Transcript Reading Response PowerPoint

Reading Response
Journals
Directions: In your journal, answer the following
questions. Title each vignette entry and number
the questions. Do not write the questions; just
answer them in complete sentences using proper
names and full details. We will be discussing
some of the answers in class, but you will not turn
in your responses until we have finished the
book.
Example: Before living on Mango Street the narrator
lived…
“The House on Mango Street”
1. How is the house on Mango Street different
from the family’s previous houses?
2. In what kind of house would the narrator
like to live?
3. At the end of this vignette, the narrator
describes conversation she had with a
nun: “You live there? The way she said it
made me feel like nothing. There. I lived
there. I nodded” (5). Which place is she
writing about? Why does this place make
her feel like nothing?
“Hairs”
1. Who are the members of the
narrator’s family?
2. Explain what the narrator
means when she describes
“Mama’s hair that smells like
bread” (7).
“Boys and Girls”
1. Why does the narrator say that
boys and girls live in separate
worlds?
2. At the end of the vignette, she
describes herself as a “balloon
tied to an anchor” (9). What
does she mean?
“My Name”
1. What does the story of
Esperanza’s great-grandmother
tell you about the status of
women in Mexican Society?
2. Why does Esperanza want a
new name?
“Cathy Queen of Cats”
1. Why does Cathy’s family have
to move away?
2. Why does the author, Sandra
Cisneros repeat the word
“cats” so many times in the
second paragraph.
“Our Good Day”
1. Why does Esperanza need
five dollars at the beginning
of this vignette?
2. Why does Esperanza
consider this day to be a
good day?
“Laughter”
1. In what ways are
Esperanza and Nenny alike?
“Gil’s Furniture Bought
and Sold”
1. What makes the music
box so special?
“Meme Ortiz”
1. Describe Meme Ortiz.
Note the comparisons
made in the vignette in
reference to Meme’s
house and dog.
“Louis, His Cousin, and
His Other Cousin”
1. Why is the ride in the
Cadillac important?
2. What surprise do you get at
the end?
“Marin”
1. What is different about
Marin that Esperanza finds
fascinating?
2. What is Marin waiting for?
“Those Who Don’t”
1. Why does Esperanza
feel safe in her own
neighborhood.
“There Was an Old
Woman…”
1. Why does the
neighborhood begin to
ignore the Vargas kids?
2. What tragedy ends this
vignette?
“Alicia Who Sees Mice”
1. How
her?
does Alicia’s father treat
“Darius and the Clouds”
1. How do the clouds show
another side of Darius?
“And Some More”
1. How are Esperanza and her
friends like the clouds?
“The Family of Little Feet”
1. How did the shoes change
the girls?
“A Rice Sandwich”
1. Why does Esperanza want
to eat in the school
lunchroom?
2. What does Esperanza learn
from the experience?
“Chanclas”
1. Why does the author
describe Esperanza’s feet as
“growing bigger and bigger”
as she sits on the folding
chair?
“Hips”
1. What do you learn about the
girls’ images of themselves as
they play jump rope?
“The First Job”
1. Why are the actions of the man
on the night shift a betrayal?
“Papa Who Wakes Up
Tired in the Dark”
1. Why does Papa wake up
tired in the dark?
“Born Bad”
1. How does Esperanza feel
when her Aunt Lupe dies?
Why does she feel this way?
“Geraldo”
1. Why is Marin upset when
Geraldo dies? Was his death
inevitable (unavoidable)?
“Edna’s Ruthie”
1. How are Ruthie and Esperanza
alike?
“Earl of Tennessee”
1. How is Earl like a cockroach?
“Sire”
1. Why is Esperanza afraid of
Sire?
2. Why is she so curious about
what he does with Louis, and
why does this curiosity make
her feel as though “everything
is holding it’s breath inside
me” (73).
“Four Skinny Trees”
1. How are the four skinny trees
like Esperanza?
“No Speak English”
1. What is wrong with Mamacita that
she sits all day by the window?
2. Why is Mamacita so upset when
her baby boy starts to sing the
Pepsi Commercial?
“Rafaela Who Drinks
Coconut & Papaya Juice on
Tuesdays”
1. What is making Rafaela grow
old?
2. Why does Rafaela ask the kids
to buy her things from the
store?
“Sally”
1. What are the two sides of
Sally?
2. What does Esperanza wish
for?
“Minerva Writes Poems”
1. What kind of cycle is Minerva
trapped in?
2. How does Esperanza feel when
Minerva visits her all black and
blue?
“Bums in the Attic”
1. Why has Esperanza stopped
joining her family on their
Sunday outings?
2. Why would Esperanza allow
bums to stay in her attic?
“A Smart Cookie”
1. To whom does Esperanza’s
mother refer to when she talks
about the “comrades”?
2. Why did Esperanza’s mother
quit school?
“What Sally Said”
1. What do we learn about Sally’s
family life?
“The Monkey Garden”
1. How does the Monkey Garden
change?
“Red Clowns”
1. How does Sally betray
Esperanza at the amusement
park?
2. Why does Esperanza think the
books and magazines lied?
About what?
“Linoleum Roses”
1. What eventually happens to
Sally?
2. How does Esperanza feel
about this?
“The Three Sisters”
1. What kind of future do the three
sisters predict for Esperanza?
2. What is the responsibility they
place on her?
“Alice and I Talking on the
Steps”
1. Why doesn’t Esperanza
consider the house on Mango
Street to be her own?
“A House of My Own”
1. What are some of the features
of Esperanza’s dream house?
“Mango Says Goodbye
Sometimes”
1. What does Esperanza realize
about herself in the final vignette?
2. How does the story of The House
on Mango Street complete a
circle?
Final Response
(Write a good-sized paragraph)
Nearly all the characters in The House on
Mango Street dream of escaping, why do
they want to leave? Describe the different
ways in which people try to escape, as well
as the results of their efforts. Do you think
Esperanza’s dreams or escaping are likely
to be more successful?