The House On Mango Street Chapter Summaries

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Recommended: Three characteristics of esperanza in the house on mango street

Jordyn Rizzo the House on Mango Street Grade 9 Esperanza is the main character of this small story. She is tiny girl who moves with her family to a house on Mango Street. Now she lives in a small, crumbling red house in a poor city-based neighborhood in Chicago. This is not what she had been hoping for when her parents told her one day that they'd live in a real house, with running water, and not hallway stairs real ones like they saw on television. Esperanza has three other siblings’ two brothers and has a younger …show more content…

Most of the neighborhood's citizens are of diverse ethnicities including Esperanza, whose dad is Mexican and whose mom is Latina. The opening of this book shows us a lot of different characters and the discoveries of their ethnic backgrounds and how they are affected by poverty, loss, and the struggles in everyday life. After moving into the dilapidated red house on Mango Street, Esperanza suddenly becomes close friends with Lucy and Rachel, two girls who live in the same neighborhood. All the girls act liked they’ve known each other their entire life, but they obviously didn’t. Lucy, Rachel, Esperanza, and Esperanza's little sister, Nenny, have many exciting adventures on Mango Street like walking around in heels, buying a bike together and just having …show more content…

Esperanza thinks boys find sally desirable, which they do. Sally thinks she is beautiful and cruel, like the women she saw in movies or on television. Esperanza hears rumors at school about Sally being promiscuous but she doesn’t believe them. Instead, she thinks of Sally as someone to befriend and confide in and someone who also spends her time fantasizing of leaving Mango Street forever. Sally, however, is not interested only in driving boys wild and then scoffing them away, as the women in the movies do. Instead, she finds security and relief in being promiscuous the feelings that she does not get at home when her father hits her. Eventually Esperanza feels discomfort around sally because she does not wish to go to extremes with her, and Sally ends up putting Esperanza in physical

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    Esperanza sees all of the women around her, and most of them are the same. The overall idea of the women on Mango Street is they are property to their husbands. They cannot do anything unless their husbands allow them to. It also starts out at a young age. The young girls like Esperanza see the women that live around them and think that is the way to live. They admire them so they start to mature faster than they should. Sally is one of them. Sally loves the attention that she gets from boys, but her father does not like that. Sally grew up and got married at a young age.

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  • How Living In Mango Street Has Changed Esperanza's Life

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    At the carnival, Esperanza arranges to meet Sally to hang out, but Sally never shows up to meet with Esperanza. While she was waiting for Sally to show up, a group of boys show up out of the blue and grab her, and one of them decides to rape her. Esperanza is really young so she doesn't understand what sex is like yet and gets mad a Sally for lying to her what it’s really like.

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  • Entrapment In The House On Mango Street By Sandra Cisneros

    758 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the vignette During Sally’s time in Mango, she was approached by a few boys around the same age; they took her keys and stated that they would not give the keys back “unless she kissed [them]” (Cisneros p. 96). Furious at this statement Esperanza leaves to one of the boy’s mother and briefly summarizes the issue, sadly enough she asks “what do you want me to do” (Cisneros p. 97). Cisneros wants to convey that it is common for men to be contempt with women, especially young boys who look towards these men as role models. It is mandatory to present oneself in a respectful way to set a proper

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  • House On Mango Street Figurative Language

    687 Words  | 2 Pages

    Esperanza tries to be a good friend to Sally, but ends up appearing immature and silly. Esperanza feels shame, as she “wanted to be dead”, to “turn into the rain”, and have “my eyes melt into the ground like black snails” (Cisneros 97). With sensory-rich imagery, the author uses similes and metaphors to describe Esperanza’s feelings of utter mortification as she embarrasses herself in front of Sally. Esperanza becomes confused about her newfound sexuality and her loss of innocence when she begins acting strangely, yet awkwardly around boys. She doesn’t know whether to act like a child or an adult because although she wants to be mature and glamorous like Sally, and she gets exposed to the harsh nature of society. The disillusioned view of becoming mature and having boys notice her is especially realized by Esperanza when she gets raped at a carnival. Through detailed imagery, Cisneros describes the dirtiness of the boy, elaborating on “his dirty fingernails against my skin” and “his sour smell again” (Cisneros 100) and the confusion and anger from Esperanza. After this experience, Esperanza blames Sally instead for covering up the truth about boys and is heartbroken about the real truth of sexuality and men. It is clear that Esperanza vividly remembers this awful experience, and just reflecting on this experience causes her thoughts to

