THE HOUSE ON MANGO STREET
BY SANDRA CISEROS
1st period
Amy Chen
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Table of Contents
General Summary of the Novel………………………………….......1
Character Descriptions………………………………………………......3
Figurative Language Log………………………………………………….10
Theme Study…………………………………………………………………..17
Student Vignette……………………………………………………………..18
Back Page……………………………………………………………………….19
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General Summary of the Novel
In the vignette “My Name”, the name Esperanza means hope in
English. In Spanish it means sadness, it means waiting. Esperanza inherited
her name from her grandmother. Everyone from Esperanza’s school say her
name funny. Esperanza’s grandmother spent her whole life looking out the
window. She does not want to be like her, and she does not like her name.
“Alicia Who Sees Mice” tells a story about a girl named Alicia who studies
hard for university because she does not want to work in a factory or to wake
up early in the morning and catch the hind legs hid behind the sink. In the
vignette “A Rice Sandwich”, Esperanza feels it’s very special to be able to eat
in the canteen. When she actually eats there, reality ruins her dream.
Esperanza expressed the unique relationship between the four skinny trees
and herself, as if the trees are strong symbols for Esperanza and her friends
in the vignette “Four Skinny Trees”. “A Smart Cookie”, Esperanza’s mother
educated her not to give up on education like she did because she could be
somebody otherwise. The ironic statement from Esperanza “I was a smart
cookie then” ends the vignette.
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Character
Description
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ESPERANZA
Esperanza is the narrator of the novel “The House on
Mango Street”. She is an approximately twelve-year old
Mexican-American girl. Her “hair is lazy. It never obeys barrettes
or bands” (Cisneros 6). Esperanza is desperate for freedom,
she compares herself to “a red balloon, a balloon tied to an
anchor” (Cisneros 9). She does not think she belongs to Mango
Street; she wants to become someone new. Esperanza does
not like her name because “it means sadness, it means
waiting” (Cisneros 10). Esperanza doesn’t want to inherit how
her grandmother waited, and looked out the window her whole
life after she already inherited her name.
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RACHEL & LUCY
Rachel and Lucy said to Esperanza, “If you give me five
dollars I will be your friend forever” (Cisneros 14). Esperanza
gives them five dollars to the two Mexican-American girls, and
they give her forever friendship. Lucy “has long legs” (Cisneros
15), and Rachel “is skinny” (Cisneros 16). The three of them
ride the bike while a very fat lady shouts “You got quite a load
there” (Cisneros 16). Rachel shouts back “You got quite a load
there too” (Cisneros 16). Just like that, she’s a very sassy girl.
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MARIN
Marin is from Puerto Rico. She’s a young woman who
“gets money from selling Avon and taking care of her cousins”
(Cisneros 26). Since she babysits a lot, Marin cannot leave the
house. Esperanza says that Marin teaches them “if you count
the white flecks on your fingernails you can know how many
boys are thinking of you” (Cisneros 27). Marin becomes the only
source for Esperanza and her friends to learn the boy world.
Even though “Marin’s boyfriend is in Puerto Rico” (Cisneros 26),
Marin dreams some white man might bring her out of Mango
Street to the suburbs. Marin “is waiting for a car to stop, a star
to fall, someone to change her life”.
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ALICIA
Alicia “is young and smart and studies for the first time
at the university” (Cisneros 31). Alicia, “whose mama died”
(Cisneros 31). Her mother died, she has to take care of herself
and her father. She wakes up early “and makes the lunchbox
tortillas” (Cisneros 31). Alicia studies hard “because she
doesn’t want to spend her whole life in a factory or behind a
rolling pin” (Cisneros 32). She “is a good girl” (Cisneros 32).
Alicia, who studies late at night, sees mice.
