Ms. Nguyen
English 9/Honors
CASTLE
SAVE
THE HOUSE ON MANGO STREET
Sandra Cisneros
This packet will be your guide for the vignette The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros.
Each section of the packet is important to understand, as it ties to the story.
This packet may serve as your notes and/or you can take notes in the “notes” section of your
binders. This packet will be your study guide for your test as well as the mid-term exam. DO
NOT LOSE THIS!
Make sure to note page numbers for easy reference
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:
*What is a “vignette?”
*Why is this written from a young child’s point of view (1st person)?
*How does socio-economic status affect Esperanza’s, the protagonist, life? How does money
affect the story, as a whole?
*Why does the protagonist not se any quotation marks and often omits (leaves out) punctuation?
THE HOUSE ON MANGO STREET
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS & THEMES, MOTIFS, AND DICHOTOMIES
“The House on Mango Street”
1. Compare and contrast Esperanza’s family’s current house to the family’s dream home. What
are some major differences?
2. What does the following quote tell you about where or how Esperanza, the protagonist, lives:
“The Laundromat downstairs had been boarded up because it had been robbed two days before
and the owner had painted on the wood YES WE’RE OPEN so as not to lose business” (5).
Dichotomy: Dreams vs. Reality
“Hairs”
3. Who are the different members of Esperanza’s family and how do all of their “hairs”
differ?
4. Why do you think it’s significant (important) that Esperanza uses a lot of simple
sentences? In what way does that affect the mood or the tone of the vignette?
5. What do you think the significance is of the protagonist using lots of repetition of
phrases? How does it affect the vignette?
“Boys & Girls”
6. Based on the first few lines and the vignette’s title, how old do you think Esperanza is ?
And, what are some clues which gives this away (8)?
7. Identify the following characters:
Carlos, Kiki, Nenny, Vargas kids.
8. What does Esperanza mean when she says, “Until then I am a red balloon, a balloon tied
to an anchor” (9). Interpret this quote.
“My Name”
9. In this vignette, Esperanza makes a number of cross-cultural connections to the meaning of her
name. Discuss the significance (importance) of this connection. What’s your opinion about the
way she does this in the first few lines of the vignette?
10. Theme: The role of females is portrayed in a negative way. Women are often seen
as weak and are often like prisoners trapped in their lives.
Find at least one quote which supports this theme and cite it correctly. What does this quote
mean? Analyze its meaning.
“Cathy Queen of Cats”
11. In the beginning of the vignette, Esperanza is talking about a few different types of
people that live in her neighborhood. What can you conclude or notice about what she’s
saying? What type of people live around her?
12. Who is Cathy, and why is she only Esperanza’s friend until next Tuesday?
13. Why do people keep moving out of the neighborhood, out of Mango Street?
“Our Good Day”
14. Again, why does Esperanza NOT use quotation marks to show dialogue among
characters? How does this affect the dialogue as you’re reading it?
15. Who are Lucy and Rachel?
“Laughter”
16. Identify and describe at least one of the metaphors Esperanza uses to compare different
types of laughter.
17. What is the significance of the last few lines between the girls’ conversation? Why is
Nenny’s response important to Esperanza?
“Gil’s Furniture Bought & Sold”
18. In ways is Gil’s furniture store different from stores we have around here? Superstores
like Circuit City and Walmart? Cite one example from the text.
“Meme Ortiz”
19. Who is Meme Ortiz?
20. what’s their house like and who built it?
21. What happens to Meme Ortiz at the end of the vignette?
“Louie, His Cousin & His Other Cousin”
21. Who is Louie? What nationality is Louie and his family?
22. What happens to Louie’s cousin’s car, though it’s not bluntly state or said outright? How
do you know? Choose a quote to show what happened in the latter part of the vignette.
23. What do you think Esperanza means by, “…and we all waved as they drove away” ( 25).
24. Theme: Serious, mature issues are described in an innocent manner, which enhances
the idea of childhood innocence.
How can you tie this theme to this particular vignette? Consider the events which take place to
help you
“Marin”
25. Who is Marin, and what’s her situation?
26. Find 2 quotes which exemplify the dichotomy Dreams vs. Reality.
Who are the speakers? What’s the significance?
27. Find 1 excerpt which exemplifies “stream-of-consciousness.” How does this affect pace?
How does this quote show Esperanza’s childhood innocence vs. Marin’s teenage-aged knowledge
about teen issues (i.e. boys, clothes, myths)?
“Those Who Don’t”
28. “Those who don’t know any better come into our neighborhood scared…They think we will
attack them with shiny knives. They are stupid people who get lost and got here by mistake…All
brown all around, we are safe” (28).