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  • Symbols In The House On Mango Street

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    Symbolism is the key to understanding Sandra Cisneros’ novel, “The House on Mango Street”. By unraveling the symbolism, the reader truly exposes the role of not only Latina women but women of any background. Esperanza, a girl from a Mexican background living in Chicago, writes down what she witnesses while growing up. As a result of her sheltered upbringing, Esperanza hardly comprehends the actions that take place around her, but what she did understand she wrote in her journal. Cisneros used this technique of the point of view of a child, to her advantage by giving the readers enough information of what is taking place on Mango Street so that they can gather the pieces of the puzzle a get the big picture.

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  • Control In House On Mango Street

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    In the poor slums of Chicago, a family living in poverty struggles to get by. In the book, House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, Esperanza is a twelve year old girl who lives with her family in the Windy City. She lives with her three siblings and both parents on Mango Street. Esperanza has no control over her life and family’s poverty. People who have no control over their life desperately seek change. Esperanza seeks to change her name, her home, and her destiny as a way to control her life.

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  • The House On Mango Street By Sandra Cisneros

    1577 Words  | 4 Pages

    Esperanza was able to provide the audience with an image that was vivid of her surroundings through her diction and tone. Esperanza presents a series of stories that she deals with in her neighborhood as she grows up. Esperanza arose from poverty and always dreamt of having a house of her own. Sandra Cisneros' strong cultural and gender values have a tremendous influence on The House on Mango Street. Cisneros feels that the Mexican-American community is very abusive towards the treatment of women because men are seen as the powerful, strong figure.

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  • Beauty in The House on Mango Street

    927 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Someday, I will have a best friend all my own. One I can tell my secrets to. One who will understand my jokes without me having to explain them” (9). These are the longing words spoken by Esperanza. In the novel The House on Mango Street, Esperanza is young girl experiencing adolescence not only longing for a place to fit in but also wanting to be beautiful. This becomes complicated as Esperanza becomes more sexually aware. Throughout the novel, Cisneros argues the importance of beauty and how Esperanza deals with beauty as a part of her identity. When Esperanza meets Sally a new friend, Esperanza’s whole world is turned upside down. Esperanza’s views on beauty change from a positive outlook to a negative one by watching how beauty has damaged Sally’s life.

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  • Oppression Of Women In The House On Mango Street

    1166 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the vignette titled Beautiful and Cruel Esperanza declares that she has “decided not to grow up tame like the others who lay their necks on the threshold waiting for the ball and chain” (88). She also remarks that “her power is her own. She will not give it away . . . I am one who leaves the table like a man, without putting back the chair or picking up the plate” (89). Esperanza is demonstrating that she does not want to become tied down in the traditional sense of marriage when she refers to it as a ball and chain. As she has been growing up within Mango Street she has been witness to relationship in which the women become objects of their husbands and loss the identity of themselves. Esperanza is aware of the power imbalance between the men and women in her Latino community and openly states that she wants to be powerful. When she writes that she will not give her power away she is demonstrating again that she will not hand over her power to the men in her life as Earl’s wife and Rafaela have done. In growing up on Mango Street Esperanza’s notions about the relationship between women and have begun to shape her outlook on life. In her last quotes she is clearly decided that she fight back against the stereotype of what is expected from a young girl or female. In stating that she

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  • The House on Mango Street Cultural Values

    415 Words  | 1 Pages

    Sandra Cisneros' strong cultural values greatly influence The House on Mango Street. Esperanza's life is the medium that Cisneros uses to bring the Latin community to her audience. The novel deals with the Catholic Church and its position in the Latin community. The deep family connection within the barrio also plays an important role in the novel. Esperanza's struggle to become a part of the world outside of Mango Street represents the desire many Chicanos have to grow beyond their neighborhoods.

