...The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros is a fictional novel about a twelve year old girl, Esperanza Cordero, growing up in a poor Latino neighborhood in Illinois, on Mango Street. Esperanza dislikes and is ashamed of her house on Mango Street because it represents her family’s poverty. During this time, in the 1980s, all women’s freedoms are restricted and controlled by the men. In her neighborhood, most women are restrained by their fathers or husbands, leading them to wait for someone to change the present society and let women be free. However, Esperanza is different from all of the women and strives to be independent of her poverty and men. Esperanza tells the story about her struggling to live in her neighborhood on Mango Street...
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...In “The House on Mango Street”, Esperanza reveals personal experiences through which the reader is able to determine what kind of person she is and how she views herself. Esperanza is a young courageous, strong willed, Mexican- American girl that lives on Mango Street. Esperanza describes her sexual identity through her coming of age and how poverty affects her place in the world. She begins to feel the limitations imposed by her environment. She possesses the courage and initiative to reach beyond her neighborhood to achieve better things. Esperanza is similar but different from the other major female characters throughout the novella. The vignettes show different aspects of Esperanza’s life as it evolves and changes throughout “The House on Mango Street.” In the novella, Sally is a young girl who Esperanza befriends when she moved to Mango Street. Esperanza and Sally are the same age but Sally is more sexually bold. Sally opens up a new world to Esperanza who finds newfound sexual awareness in her friendship with the sexually adventurous Sally. From the novella it quotes “She does not like to get her stockings dirty, and she plays a more grown-up game by talking to the boys.” Esperanza’s awareness of her...
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...On the story House on mango street the main character Espanoza makes it clear that everyone who is living on Mango Street is stuck there in an endless cycle that is very hard to get out of mentally and physically. They are in a circle of poverty and depression. She and all of the other girls that live on mango street are waiting for someone to get them out or trying to get themselves out of mango street. For instance one girl in the book named sally got out sooner then you should have by going to a state were she can get married under 8th grade and she did but now she is still trapped but somewhere else. She can not look out the window or go outside so she is stuck inside her home just sitting there which is very unfortunate for her. But she...
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...When children are forced to grow up too quickly, they aren’t developing the same basic skills like those around them. They don’t have the privilege of experiencing just innocence and wonder or tribulation and terror. They are thrusted into some situations that force tribulation upon them, resulting in them being unable to experience the same things as children their age and essentially ostracizing them from others their age. In the novel ‘The House on Mango Street’ the author focuses on a girl named Esparanza and her experiences as a young Latina living in poverty. This allows her characterization as a child to be innocent but not without tribulation. Because of her situation, she is not allowed the same degree of innocence as her peers and...
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...There are a lot of conflicts in the novels The House On Mango Street and Of Mice And Men. From people stealing a car to killing your own best friend. These conflicts can bring even more struggles, such as not being able to make your dreams come to life. People would do a lot to make their lives happier and easier but to do that you might have to go through a lot of problems that get in your way. Just like Esperanza and George. These two characters go through a lot of problems to make their lives better and achieve their dreams. Getting raped, killing your own best friend and living in poverty are three events that are good examples of struggles hindering them form achieving their dreams. Getting raped is something nobody should have to go through. It’s sad that some people have to go through...
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...The House On Mango Street, written by Sandra Cisneros, follows a young girl named Esperanza through her coming of age. The Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian, written by Sherman Alexie, also follows their young protagonist, Junior, throughout his coming of age. The setting, conflict, and characterization of both novels intertwine and build up one another. The final picture created in each book, once these three aspects come together, have little differences; and overall leave the reader with a similar take away. Mango Street, the setting of The House On Mango Street is a poor neighborhood. The setting of The Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian, is an indian reservation, which is also impoverished. The state of poverty in this indian reservation is shown when the author writes, “My school and my tribe are so poor and sad that we have to study from the same dang books our parents studied from. That is absolutely the saddest thing in the world.” (Alexie 31). In the quote the author is describing the moment Junior opened up his geometry book and saw his mother’s name written on the cover. The fact that both settings are poor expose...