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SALLY
Sally is “the girl with eyes like Egypt” (Cisneros 81). She
is the most beautiful girl in school, “she flicks her hair back
like a satin shawl over her shoulders” (Cisneros 81). She leans
over the fence, Esperanza thinks “all you wanted, all you
wanted, Sally, was to love and to love and to love and to love,
and no one could call that crazy” (Cisneros 83). Sally really
wants freedom and attention. Sally denies, “He never hits me
hard” (Cisneros 92). Sally has an abusive father, “a girl who
comes in with her pretty face all beaten and black” (Cisneros
92). Sally is not trustworthy, “Sally, you lied” (Cisneros 99).
Sally leaves Esperanza to go with the boys. At the end, “Sally
got married” (Cisneros 101) to escape.
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Figurative
Language
Log
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In the vignette “Hairs”, “But my mother’s hair, my
mother’s hair, (repetition), like little rosettes (simile), like little
candy circles (smile) all curly and pretty because she pinned it in
pincurls all day, sweet to put your nose into when she is holding
you, holding you (repetition) and you feel safe, is the warm smell
of bread before you bake it (metaphor), is the smell when she
makes room for you on her side of the bed still warm with her
skin, and you sleep near her, the rain outside falling and Papa
snoring” (Cisneros 6-7). This sentence contains many figurative
language uses, just because of these uses; the sentence tends
to become more alive, as if you are watching a movie. You can
picture what is happening, you can smell the smell, and you can
feel the warmth. Sometimes, you can get a flashback based on
your own experiences.
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After Esperanza sees Elenita, she thinks to herself, “A
home in the heart, I was right. Only I don’t get it. A new house, a
house made of heart. I’ll light a candle for you.
(Foreshadowing)” (Cisneros 64). This sentence contains a
strong foreshadowing. A home in the heart, Esperanza does not
understand the meaning of this term that Elenita has used,
which foreshadows she will learn from her future experiences
as life goes on.
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In the vignette “Four Skinny Trees”, Esperanza compares
herself to the trees, “Four skinny trees with skinny necks and
pointy elbows like mine (Smile & Personification)” (Cisneros 74).
This describes Esperanza’s physical look to the readers, makes it
easier to picture what Esperanza looks like.
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Sally, the most beautiful girl at school, “the boys at
school think she’s beautiful because her hair is shiny black like
raven feathers (Simile) and when she laughs, she flicks her hair
back like a satin shawl (Simile) over her shoulders and laughs”
(Cisneros 81). She has beautiful hair, unlike Esperanza from
previous vignette’s description. Sally has nice eyes too, “Sally is
the girl with eyes like Egypt (Simile)” (Cisneros 81). This simile
helps the readers to see an image of Sally’s eyes. Esperanza
thinks “all you wanted, all you wanted (repetition), Sally, was to
love and to love and to love and to love (Repetition), and no one
could call that crazy” (Cisneros 83). The repetitions in this
sentence enhance Sally’s desire on wanting freedom and
attention.
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Esperanza’s mother tells Esperanza that her “blouse
will learn to stay clean (Personification)” (Cisneros 88). Clothes
cannot learn to stay clean or act like a human being. This
personification tells the readers that as Esperanza grows older,
she will learn to keep her blouse to stay clean, but in a more
lively way.
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Esperanza’s mother has a beautiful velvety voice, “today
while cooking oatmeal she is Madame Butterfly (Allusion)”
(Cisneros 91). Her mother sings opera, which the readers would
get a better idea from this allusion. After Esperanza’s mother
educated her to never give up on education, Esperanza thinks to
herself, “I was a smart cookie then (Irony & Metaphor)” (Cisneros
91). Esperanza does not think she’s a smart cookie, and the
metaphor included is a great way to express it.
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THEME STUDY
One theme from the novel “The House on Mango Street” that is important is the differences and levels
between the two different sexualities, the stereotypical ways of viewing them and the desire on escaping the situation.
Esperanza says “Until then I am a red balloon, a balloon tied to an anchor” (Cisneros 9). Esperanza does not have a
best friend to share her secretes to. She thinks the boys and the girls live in two different worlds; her brother would not
talk to them once they are outside the house. He shows that it’s an embarrassment to talk to girls out in the public.
