The two symbols are the red brick (the architecture) and
the lady in high heel shoes.
The House on Mango
Street
Sandra Cisneros
Matthew Childress
Mr. Rustin
3rd Period
*red balloon
Table of Contents
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1-Cover Sheet
2-Table of Contents
3-General Summary of 5 vignettes
4-Character Descriptions
5-Character Descriptions cont.
6-Figurative Language Log
7-Figurative Language Log cont.
8-Figurative Language Log cont.
9- Theme Study
10-Theme Study cont.
11-Student Vignette
12-Back Page Quote
General Summary of Five Vignettes
In the first vignette, “The House on Mango Street,” the main character Esperanza describes her
family and the house on mango street that her family has recently moved into. In “Cathy Queen of Cats,”
Esperanza meets her first friend in her new neighborhood, but apparently Cathy is related to the Queen
of France and wants to return “home” one day to claim the crown, Cathy later offends Esperanza by
telling her that the neighborhood is getting bad. As Esperanza continues to explore growing-up, in “Louie,
his cousin and his other cousin,” Esperanza gets into a car which is Louie’s Cousin’s car which is very
exquisite, as the neighborhood gang is taken around in the car, sirens are heard, and Louie’s cousin tells
the children to get out of the car, the cousin is later apprehended by the police. Still “growing-up,” in
“Hips,” Esperanza, Nenny and her friends discover hips, and discuss their importance, Nenny suggests
that hips keep girls from turning into men, but Esperanza realizes that hips are for women. In the
vignette “Edna’s Ruthie,” Esperanza meets the daughter of the harsh landlord that lives across the
street. Ruthie does not want to grow up, which is the direct opposite of Esperanza, who wishes to grow up
and move out of her current state with all of her might.
Character Descriptions
Esperanza is the narrator of the novel. She is a twelve year old girl who
doesn’t think that her name defines her and would like a new one. “I would
like to baptize myself under a new name, a name more like the real me,
the one nobody sees” (Cisneros 11).In Spanish, her name means hope, and
at times her hope is shaken, but is generally there throughout. She wants
to have a real house and believes that the house on Mango Street isn’t it.
She goes through many challenges and adventures throughout the novel
while also finding her maturity.
Rachel and Lucy were best friends with Esperanza. Lucy was born in
Chicago and Rachel was born in Texas. Lucy is the older sister of Rachel.
“My name is Lucy, the big one says. This here is Rachel my sister”
(Cisneros 15). Rachel and Lucy fights sometimes, but always work it out.
“Especially since Rachel almost put out Lucy’s eye about who was going to
get to ride first. But finally we agree to ride it together” (Cisneros 15).
They both are immature, but Esperanza has fun with them.
Cathy is Esperanza’s first friend that she meets in her neighborhood.
Esperanza never grows close to Cathy because she moves away soon after
they meet. “Okay, I’ll be your friend. But only till next Tuesday, That’s
when we move away” (Cisneros 13).
Character Descriptions Continued
Cathy cont.-She warns Esperanza from becoming friends with Rachel and Lucy.
Cathy has lots and lots of cats. Esperanza even calls her “Queen of cats”. “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” (Cisneros 13).
Nenny is Esperanza’s younger sister. Nenny’s real name is Magdalena, which
Esperanza thinks is uglier than her own name. “..Not quite thick as my sister’s name
Magdalena-which is uglier than mine” (Cisneros 11). Nenny is even more immature
than Esperanza. When Esperanza is responsible for watching out for Nenny she
gets really irritated and embarrassed by her. Nenny and Esperanza don’t look like
sister, but have some qualities that are alike. “Nenny and I don’t look like
sister…not right away” (Cisneros 17).
Sally is the pretty girl that all the boys talk about. “The boys at school think she’s
beautiful because her hair is shiny like raven feathers,” (Cisneros 81). In fact, she
is so beautiful that her father doesn’t let her go out, because “to be this beautiful
is trouble” (Cisneros 81). Sally is not a very good friend to Esperanza. She spends
most of her time with boys more than friends, like many other females these days.
She is more mature than Esperanza is and seem glamorous to her. Sally goes down
bad paths later on the novel and hopefully Esperanza doesn’t follow her footsteps.
Figurative Language Log
• “Not the way you can tell with Rachel and Lucy who have the same fat popsicles lips
like everybody else in their family,”This metaphor is significant because it gives you a
good image so that you can visualize what’s going on easier(Cisneros 17).
•
“Cats asleep like little donuts,” The significance of this simile is to show how the cat is
sleeping. It really helps me to visualize what I’m reading, which is what this simile
does(Cisneros 13).
