1
The House on Mango Street Reading and Study Questions
English II
Section 1
“The House on Mango Street”
1. What is the financial situation of the narrator?
2. Why is the word “there” in italics in the last several paragraphs? Why is this word significant? What
does it convey? What tone of voice did the nun use when she said it?
3. What does a house represent to the narrator?
4. Make a T-chart comparing the details of the narrator’s house on Mango Street with the details of the
house the narrator’s family dreamed about.
“Hairs”
1. Why is the narrator talking about her family’s hair? Does this vignette point to any larger social
issues?
2. What feelings does the mother’s hair evoke in the narrator?
3. Sketch the head of each family member, paying attention to their hair. Simple faces are fine.
“Boys & Girls”
1. Do boys and girls live in their own separate universes, in your opinion?
2. Why doesn’t the narrator want Nenny to play with the Vargas kids? What do you imagine is wrong
with them? Does the narrator need to tell you what is wrong with them for you to get her point?
3. Why does the narrator describe herself as a “red balloon” that is “tied to an anchor”?
4. Invent a metaphor that describes yourself and explain why you chose it.
Section 2
“My Name”
1. In what way are Chinese people and Mexican people alike, according to the narrator?
2. What does the narrator mean when she says: “I have inherited her name, but I don’t want to inherit
her place by the window”?
3. Why does the narrator want to baptize herself under a new name? What does she think a new name
would do for her?
4. Have each member of your group invent a new name for him/herself and tell why that name would
suit him/her. Discuss the names in your group and give each other feedback as to whether the name
suits the person. Record your new name and the results of the discussion (briefly).
5. Do you know why your name was chosen for you? Do you identify with your name or not? Why?
“Cathy Queen of Cats”
1. What does Cathy’s claim that she is the “great great grand cousin of the queen of France” tell you
about her race? Is this significant?
2. Does Cathy appear a bit judgmental to you? Why?
3. Why is Cathy’s family moving out of the neighborhood? What does this tell you about them?
4. How does Cathy insult Esperanza while explaining why they are moving away?
“Our Good Day”
1. What is Cathy’s objection to Lucy and Rachel?
2. Why does Esperanza like them?
3. What important choice does Esperanza make in this vignette? What does this signify?
Section 3
“Laughter”
1. What is Esperanza’s point regarding the fact that she and Nenny do not look that much alike? Is
there a larger point about people in general to be understood from Esperanza’s musings about herself
2
and her sister? Put more simply, how does Esperanza’s observation about herself and Nenny apply to
all people?
“Gil’s Furniture Bought & Sold”
1. What might the Statue of Liberty that Esperanza bought for a dime represent? Is it significant that
she was willing to pay for this item?
2. What do the girls find that makes Esperanza feel stupid? Why does it make her feel that way?
3. Do Esperanza, Nenny, and the shopkeeper have anything in common?
“Meme Ortiz”
1. What has Meme done that Esperanza would like to do?
2. What does the fact that Meme’s dog has two names, one English, one Spanish, tell you about
language in their world?
3. What might the description of Cathy’s/Meme’s house symbolize? Why are the steps all crooked, and
why are there no closets?
4. Although Meme’s yard is mostly just dirt (indicative of his poverty), what does he have in the
backyard that Esperanza likes?
Section 4
“Louie, His Cousin & His Other Cousin”
1. Marin appears to be older than Esperanza. What indicates this?
2. What is Marin’s situation? How is she “trapped” by the patriarchal culture, literally and figuratively?
3. Esperanza never tells us why Louie’s other cousin is arrested? Why do you think he is?
4. What does the car represent to all of the young people?
“Marin”
1. Whom does Marin live with?
2. Why does the narrator say “Marin is already older than us in many ways”? Is she just talking about
chronological age?
3. What kinds of things is Marin teaching the other girls?
4. What does the narrator mean when she says Marin “[i]s waiting for a car to stop, a star to fall,
someone to change her life”?
