her own grandmother in person, Esperanza was grateful to have fond memories by carrying her legacy through her name. Life’s motto concerns dealing with adversity and carrying the legacy of one’s family eternally. Being confident and smart was the only way to live by. No man was needed to help raise and nurture herself. Her grandmother instilled in Esperanza a sense of fortitude and independence. It is sad that a regret of Esperanza is linked to her grandmother, further illustrating the physical and mental hardships one can endure in

In the novel,The House on Mango Street, Cisneros uses a powerful collection of imagery however, one of the strongest examples would be in the chapter My Name, which displays Esperanza’s insecurities in a land who struggles to accept her. “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.

There comes a point in time in an individual’s life in which their name truly becomes a part of their identity. A name is more than just a title to differentiate people; it is a part of the person. In Lost Names: Scenes from a Korean Boyhood by Richard E. Kim, names play a major role on the character’s identities. The absence and importance of the names in the story make the story rich with detail and identity through something as simple as the name of a character. Names are a significant factor affecting the story and the characters throughout the novel Lost Names.

Arthur Miller in The Crucible uses motif as repetition for the word name to get the reader thinking about what it means. John Proctor defending himself to Danforth yells “God does not need my name nailed upon the church! God sees my name; God knows how black my sins are!”. He uses name to talk about his sins. John Proctor doesn’t want the whole village to know about what he confessed to doing.

It means sadness, it means waiting” (10). Not only is Esperanza’s name a way to trace her origin but it is also symbolic to the book as a whole. Her name illustrates how the Spanish inside her is sad and it is putting her in a position that is weighing her down and keeping her from becoming someone. The English counterpart is what is keeping her going and motivated to find a way to escape Mango Street and all it encompasses. Just like a genuine immigrants dream when they come to America, Esperanza’s name means “hope” and she uses this hope for a better life to “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” (110). Cisneros uses the name of her character to give her a place in a Latino setting and start expounding on her thoughts and feelings that come with that life.

In Marie Lu’s dystopian book Legend, there are a wide variety of characters with varying and backgrounds. Although the tale follows the lives of young girl June and outlaw Daniel (nicknamed Day), many side characters are also introduced and developed throughout the course of the book. All of these characters possess interesting names that enhance the plot in certain ways, and while most of the characters’ names fit them, some do not.

Names are sometimes taken so much more seriously than they should be. One distinct case would be the world of writing. We can only imagine the disappointment of an author whose book was not published because it was written by a woman, or the pressure a famous writer must face when starts on a new book, knowing that his or her fans will have high expectations. So, in an attempt to destroy yet another hardship in the world of writing, an author would create a pen name. Just one such pseudonym can give authors the chance to do so much more; they will give writers a chance to publish or explore different ideas. Thus, it has been used by all types of writers, from 19th century Victorian women to sixteen-year-old boys to one of the most famous writers

The change in perceived meaning of the word and the ensuing change in expected reaction made him feel foolish. Rightly, discovering that he had used the wrong word was not an este em-shattering blow to Ringo, but it illustrates how the perceived meaning of a word and the ideas it means transmit forecast the expected reaction. The association carried by a name may either amplify or inhibit a character’s emotional state. Jules call s the young man ‘Ringo’ in the restaurant superficially because of his English accent. Strategically, Jules identifies the young man with a broadly admired celebrity to establish fraternity and to calm him. By calling the young man ‘Ringo,’ Jules superi mposes the admiration that Ringo Starr receives upon the young man. Obviously, Jules did not go through this elaborate thought process when he chose to use that name. If you were to imagine Jules instead using any other British name (e.g. George III, Ch aucer, or John Major) primarily because of the young man’s accent, you would see a significantly different reaction. Soon afterward, Jules learns Yolanda’s, the young woman’s, name in order to pierce through her confused state and reason with her. He at tempts to calm her with a similar strategy.