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...Racism and Women in society in the House on Mango Street and The Help Acceptance, typically the idea of fitting into a certain group of people. Many people want acceptance from others, it’s what drives us to do the things that we do. On multiple occasions we find that some of our actions that we engage in are wrong or against our self-morals, but we do them anyways to fit in with the crowd. Most people become followers and forget their own morals, instead of thinking from their own perspective, they think in a way that will make them accepted by others. But not all people are like that, fortunately, people such as Skeeter in Kathryn Stockett’s The Help, faces peer pressure everyday about getting married or how she should treat certain...
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.... Critical, yet ambitious and hopeful is the tone. It‘s impossible to ignore the critical lens through which the author portrays many of the social ills in this book. Men beat their daughters and wives. An immigrant is allowed to bleed to death in the hospital because the surgeon doesn‘t bother to show up. The wealthy are unable or unwilling to see the poverty and crime that has taken over a poor neighborhood in their city. 2. the narrator’s name, Esperanza, for the first time. Esperanza muses on the meanings of her name, but she does so in a random, nonsensical way that we are not meant to take seriously. 3. The tone of the last paragraph is accepting. Throughout the book, Esperanza has not wanted to belong. In the end and through help...
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... 9 November 2014 Paper #1- Resubmit edition The struggles to achieve the American Dream in The House on Mango Street Sandra Cisneros is the author of several books including The House on Mango Street. She has been writing for more than forty-five years, publishing for more than thirty-five years. The House on Mango Street was first published in 1984, and has sold over two million copies since its initial publication and is still selling strongly today. The book tells the story of Esperanza Cordero, whose neighborhood is one of harsh realities and natural beauty. The house on Mango Street is not the house, which Esperanza has been dreaming about; however, it is symbolical of the struggles to achieve the American Dream. That dream of the young girl depicts a reality. The house on Mango Street has much better quality than the third floor on Loomis, which is where the Esperanza lived before. That improvement shows that Esperanza’s family is trying to make their dream come true, little by little in changing their lives. It also proves that her family can achieve the dream of the real house. The house on Mango Street depicts a house in which the family resides. In any event, the place on Loomis is merely a third floor that Esperanza cannot proudly admit that it is her house to the nun passing by. Esperanza describes the gloomy third floor as, “The house on Mango Street is ours and we don’t have to pay rent to anybody or share the yard with people downstairs or be careful...
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...In the coming of age story by Sandra Cisneros, The House on Mango Street, covers a year in the life of a 12 year old girl named Esperanza. This novel, a series of vignettes, explores the life of a young girl in a poor Latino neighborhood in Chicago. Esperanza is destined to escape the run down, crowded home on Mango Street one day. She yearns for freedom, money, safety, friendships, boyfriends, and most importantly a nice home of her own. This is a story of a young girl’s struggle to find her own identity, conveyed through a vast array of complex themes. How do you express yourself as a native Spanish speaker in an English speaking world? “No speak English,” “No habla Español.” How do you eat, how do you get directions, make friends, succeed in school, or scream for help? In The House on Mango Street, the characters feel suffocated at times from their powerlessness over an alien language. They are lowered into the pit of society. They become prisoners...
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...As a child, Esperanza wishes to leave her home on Mango Street so desperately; she is determined to vacate and feels no moral obligation to her community. Esperanza begins to get to know the individuals in her community and realizes that they all deal with their own personal problems. Esperanza recognizes that she is part of a community that is plagued by poverty. Esperanza’s reality is harsh, not only does she live in a rundown neighborhood, but she is a young girl coming of age who wants to find herself in a place she does not want to belong to. She is not fond of her name and would like to baptize herself under another name like Zeze the X in her effort to assimilate. Little does she know that she stands for hope in her community, and she...