5. Is Marin happy, in your opinion? Tell why or why not.
6. Draw a sketch of Marin. If you are not artistic, list her physical characteristics as they are described
in the book. Can you think of any additional characteristics that might fit with what you know about
her? Why do you associate these imagined characteristics with her?
“Those Who Don’t”
1. What is the theme of “Those Who Don’t”?
2. What is ironic about the fact that Esperanza calls the outsiders “stupid,” in light of the last
paragraph?
Section 5
“There Was an Old Woman She Had So Many Children She Didn’t Know What to Do”
1. What is the title of this vignette an allusion to? Is this fitting, or ironic?
2. Who is being criticized in this vignette?
3. Why do you think the neighbors stop caring?
4. Is it understandable that the Vargas children are “without respect for all things living, including
themselves”? Think: What made them this way?
“Alicia Who Sees Mice”
1. Why does Alicia have to rise “early with the tortilla star”?
3
2. Why does Alicia see the mice?
3. What is significant about the fact that the father tells Alicia she is only imagining the mice? Is this a
denial of something else?
4. Why is Alicia “afraid” of her father? Is this a literal fear, or a fear of something he represents?
“Darius & the Clouds”
1. Thomas Trevenen says this vignette is like a prose poem. What does the sky represent?
2. What do you make of Darius’ assertion that the “fat” cloud is God?
Section 6
“And Some More”
1. This vignette is humorous on the surface, but it deals with deep ideas. How does Nenny’s
misunderstanding of Esperanza’s assertion that clouds have names point to something meaningful?
What is the difference between categorizing things (or people) and naming them individually?
“The Family of Little Feet”
1. The girls find that their feet fit into the shoes. What does this tell you about how old they are at this
point?
2. What do the shoes represent? How are they “dangerous”?
3. Are the girls prepared to deal with the attention that the shoes bring? Why does no one complain
when they are thrown away?
“A Rice Sandwich”
1. Why does Esperanza think that the kids who eat in the canteen are special? Why is this ironic?
2. Why does Esperanza cry when the nun assumes that her house is one of the “ugly three-flats”? How
is this incident similar to the incident in “The House on Mango Street”?
3. How is cold, greasy rice sandwich symbolic of Esperanza’s situation?
Section 7
“Chanclas”
1. What two things can chanclas mean (remember your Spanish glossary)? How does this double
meaning apply to the story?
2. What is Esperanza feeling when she writes the last two lines of the vignette?
“Hips”
1. Why are the girls talking about hips? What does the “blooming” of hips signify?
2. Why doesn’t Nenny agree to make up her own song about hips? Why does Esperanza say that
Nenny is “too many light-years away” and “in a world we don’t belong to anymore”?
“The First Job”
1. Esperanza feels awkward and insecure on her first job. She is also a bit naïve. What difficult lesson
does she learn?
2. Why do you suppose the old man felt he could get away with taking advantage of Esperanza?
Section 8
“Papa Who Wakes Up Tired in the Dark”
1. Who has died in this vignette?
2. What does Esperanza recognize in this vignette?
“Born Bad”
1. What superstitions does Esperanza allude to in this vignette?
2. Why does Esperanza think she deserves to go to hell?
3. What astute observation does Esperanza make about disease?
4
4. Do you think imitating the sick aunt was a normal thing for the girls to do, something all kids are
guilty of at some point?
“Elenita, Cards, Palm, Water”
1. What does Esperanza want to know about when she visits the “witch woman”?
2. Do Elenita’s prophecies seem believable? Are there any that seem to be insightful, in light of what
you know about Esperanza’s hopes and dreams?
Section 9
“Geraldo No Last Name”
1. What is going on in this vignette? Why doesn’t Geraldo have any identification?
2. Why do you think Marin stays so many hours at the accident scene, given that she just met Geraldo
at a dance?
