House on Mango Street

House on Mango Street

The story; themes; and implications for teaching from the House on Mango Street come from showing how today’s society has low expectations for those in the inner city. This book can be used to show what inner life is like and how these people are looked at and treated by others in society. Using this book in the classroom can be beneficial because many people have negative preconceptions of what life is really like as a minority. I know that I think of inner city schools and the students that attend them as underprivileged and don’t hold them to the same standards as I do others from smaller more suburban towns. Going to Milwaukee this semester has been a culture shock and I think that reading this book compliments are experiences doing our observation and participation.

This story is about a young Spanish girl, Esperanza, who is growing up in the Latino section of Chicago. She is embarrassed of where she lives because of the poor conditions of her house, the mice that run freely around her, and the neighborhood she comes from. Her neighborhood is inner city living where the cops are looked at as the bad people in the neighborhood, homeless people sleep in the streets, and she has seen many other bad things including rape and abuse. Esperanza struggles to fit into her new home because she has moved so often. She can’t find and keep friends. Esperanza doesn’t want to fit though because all she can think about is getting out of there and having the white picket fence in the suburbs someday. She does not consider her house on Mango Street her home. It is more of a temporary dwelling until she can get out of there. She works hard at a young age to help her family with the money problems. The story is also about finding some good friends in her new home and her adventures with them.

The most interesting themes, issues and characters are Esperanza and her dreams of getting out of the house on Mango Street. This book keeps you captured by telling stories of how she wants to get out of the city and off Mango Street. They are all very interesting and this is what makes the book so fun to read. Making friends and keeping them is also an important issue in this young girls life because she moves so often.

I think these things are interesting because I can relate to wanting to get out of where I was when I ...

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...go Street. It is eye opening and after taking this class and others like it, I look at these books in a different light. This book seemed like an accurate portrayal of what life must have been like for this girl and I could tell I was emotionally into it. I could feel her pain even though I have not gone through these things first hand as she has. It was a sad story but I think it got the point across without saying “feel sorry for me because I live in the inner city.”

This book can be used with students to show that people from diverse populations are just like you and me. They just want to live a healthy and fulfilling life with friends and family. Most of them are trying to make a better life for themselves any way possible. This will help my students see others as equals and not as people of lesser value. I think it can also be used with inner city children to show that nobody is going to feel sorry for them and if they want a better life than they have to earn it themselves. Nobody is going to give them free hand outs all their lives and if they want something bad enough then they have to work for it. This book can be a powerful tool in teaching that to students.