Group Questions on “Only Daughter” by Sandra Cisneros
1) What upsets Cisneros about the relationship between her and her father? What kind of
relationship, or reaction, does she want from her father?
2) In paragraph 3, how does Cisneros’s distinction between “only daughter” and “only a
daughter” reveal much of what concerns her?
3) What particular experience creates a significant improvement in this relationship? Why
do you think this experience is so important not only to Cisneros but also to her father?
4) What does the author mean when she says in paragraph 5 that “I’m lucky my father
believed daughters were meant for husbands. It meant it didn’t matter if I majored in
something silly like English” ?
5) Do you think parents should make different plans and have different expectations for
sons and daughters? Why or why not?