3. What subtle detail tells you that Geraldo cared about his family back home?
“Edna’s Ruthie”
1. Why do you suppose Ruthie still likes to play?
2. Where do you suppose Ruthie’s husband is?
3. Based on the story, does Edna treat Ruthie well and meet her special needs?
“The Earl of Tennessee”
1. No one seems to give the same description of Earl’s wife. Why do you think that is?
Section 10
“Sire”
1. Why is Esperanza envious of Lois?
2. Why does Esperanza think Lois can’t tie her own shoes?
3. What does it mean that Lois is the kind of girl “who goes into alleys”?
4. Is it significant that the boy Esperanza is drawn to is named “Sire”?
5. Esperanza imagines that the four trees outside her house are telling her to “wait, wait, wait.” What
should she wait for?
“Four Skinny Trees”
1. How are the trees like Esperanza? Consider making a T-chart.
2. How can the trees be metaphors for people in general?
“No Speak English”
1. What happens in this vignette?
2. Why does the man sometimes scream at the woman?
3. Why does Mamacita cry when her little boy begins to sing a Pepsi commercial?
Section 11
“Rafaela Who Drinks Coconut & Papaya Juice on Tuesdays”
1. Why does Rafaela get locked in doors? What does this tell you about the role/treatment of women in
this culture?
2. Why do you think Rafaela sends out for coconut and papaya juice, in particular? What are the
“sweeter drinks” she longs for?
3. Does the image of Rafaela leaning out of the window on her elbow remind you of an earlier vignette?
What does this image stand for in Esperanza’s mind?
“Sally”
1. Why does Sally’s father say “to be this beautiful is trouble”?
5
2. What does it mean that Sally paints her eyes “like Cleopatra”?
3. How do you think Sally dresses?
4. What is “that name” that Cheryl called Sally, do you think?
5. What do you think the “stories the boys tell in the coatroom” are about?
6. Why do you think Esperanza admires Sally? Does Esperanza project her own dream onto Sally?
“Minerva Writes Poems”
1. Is there anything ironic about Minerva’s name?
2. Why does Esperanza say Minerva’s husband “left and keeps leaving”?
3. What does this vignette imply about cycles of behavior? What do you know about domestic violence
and the reasons that many women stay in these situations?
4. Why does Esperanza say: “There is nothing I can do”?
Section 12
“Bums in the Attic”
1. Why does Esperanza’s family go out to look at houses on Sunday?
2. Why doesn’t Esperanza go anymore?
3. Esperanza hopes to have a nice house of her own one day. How will she be different from others
who “live on hills”?
“Beautiful & Cruel”
1. What does Esperanza mean when she says: “. . . I have decided not to grow up tame like the others
who lay their necks on the threshold waiting for the ball and chain”? What three metaphors is she
mixing? Draw a sketch of what you imagine when you read these words.
2. Explain the last paragraph in your own words.
3. Is Esperanza view of marriage overly negative?
“Smart Cookie”
1. List the things Esperanza’s mother can do.
2. Why did Esperanza’s mother quit school? Have you ever quit something because you were
ashamed?
Section 13
“What Sally Said”
1. How does this vignette also reflect cycles of behavior?
2. How does this vignette underscore the treatment of women in this culture?
“The Monkey Garden”
(The questions for this vignette are numbered throughout the reading.)
The following is from Thomas Trevenan’s website:
This is a complex and important chapter. Read it carefully!
First we have a garden. Could this be an allusion to another garden? (1.) What famous gardens do you
know?
Next we have a description of the garden that the children take over. (2.) Describe it when they first
have it. (3.) What happens to the garden as time goes on?
Things had a way of disappearing in the garden, as if the garden itself ate them, or, as if with its
old-man memory, it put them away and forgot them. (95)
6
Let's go back to what we were learning about theme. The plot of this chapter is about a garden, but a
good story is always about something other than the plot. (4.) If this story is about something more,
then what might the garden be all about?
On page 96, Esperanza tells the reader that this was a place she wanted to die and where she tried to
die. She indicates that this would be the last day she would be in the garden. Therefore the events that
follow this must be significant. You are being told to pay attention. Will you?