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  • Summary Of The House On Mango Street By Sandra Cisneros

    398 Words  | 1 Pages

    Recently i stumbled upon a book called the house on mango street, by Sandra cisneros. The fictional novel follows the life of Esperanza Cordero, a young latina living in a neighborhood in Chicago.The novel is full of surprises, each one describing a certain event that Esperanza goes through. From her shamefully eating a rice cake alone at her private school, to driving a stolen car, to being cat called by older men just because she wore heels, to having her sister get married at 14 and in eighth grade, Esperanza’s life is a spiral of tragic events that causes her to mature. For example Esperanza strolls around the street in heels followed by two other young girls, and is signaled over by a bum. When he asked for a kiss, Esperanza is able to

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  • Diversity In The House On Mango Street

    573 Words  | 2 Pages

    In The House on Mango Street, Cisneroz agitates the theme of diversity through her use of characters and setting. Cisneroz paints a multitude of events that follow a young girl named Esperanza growing up in the diverse section of Chicago. She is dealing with searching for a release from the low expectations that the Latino communities often put women whether young or old are put against. Cisneroz often draws from her life growing up that she was able to base Esperanza's life experiences on and portray an accurate view on Latino societies today. Cisneroz used the chapter “Boys and Girls” and “Beautiful and cruel” to portray Esperanzas growth from a young curious girl to a wise woman. She came into her own personal awareness and her actions that she has to now be held accountable for.

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  • Character Analysis of Esperanza in The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

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    Esperanza, a strong- willed girl who dreams big despite her surroundings and restrictions, is the main character in The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. Esperanza represents the females of her poor and impoverished neighborhood who wish to change and better themselves. She desires both sexuality and autonomy of marriage, hoping to break the typical life cycle of woman in her family and neighborhood. Throughout the novel, she goes through many different changes in search of identity and maturity, seeking self-reliance and interdependence, through insecure ideas such as owning her own house, instead of seeking comfort and in one’s self. Esperanza matures as she begins to see the difference. She evolves from an insecure girl to a mature young lady through her difficult life experiences and the people she comes across. It is through personal encounters and experiences that Esperanza begins to become sexually aware and acceptance her place and self-definition in her community.

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  • Comparing the Women of House on Mango Street and Bread Givers

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    She was not a master of style, plot development or characterization, but the intensity of feeling and aspiration are evident in her narratives that overrides her imperfections. Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street, written in 1984, and Anzia Yezierska’s Bread Givers, published in 1925, are both aimed at adolescent and adult audiences that deal with deeply disturbing themes about serious social conditions and their effects on children as adults. Both books are told in the first person; both narrators are young girls living in destitute neighborhoods; and both young girls witness the harsh realities of life for those who are poor, abused, and hopeless. Although the narrators face these overwhelming obstacles, they manage to survive their tough environments with their wits and strength remaining intact. Esperanza, a Chicano with three sisters and one brother, has had a dream of having her own things since she was ten years old.

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  • What a Home Really is in The House on Mango Street

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    “Home is where the heart is.” In The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros develops this famous statement to depict what a “home” really represents. What is a home? Is it a house with four walls and a roof, the neighborhood of kids while growing up, or a unique Cleaver household where everything is perfect and no problems arise? According to Cisneros, we all have our own home with which we identify; however, we cannot always go back to the environment we once considered our dwelling place. The home, which is characterized by who we are, and determined by how we view ourselves, is what makes every individual unique. A home is a personality, a depiction of who we are inside and how we grow through our life experiences. In her personal, Cisneros depicts Esperanza Cordero’s coming-of-age through a series of vignettes about her family, neighborhood, and personalized dreams. Although the novel does not follow a traditional chronological pattern, a story emerges, nevertheless, of Esperanza’s search to discover the meaning of her life and her personal identity. The novel begins when the Cordero family moves into a new house, the first they have ever owned, on Mango Street in the Latino section of Chicago. Esperanza is disappointed by the “small and red” house “with tight steps in front and bricks crumbling in places” (5). It is not at all the dream-house her parents had always talked about, nor is it the house on a hill that Esperanza vows to one day own for herself. Despite its location in a rough neighborhood and difficult lifestyle, Mango Street is the place with which she identifies at this time in her life.

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