The two symbols are the red brick (the architecture) and the lady in high heel shoes.

The House on Mango Street

Sandra Cisneros

*red balloon Matthew Childress Mr. Rustin 3 rd Period

Table of Contents

Slide 1-Cover Sheet Slide 2-Table of Contents Slide 3-General Summary of 5 vignettes Slide 4-Character Descriptions Slide 5-Character Descriptions cont.

Slide 6-Figurative Language Log Slide 7-Figurative Language Log cont.

Slide 8-Figurative Language Log cont.

Slide 9- Theme Study Slide 10-Theme Study cont.

Slide 11-Student Vignette Slide 12-Back Page Quote

General Summary of Five Vignettes

In the first vignette, “The House on Mango Street,” the main character Esperanza describes her family and the house on mango street that her family has recently moved into. In “Cathy Queen of Cats,” Esperanza meets her first friend in her new neighborhood, but apparently Cathy is related to the Queen of France and wants to return “home” one day to claim the crown, Cathy later offends Esperanza by telling her that the neighborhood is getting bad. As Esperanza continues to explore growing-up, in “Louie, his cousin and his other cousin,” Esperanza gets into a car which is Louie’s Cousin’s car which is very exquisite, as the neighborhood gang is taken around in the car, sirens are heard, and Louie’s cousin tells the children to get out of the car, the cousin is later apprehended by the police. Still “growing-up,” in “Hips,” Esperanza, Nenny and her friends discover hips, and discuss their importance, Nenny suggests that hips keep girls from turning into men, but Esperanza realizes that hips are for women. In the vignette “Edna’s Ruthie,” Esperanza meets the daughter of the harsh landlord that lives across the street. Ruthie does not want to grow up, which is the direct opposite of Esperanza, who wishes to grow up and move out of her current state with all of her might.

Character Descriptions

doesn’t think that her name defines her and would like a new one. “I would like to baptize myself under a new name, a name more like the real me, the one nobody sees” (Cisneros 11).In Spanish, her name means hope, and at times her hope is shaken, but is generally there throughout. She wants to have a real house and believes that the house on Mango Street isn’t it. She goes through many challenges and adventures throughout the novel while also finding her maturity.

Rachel and Lucy were best friends with Esperanza. Lucy was born in Chicago and Rachel was born in Texas. Lucy is the older sister of Rachel. “My name is Lucy, the big one says. This here is Rachel my sister” (Cisneros 15). Rachel and Lucy fights sometimes, but always work it out. “Especially since Rachel almost put out Lucy’s eye about who was going to get to ride first. But finally we agree to ride it together” (Cisneros 15). They both are immature, but Esperanza has fun with them.

Cathy is Esperanza’s first friend that she meets in her neighborhood. Esperanza never grows close to Cathy because she moves away soon after they meet. “Okay, I’ll be your friend. But only till next Tuesday, That’s when we move away” (Cisneros 13).

Character Descriptions Continued

Cathy cont.-She warns Esperanza from becoming friends with Rachel and Lucy. Cathy has lots and lots of cats. Esperanza even calls her “Queen of cats”. “Cathy, who is queen of cats, has cats and cats and cats. Baby cats, big cats, skinny cats, sick cats. Cats asleep like little donuts. Cats on top of the refrigerator. Cats taking a walk on the dinner table. Her house is like cat heaven” (Cisneros 13).

Nenny is Esperanza’s younger sister. Nenny’s real name is Magdalena, which Esperanza thinks is uglier than her own name. “..Not quite thick as my sister’s name Magdalena-which is uglier than mine” (Cisneros 11). Nenny is even more immature than Esperanza. When Esperanza is responsible for watching out for Nenny she gets really irritated and embarrassed by her. Nenny and Esperanza don’t look like sister, but have some qualities that are alike. “Nenny and I don’t look like sister…not right away” (Cisneros 17).

Sally is the pretty girl that all the boys talk about. “The boys at school think she’s beautiful because her hair is shiny like raven feathers,” (Cisneros 81). In fact, she is so beautiful that her father doesn’t let her go out, because “to be this beautiful is trouble” (Cisneros 81). Sally is not a very good friend to Esperanza. She spends most of her time with boys more than friends, like many other females these days. She is more mature than Esperanza is and seem glamorous to her. Sally goes down bad paths later on the novel and hopefully Esperanza doesn’t follow her footsteps.