Following this attention getting paragraph, Esperanza asks, "Who was it that said I was getting too old
to play the games?" If this immediately follows the attention getting paragraph, this question might be
important. (5.) What is the story about?
In this story, Esperanza is contrasted with what other character that we have been getting to know?
(6.) In this story, what are the differences between Sally and Esperanza?
Esperanza witnesses some interplay between Sally and Tito and the boys. Esperanza becomes angry in
a way that seems out of proportion to what is happening. The action between Sally and the boys must
represent something more important to Esperanza. (7.) What is it?
Esperanza can not explain her anger and her desire to save Sally from the boys. Can you?
Afterward Esperanza is embarrassed and upset. She wanted to be dead. Did she die? (8.) Is there any
way you could think to explain that a part of her died that day? What part might it be and how did it
happen?
I looked at my feet in their white socks and ugly round shoes. They seemed far away. They
didn't seem to be my feet anymore. And the garden that had been such a good place to play
didn't seem mine either. (98)
A symbol is an object that represents a much, much, much, much, much, much more complicated idea.
Remember the shoes Esperanza is referring to. She mentions them in "Chanclas." (9.) In this story,
what do the shoes symbolize and why do they no longer seem to be her feet anymore? What does the
garden symbolize and why is it no longer Esperanza's? Sally does not seem to be a part of the garden in
this story. Did she leave the garden in the same way as Esperanza?
(9.) What is the conflict in this story?
There is a great deal to talk about in this story, but much of it depends upon the previous chapters and
what the reader learns there.
End Trevenan
“Red Clowns”
1. What happens to Esperanza in this vignette?
2. Why does she accuse Sally and books and magazines of lying?
Section 14
“Linoleum Roses”
1. Esperanza says: “Sally got married like we know she would. . . .” What do you think she means?
2. From what would Sally be escaping?
3. What is ironic about Sally’s nice possessions?
4. Is Sally meeting a similar fate as other married women in the book?
7
5. Does this change how you view Esperanza’s perspective on marriage? (Refer back to “Beautiful &
Cruel.”)
“The Three Sisters”
The following is from Thomas Trevenan’s website (questions follow the reading):
This vignette seems to take on a mystical element absent in any of the other chapters, even "Elenita,
Cards, Palm, Water" which was ostensibly about fortune telling. This story seems to be about
something truly mystical. At a funeral, Esperanza meets three old aunts at a baby's funeral. Three
sisters they are called and one cannot help thinking of the Three Weird Sisters who were fortune
telling witches from William Shakespeare's Macbeth. They ask Esperanza to make a wish and she does,
but does not tell them what it is. (What do you think it is?) The sisters tell Esperanza that the wish will
come true but they add an admonition or warning. After repeating Esperanza's name, one sister says,
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. . . . You must remember to come back. For the ones who cannot
leave as easily as you. (105)
End Trevenan
1. Is the moon typically associated with men or women? Does it have any connection with fortune
telling, mysticism, witchcraft, etc.?
2. Is Esperanza afraid of these women?
3. What is the symbolism of the circle?
4. Is the number three symbolic?
5. Why does one of the sisters repeat Esperanza’s name?
6. What does this vignette tell us about Esperanza’s fate?
7. What do you think Esperanza wished for?
Section 15
“Alicia & I Talking on Edna’s Steps”
1. Alicia echoes the Three Sisters. How?
2. What does Esperanza realize about Mango Street? Does this remind you of the four skinny trees?
How?
“A House of My Own”
1. What does Esperanza like about her house? What is absent from it?
2. Is the last sentence talking about just any poem, or could there be a specific poem to which
Esperanza is alluding?
“Mango Says Goodbye Sometimes”
1. How does writing help Esperanza? Is it a cathartic activity?
2. What does she mean when she says “the house I belong but do not belong to”?
3. How is Esperanza going to “come back” to Mango Street?
4. What does she mean when she says “For the ones who cannot out”?
5. What sets Esperanza free?