•
“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 walk on the dinner table,” the alliteration/repetition signifies that Cathy has a
lot of cats and it is a better way of showing that by repeating the words cats over and
over again(Cisneros 13).
•
“It’s small and red with tight steps in front and windows so small you’d think they were
holding their breath,” this personification helps the reader understand how small the
windows really are, which enhances the novel(Cisneros 4).
•
“Tables with their feet upside-down and rows and rows of refrigerators with round
corners and couches that spit dust in the air when you punch them and a hundred T.V’s
that don’t work probably,” the personification in this quote is significant because it
enhances the reading
experience for the reader by helping you understand what
the couch is doing ,which was putting dust in the air(Cisneros 19).
Figurative Language Log continued
• Not the shy ice cream bells’ giggle of Rachel and Lucy’s
family…”( Cisneros 17).
The significance of this metaphor is that it really “selects and
names” this fact about Rachel and Lucy’s family.
• “…but all of a sudden and surprised like a pile of dishes
breaking” (Cisneros 17).
The significance of this simile is that it conveys the idea of
Esperanza’s laugh better than any other way could.
• “The kids bend trees and bounce between and dangle upside
down from knees and almost break like fancy museum vases you
can’t replace”(Cisneros 29).
A hyperbole exaggerates a statement. To “bend” trees is
extremely difficult for a kid to do so and it’s exaggerated so
therefore, it is a hyperbole.
Figurative Language Log continued
• There was a family. All were little. Their arms were little,
and their hands were little…,” the significance of this
repetition is to show the importance of how small the family
is by repeating the word “little” (Cisneros 39).
• “The mother’s feet plump and polite, descending like white
pigeons from the sea of pillow, across the linoleum roses…,”
the significance of this simile and personification is to
describe the feet in a more unusual way than normal. Plus
using two types of figurative language is a good way of
trying to show its significance(Cisneros 40). (9th and 10th
example)
Theme Study- Identity
A major theme of this novel is identity, finding oneself
when troubles come, and knowing who you are.
“I would like to baptize myself under a new name, a name more like the
real me, the one nobody sees” (Cisneros 11).
-The significance of this quote is that it shows that Esperanza doesn’t
like her name and would like a new one. Also, getting a new name is like
getting a new identity. Esperanza wants people to know the real her.
“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 who do not belong here but are here”(Cisneros 74).
-Esperanza compares herself to four skinny trees. This quote signifies
that she is lonely and that she feels like she doesn’t belong. This quote
also shoes that Esperanza thinks that she is the only one who feels this
way.
Theme Study Continued
“All brown all around, we are safe. But watch us ... drive into a neighborhood of
another color and our knees go shakity-shake and our car windows get rolled up tight
and our eyes look straight”(Cisneros 28).
-The significance of this quote is that while Esperanza makes fun of white people
who are afraid of her Latino neighborhoods, she shows in this quote that the people
that live on Mango Street are just as scared to go into a white neighborhood. This
shoes that these two neighborhoods are basically the same, despite their culture.
“In English my name means hope. In Spanish it means ... too many letters. It means
sadness, it means waiting. It is like the number nine. A muddy color. It is the
Mexican records my father plays on Sunday mornings when he is shaving, songs like
sobbing” (Cisneros 10).
-The signification of this quote is to prove that Esperanza hates her name. This
quote says that her name means "hope" in Spanish which expresses her Mexican
heritage. Esperanza struggles with this part of her identity because it's long name
and difficult for her teachers at school to say. Because of this, Esperanza ounce
again feels like she doesn’t belong.
“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.”(Cisneros )
This quote signifies that living on Mango Street has helped Esperanza find her
identity. Also, that Mango Street has become a little part of her identity.
My Vignette
What’s in a name? Is it what makes you, you, or me, me? Matthew Russell Childress, I
got my middle name from my abuelito, and my last name came from history, all the way from
Wales; my last name is even in history textbooks, the author of the Texas Declaration of
Independence which is my relative George C. Childress. To me my name means strong, and
intelligent; I hope I come across like that to others, and not some anemic fool. But I want to
make a name for myself, through many great triumphs and victories.
Making a name for myself,
To see myself ascend to greatness,
To achieve my goals,
Making a name for myself.
*Blue are the gerund phrases, and the brown are the infinitive phrases
Back Page Quote
“I believe The House on Mango Street should be read by
all who wish to feel a sense of coming-of-age. Another
reason The House on Mango Street should be read is
because finding oneself is a prevalent theme, which can be
applied to all areas of life. This book also made me feel
empathetic towards many of the characters due to
Sandra Cisneros’s way of immersing you into her
literature.”-Matthew Childress