MOTIF(S): Segregation, racism, fear.
“There Was an Old Woman She Had So Many Children She Didn’t Know What to Do”
MOTIFS: Death/suicide, poverty, innocence
29. Who’s Rose Vargas, and what is her issue? Find a quote and explain it to support
your answer.
30. At the end of the vignette, what does Angel Vargas do? What does innocence (from
Esperanza’s perspective) and use of a simile, enhance the event?
“Alicia Who Sees Mice”
MOTIFS: Role of Females
31. Alicia is quite different from other female characters depicted in The House on Mango
Street. In what way is she different? Find a quote and explain it to support your answer.
“Darius & The Clouds”
MOTIFS: Limit vs. Limitless, Symbolism of clouds
32. In what ways do the sky and clouds represent/symbolize “happiness?”
Find a quote and explain.
“And Some More”
33. EXTRAPOLATE—In this vignette, how does Esperanza extrapolate information based on
what she knows?
Give an example/quote and explain
“The Family of Little Feet”
34. on pg. 40 what’s a sign that the girls are growing up, beginning to grown out of
childhood into adolescence?
35. “Your mother know you got shoe like that? Who give you those?...Them are dangerous. You
girls too young to be wearing shoes like that.”
Identify the speaker
What’s the significance? What do the shoes symbolize?
“A Rice Sandwich” MOTIF: POVERTY
35. On pg. 44 Esperanza talks to herself—inner thought—about how she does not feel
appreciated. Who is she talking to? Find a quote and explain.
36. Discuss Esperanza’s experience with shame. Why does she feel shame in this vignette,
toward the end?
“Chanclas”
37. At this point in the story, Esperanza is clearly coming into pre-pubescence or early teen
years. What is she self-conscious about?
“Hips”
38. In this vignette, “they” refers to what?
38. Use one quote to show a simile or metaphor, and explain
39. What effect do sing-songy childhood rhymes have on this vignette?
Consider the juxtaposition between innocence/childhood vs. corrupt/growing out of childhood
40. “She is too many light-years away. She is in a world we don’t belong to anymore.
Nenny. Going. Going” (52).
Who’s the speaker?
What’s the significance?
“The First Job”
41. What is coming of age?
41. How does coming-of-age compare to the end of the previous chapter (52)?
42. Where is Esperanza’s first job? Where does she eat lunch, and why?
43. Give two examples of “coming-of-age.” Use at least one quote and explain.
“Papa Who Wakes Up Tired in the Dark”
44. In the opening paragraph, what simile does Esperanza use?
45. Why does her dad cry? And, how does this affect her or change the way she views her
father (father figure)?
“Born Bad”
46. Who’s Aunt Lupe? What’s wrong with her?
47. How does Esperanza use PERSONIFICATION when sharing her thoughts on disease?
Use a quote to show your answer and explain.
48. Why does writing free Esperanza? Explain.
“Elenita, Cards, Palm, Water”
49. Who is Elenita? And, what is Esperanza doing in this vignette?
50. “What about a house, I say, because that’s what I came for,” Esperanza says. Tie this
quote to the first page of the book. How does a “new home” idea compare to the
beginning of the book?
“Geraldo No Last Name”
51. Who’s Geraldo? What happens to him? Use a quote to show the answer.
MOTIF: RACISM
“Edna’s Ruthie”
52. Ruthie is a mentally unsound, intellectually-challenged woman. Esperanza doesn’t say
this directly, but USE A QUOTE to show this.
53. Who’s Edna, and what is she like?
54. Find from the text (quote) at least one example of a simile Esperanza uses to describe
Ruthie. Explain (what is she comparing Ruthie to)?
“The Earl of Tennessee”
MOTIF: Role of Women
55. Who is Earl, and what does he do for work?
56. Considering the role of females motif, what does Esperanza mean by “The word is that
Earl is married and has a wife somewhere…We never agree on what she looks
like….” (71).
“Sire”
57. Who’s Sire and what’s his girlfriend’s name?
58. What does Esperanza’s mother mean by, “But Mama says those kinds of girls, those girls
are the ones that go into alleys. Lois who can’t tie her shoes” (73).
Consider the motif ROLE OF FEMALEs
“ Four Skinny Trees”
59. READ THE FIRST OPENING PARAGRAPH; how does Esperanza compare to trees,
physically?
Use a quote to show your answer.
60. “Four who grew despite concrete. Four who reach and do not forget to reach. Four
whose only reason is to be and be” (75).
Who’s the speaker?
What’s the significance (importance) of the quote? Explain how the trees symbolize Espy’s life in
some aspect/way.