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...the Sun” and “The House on Mango Street.” “A Raisin in the Sun” gives insight to the lives of the members of the Younger Family who will inherit a check for $10,000 from Mr. Younger’s Life Insurance. Each member of the family has a different idea of what to spend the money on, two of the members of the family, Mama and Ruth, both want to use the money to move into a new house. Walter Younger wants to use the money to open up a liquor store with his friends that he believes will help solve the family’s financial problems forever. Walter’s Sister Beneatha, wants to use the money to help pay for her school tuition as she is going to medical school. The play revolves around each member making choices and having to deal with the outcome, or consequences of their actions. For Example, Mama uses half the money to buy a new house for the family to live in, in an all-white neighborhood. This causes the neighborhood to send Mr. Linder, their representative, to negotiate with the Younger’s and convince them to not move into the neighborhood by bribing them with money. The Younger’s then refuse this deal and move in anyway even through all of the racial prejudice. Another Example would be Walter, using his share of the money, along with Beneatha’s to invest in the liquor store. But when he does, he finds out that the person he is investing with has run away with all of his money leaving him with nothing. The play ends with the Younger’s moving into their new house while looking towards...
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...In the novel, The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, future opportunities are portrayed that have many obstacles due to Esperanza’s poverty and home life. Esperanza has future opportunities that could be life changing, Rachel is limited because she speaks very little English, and Sally, who is inexplicably beaten by her father, somehow finds a way to escape. There are multiple people that have a chance at having a better life, but are instead halted by obstacles in their paths. Esperanza longs for a better future. Esperanza, being as poor as she is can’t leave right away “One day I will pack my bags of books and paper. One day I will say goodbye to Mango” (Cisneros 110). She obviously can’t leave Mango street now or else...
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...Athalia Mclean Professor Thomas English 150 11 March 2016 Overcoming life Growing up we all has our childhood struggles that we aren't in crony too of. Although things are out of our hands we have the power to change them. For some this change is so imperative they can't but attacks it head on. In “The House on Mango Street “ by Sandra Cisneros and “The Lesson “ by Tori Cade Bambara both characters are made aware of their social status. Despite both being bothered by it one decides to take it initiative, while the other accepts it. In “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara Sylvia was challenged by Mrs. Moore when she took them on a field trip to F.O.A Schwarz and introduced them to life outside of their neighborhood. The children were not used to this this type of environment to they felt out of place. When they arrived to a popular toy store Sylvia was afraid to go inside, while the other children Boldly step past her. As they embark upon the pricey merchandise they question how people can afford these items. Bambara writes “ Who are these people that spend that much for clowns and 1,000 for toy sail boats? What kind of work do they do and how do they live and how come we ain't in on it ?” (335) In that moment the thought triggers in Sylvia mind, why are these people able to buy such expensive things and why are we not on that level. She started to become aware of the social economic Hierarchy, and the imbalance of wealth being spread amount people. This...
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... The Novel “The House on Mango Street,” takes the one on a journey through the eyes of a young girl named Esperanza. Initially, Esperanza appears to be an unreliable narrator because of the characters oblivious actions and the authors writing style and use of vignettes. However, the concise and brief approach gives the story more depth and allows one to become immersed in the story. The novel becomes animated with Cisneros less is more approach; the imagination springs alive with the minimal details. Cisneros emphasis is the fact that Esperanza’s perception changes throughout the story. Esperanza is on a pursuit to find herself and her true identity as she becomes a woman. In the story, the author explains how Esperanza feels that she is being held back by her social standing. Cisneros shows that Esperanza’s families’ social status is at a disadvantage and that she fits the stereotypical Chicana profile. Cisneros highlighted this by Esperanza’s family and their poverty. Patriarchal standards are also present in the story and tells how women in her community are held back because of this. The story expresses how Esperanza develops and overcomes her identity issues; Esperanza achieves this by learning about the community she belongs to. Moreover, by Esperanza focusing on the bigger picture, which is how to overcome the expectations that have been assumed to her. The narrator feels as if she does not belong to the community, and she dreams of leaving Mango Street. However, the experiences...
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