The House on Mango Street Questions
The House on Mango Street
1) What are the names of the speaker’s siblings?
2) What are the differences between the house they got and the one her parents told her they’d
be getting? Be sure to give at least three differences.
3) What did the nun say that upset the speaker so much? Why did it upset her?
4) In the last sentence of the chapter, what does she mean when she says, “But I know how
those things go”?
Hairs
5) Why does she compare her mother’s hair to “…the warm smell of bread before you bake it”?
6) How do you think she feels about her mother?
Boys and Girls
7) How does she feel about her sister? Why does she spend time with her?
8) What metaphor is used at the end of this chapter and what does it mean?
My Name
9) How does the main character feel about her name?
10) Who is she named after and what kind of life did this person live?
11) What does Esperanza mean when she says, “… the way so many women sit their sadness on
an elbow”?
12) What does her name mean and what is symbolic about the fact that she would like to change
it?
Cathy Queen of Cats
13) In the first paragraph of this chapter, Esperanza is telling stories that Cathy told to her. What
kind of person is Cathy?
14) What kind of person is Cathy’s father and what evidence tells you this?
Our Good Day
15) Why does Esperanza have to come up with five dollars in this chapter? What are she and her
friends going to do with the money?
16) Where did the new people come from?
17) What does the bicycle symbolize?
Laughter
18) How are Nenny and Esperanza alike?
Gil’s Furniture Bought and Sold
19) Why did Esperanza buy the Statue of Liberty for a dime? (What does it symbolize?)
20) How does the music box make Esperanza feel?
21) Why won’t Gil sell it to her?
Meme Ortiz
22) Besides the fact that it’s fun, why do the kids enjoy climbing the tree so much?
Louie, His Cousin & His Other Cousin
23) Where did Louie get the car?
24) What happened to Louie at the end of the chapter?
Marin
25) What is Marin’s goal to achieve happiness in her life?
26) Why does Esperanza like Marin? What does Marin ‘teach’ her?
Those Who Don’t
27) Who are the people this chapter is talking about? Those who don’t – what?
There Was an Old Woman
28) How do the Vargas’s fit the stereotype of Mexican-American families?
29) In paragraph 2, there are examples of alliteration. Give one.
30) What happened to Angel Vargas at the end of this chapter?
Alicia Who Sees Mice
31) Does Alicia really see mice? Explain.
32) What role does she play in the family?
33) What is implied about Alicia’s father?
34) How is Alicia NOT like the stereotype of Mexican-American girls?
Darius and the Clouds
35) What does Darius say that makes Esperanza think that maybe he’s not so dumb after all?
And Some More
36) What is Nenny doing while the other girls are arguing? Why is she acting this way?
37) Are the girls having a “real” fight? Explain.
The Family of Little Feet
38) What do the shoes symbolize?
39) How are the girls treated when they wear them?
40) How does the experience show a loss of innocence for the girls? What lesson do they learn?
41) Why don’t they complain when the shoes are thrown away?
A Rice Sandwich
42) What does Esperanza ask her mother to do?
43) Why is this so important to her?
44) What happens when she gets her wish? What lesson do you think this teaches her?
Chanclas
45) Why is Esperanza upset with her mother when she (Mama) comes home from clothes
shopping?
46) What are the new clothes for?
47) Why doesn’t Esperanza want to dance?
48) What happens after she is convinced to dance?
Hips
49) What is the significance of “hips”?
50) How do the girls still show some immaturity?
51) Why does Nenny not get involved in the game?
The First Job
52) Did Esperanza really want to work? What evidence supports your answer?
53) What job does she get?
54) What happens to her on the first day of work?
Papa Who Wakes Up Tired in the Dark
55) Why does Esperanza’s father cry?
56) What does Esperanza realize for the first time and why is she sad? (Give 2 reasons.)
Born Bad
57) What happens to Aunt Lupe?
58) Why does Esperanza believe she deserves to go to hell?
59) What special relationship did Esperanza have with her aunt?
Elenita, Cards, Palm, Water
60) Why does Esperanza go to Elenita?
61) What is the answer she gets from her and is she satisfied with that answer?
Geraldo No Last Name
62) What happened to Geraldo?
63) What will his family think?
Edna’s Ruthie
64) What is “wrong” with Ruthie?
65) What do Ruthie and Esperanza have in common?
The Earl of Tennessee
66) How is Earl like the cockroaches? (Give at least 3 ways.)
Sire
67) Why is Esperanza afraid of Sire?
68) What do her parents think of him?
69) Why is she so curious about his relationship with his girlfriend?
Four Skinny Trees
70) How do the trees “understand” Esperanza? (What do they have in common?)
71) What do the trees represent?
72) The trees are talked about as if they can see and hear. What literary device is this?
No Speak English
73) What English does Mamacita know?
74) What does her son do at the end of the chapter that upsets her and why does it upset her?
Rafaela
75) What is making Rafaela grow old?
76) What does she dream of?
Sally
77) Describe the relationship between Sally and her father. Explain how you know.
78) What do her schoolmates think of her?
79) How does Sally change when she comes home?
Minerva Writes Poems
80) Why does Minerva write poems?
81) Why is she black and blue when she comes to see Esperanza?
Bums in the Attic
82) What does Esperanza’s father do for a living?
83) Why has she stopped going to work with her father on Sundays?
Beautiful and Cruel
84) What is the “quiet war” Esperanza is fighting? Against whom (or what) is she fighting?
A Smart Cookie
85)In what way is Esperanza’s mother intelligent?
86)Why did she leave school? What lesson is she teaching Esperanza?
What Sally Said
87) What is Sally’s situation?
88) What reason is given for why she is treated the way she is by her father?
89) What happens to Sally when her father sees her talking to a boy?
The Monkey Garden
90) How does the monkey garden change for Esperanza? How does it go from being a happy
place to play to a sad place?
91) From whom (and what) is Esperanza trying to save Sally?
Red Clowns
92) Why is Esperanza so angry with Sally?
Linoleum Roses
93) How does Esperanza feel about Sally’s marriage?
The Three Sisters
94) Where does Esperanza meet the three sisters?
95) What kind of future do they predict for her?
96) What is the responsibility they place on her?
Alicia
97) What does Alicia mean when she says to Esperanza, “Like it or not you are Mango Street”?
A House of My Own
98) Give one example of alliteration in this chapter.
99) Give one example of a simile from this chapter.
Mango Says Goodbye Sometimes
100) How does the ending of the book complete a circle and why did the author do it this way?
(Look back to the beginning of the book.)