“No Speak English”
61. Who is Mamacita?
62. How is Mamacita an example of the Role of Females motif? Consider her living
situation.
63. “And then to break her heart forever, the baby boy, who has begun to talk, starts to sing the
Pepsi commercial he heard on T.V…No speak English, she says to the child who is singing in the
language that sounds like tin. No speak English, no speak English, and the bubbles into tears. No,
no, no, as if she can’t believe her ears” ( 78).
Who are the speakers?
What’s the significance ? Consider the motifs of IDENTITY and how language affects identity.
“Rafaela Who Drinks Coconut & Papaya Juice on Tuesdays”
64. From “No Speak English,” how are Mamacita and Rafaela similar? Consider the Role of
Females motif
“Sally”
MOTIF: Escapism,
65. In the first, opening paragraph of the vignette, how does Esperanza use an “extended simile”?
Find one quote
66. What’s Sally’s life situation?
67. Find one quote to compare how Sally and Esperanza are alike in a way. How are they
similar?
“Minerva Writes Poems”
MOTIF: Role of Females
68. “…Then he is sorry and she opens the door again. Same
story.
Next week she comes over black and blue and
asks what can she do” (85)?
Who’s the speaker?
What’s the significance? Consider the role of females
“Bums in the Attic”
MOTIF: Identity
69. “ One day I’ll own my own house, but I won’t forget who I am or where I came from.
Passing bums will ask, Can I come in? I’ll offer them the attic, ask them to stay, because
I know how it is to be without a house” ( 87).
Identify the speaker:
What’s the significance? Consider the motif of identity
“Beautiful & Cruel”
Role of Females
70. How does Esperanza contract (oppose) the motif of the role of females? How is she
different than other women in the story?
71. “I have decided not to grow up tame like the others who lay their necks on the threshold
waiting for the ball and chain…I have begun my own quiet war. Simple. Sure. I am the
one who leaves the table like a man, without putting back the chair or picking up the
plate” (90).
Identify the speaker:
What’s the significance? Consider the motif role of females
“A Smart Cookie”
72. Compare and contrast Esperanza to her mother. How are they similar and how are they
different?
73. Why did her mother drop out of school?
“What Sally Said”
74. Sally, the same girl from a previous vignette, is very confined to her environment. Her father
is strict and does not let her grow, in a number of ways. What is the main problem in this
vignette?
75. How is Sally either similar or different than other female characters in this vignette?
How is she similar or different to Alicia (31), Mamacita, Rafaela, or Minerva (85)? Use previous
notes/answers from packet to help you.
“The Monkey Garden”
MOTIFS: Escapism, innocence being corrupted, coming-of-age (growing up)
76. What is the “Monkey Garden,” as Esperanza refers to it? Give one specific detail about
the garden
77. “Your son and his friends stole Sally’s keys and now they won’t give them back unless
she kisses them and right now they’re making her kiss them, I said all out of breath from
the there flights of stairs” (97).
Speaker?
What’s the significance? Consider the motifs listed above for this vignette.
78. why do you think that this particular vignette is longer than the others? Why does the
narrator go into more extensive details and use less simple language in this one?
“Red Clowns”
MOTIFS: Coming-of-age (from childhood to early adulthood)
79. In the opening paragraph, what is Esperanza talking about, though it’s not directly stated
(explicitly stated)? What happens to her and where?
80. Explain how this vignette is different than the others; consider the content (what
Esperanza is talking about).
“Linoleum Roses”
motif: Role of females
81. What happened to Sally when she got older?
82. What type of man did she marry, and how is this seen before in her life?
Find one quote to reinforce your answer.
“The Three Sisters”
MOTIF: death, identity
83. what is Esperanza’s first real, close experience with death?
84. “When you leave you must remember to come back for the others. A circle, understand?
You will always be Esperanza. You will always be Mango Street. You can’t erase what
you know. You can’t forget who you are” (105).
“Alicia & I Talking on Edna’s Steps”
MOTIF: Identity
85. “No, this isn’t my house I say and shake my head as if shaking could undo the year I’ve
lived here. I don’t belong. I don’t ever want to come from here” (106).
Identify the speaker:
What’s the significance?
“A House of My Own”
MOTIFS: Ownership, fantasy vs. reality
86. Refer to page 64. How does the idea of home and settled feel now? Compare to the
beginning?
“Mango Says Goodbye Sometimes”
MOTIF: identity, coming of age
87. “I like to tell stories. I am going to tell you a story about a girl who didn’t want to belong.
We didn’t always live on Mango Street…”
Speaker?
Significance?
88. Do you think she’ll leave Mango Street and be successful?