Esperanza compares herself to a balloon tied to an anchor because a balloon is supposed to fly, she wants to have a
real friend and have more space to spare her feelings. Esperanza’s grandmother looked outside the window her whole
life, Esperanza clearly states that, “I wonder if she made the best with what she got or was she sorry because she
couldn’t be all the things she wanted to be. Esperanza. I have inherited her name, but I don’t want to inherit her place
by the window” (Cisneros 11). Esperanza expressed the desire on exiting the life she would probably have in some
years. Her grandmother spent her life waiting, waiting for things to happen, waiting for the guiltiness on not be able to
be what she wanted to be to go away. Esperanza has a goal to become the opposite of her grandmother. Alicia, who
spends nights on studying, who rides “two trains and a bus, because she doesn’t want to spend her whole life in a
factory or behind a rolling pin” (Cisneros 32). The women have to wake up early to make tortilla stars, to work in a
factory if they don’t have any education background. Nobody fixes the swollen floorboards; they have to catch the hind
legs hide behind the sink, beneath the tub. Alicia, whose mother died, who studies hard to avoid the pattern that’s
going on in every woman’s life. Esperanza begins her own quiet war, “Sure. I am one who leaves the table like a man,
without putting back the chair or picking up the plate” (Cisneros 89). This reflects how men act in that society. There
are no gentlemen, only the ones who leave things to the women and control everything. After Sally gets married, “She
sits at home because she is afraid to go outside without his permission. She looks at all the things they own: the towels
and the toaster, the alarm clock and the drapes. She likes looking at the walls, at how neatly their corners meet, the
linoleum roses on the floor, the ceiling smooth as a wedding cake” (Cisneros 102). Sally’s new husband doesn’t give
her any permission on anything. He would not let her go outside, talk on the telephone, look out the window, and he
would not let anyone to visit her. He gets all the control in the family. She is afraid of him too, just like most of the wives
on Mango Street. Sally thinks she escaped from her old life; instead, she steps in another miserable form of life. The
ironic ending comparing the ceiling smooth as wedding cake is opposite from Sally’s new rough life.
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STUDENT VIGNETTE
Celebrating the holidays with my family is especially fun because of the laughter and the feeling
when you get after seeing everyone in a long time.
Now in the states, we celebrate most of the western holidays with friends. The most
missed holiday by me is definitely the Chinese New Year. I haven’t gotten a chance to celebrate it
with my entire family in a long time.
Before I moved, we would clean the whole house together to get a clean start for the
New Year and hang all the red decorations to get the spirit up. My cousin and I are the most excited
ones since we get excited about well the holidays, the snow… but the most exciting part is getting
the red pockets full but money from our relatives. The night before the New Year’s Day, there is
definitely going to be a big dinner party in our house. My uncle and grandma are mainly in charge
on food. After dinner for about two hours, the family would change into new clothes and pray for
happiness and health in the next year. Not every family prays, instead this is just a tradition in our
family. After that, we would all gather up together in front of the TV to watch the New Year’s show
which keeps us entertained until midnight. The show keeps on going until about two, but I never
know because the anemic feeling I get for being up too late makes me go to sleep.
About 6 in the morning, we wake up and dress up nicely, have the New Year’s morning
drink (another family tradition), and go outside to wish the neighbors happy new year. The sky is
blue without a single cumulus. For us kids, it’s time to get the red pockets by saying a happy new
year to the people who has them.
Even though it’s the same for us every year, but I never get tired of the holiday spirit.
Everything is new and we start all over again after the bell of New Year’s rings.
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BACK PAGE
Everyone should at least try to read this book because
you can learn so many from just these thin pages. You can really
feel the diverse between the society that we live in and an
unique view from Esperanza. The usage of languages in this
book is just amazing, it’s a deeper world with a lot of interesting
things to think about. So you should give it a chance and try it
out! 
Amy Chen
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