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Figurative Language Log

“Not the way you can tell with Rachel and Lucy who have the same fat popsicles lips like everybody else in their family,”This metaphor is significant because it gives you a good image so that you can visualize what’s going on easier(Cisneros 17).

• • “ Cats asleep like little donuts, does(Cisneros 13).

” The significance of this simile is to show how the cat is sleeping. It really helps me to visualize what I’m reading, which is what this simile “Cathy who is queen of cats , sick, cats. Cats cats has cats and cats and cats . Baby cats , big cats, skinny asleep like little donuts. Cats on top of the refrigerator. Cats taking walk on the dinner table,” the lot of cats and it is a better way of showing that by repeating the words cats over and over again(Cisneros 13).

alliteration/repetition signifies that Cathy has a • “It’s small and red with tight steps in front and windows so small you’d think they were holding their breath, ” this personification helps the reader understand how small the windows really are, which enhances the novel(Cisneros 4).

• “Tables with their feet upside-down and rows and rows of refrigerators with round corners and couches that spit dust in the air when you punch them and a hundred T.V’s that don’t work probably,” the enhances the reading personification in this quote is significant because it experience for the reader by helping you understand what the couch is doing ,which was putting dust in the air(Cisneros 19).

Figurative Language Log continued

• Not the shy ice cream bells’ giggle of Rachel and Lucy’s family…”( Cisneros 17).

The significance of this metaphor is that it really “selects and names” this fact about Rachel and Lucy’s family.

• “…but all of a sudden and surprised like a pile of dishes breaking ” (Cisneros 17).

The significance of this simile is that it conveys the idea of Esperanza’s laugh better than any other way could.

• “The kids down A hyperbole bend trees and therefore, it is a hyperbole.

bounce between and dangle upside from knees and almost break like fancy museum vases you can’t replace”(Cisneros 29).

exaggerates a statement. To “bend” trees is extremely difficult for a kid to do so and it’s exaggerated so

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Figurative Language Log continued

There was a family. All were little . Their arms were little , and their hands were little …,” the significance of this repetition is to show the importance of how small the family is by repeating the word “little” (Cisneros 39). • “The mother’s feet plump and polite , descending like white pigeons from the sea of pillow , across the linoleum roses…,” the significance of this simile and personification is to describe the feet in a more unusual way than normal. Plus using two types of figurative language is a good way of trying to show its significance(Cisneros 40). (9 th and 10 th example)

Theme Study- Identity

A major theme of this novel is identity, finding oneself when troubles come, and knowing who you are.

“I would like to baptize myself under a new name, a name more like the real me, the one nobody sees” (Cisneros 11).

-The significance of this quote is that it shows that Esperanza doesn’t like her name and would like a new one. Also, getting a new name is like getting a new identity. Esperanza wants people to know the real her.

“They are the only ones who understand me. I am ... the only one who understands them. Four skinny trees with skinny necks and pointy elbows like mine. Four who do not belong here but are here”(Cisneros 74).

-Esperanza compares herself to four skinny trees. This quote signifies that she is lonely and that she feels like she doesn’t belong. This quote also shoes that Esperanza thinks that she is the only one who feels this way.

Theme Study Continued

“All brown all around, we are safe. But watch us ... drive into a neighborhood of another color and our knees go shakity-shake and our car windows get rolled up tight and our eyes look straight”(Cisneros 28).

-The significance of this quote is that while Esperanza makes fun of white people who are afraid of her Latino neighborhoods, she shows in this quote that the people that live on Mango Street are just as scared to go into a white neighborhood. This shoes that these two neighborhoods are basically the same, despite their culture.

“In English my name means hope. In Spanish it means ... too many letters. It means sadness, it means waiting. It is like the number nine. A muddy color. It is the Mexican records my father plays on Sunday mornings when he is shaving, songs like sobbing” (Cisneros 10).

-The signification of this quote is to prove that Esperanza hates her name. This quote says that her name means "hope" in Spanish which expresses her Mexican heritage. Esperanza struggles with this part of her identity because it's long name and difficult for her teachers at school to say. Because of this, Esperanza ounce again feels like she doesn’t belong.

“You will always be Esperanza. You will always be Mango ... Street. You can't erase what you know. You can't forget who you are.”(Cisneros ) This quote signifies that living on Mango Street has helped Esperanza find her identity. Also, that Mango Street has become a little part of her identity.

My Vignette

What’s in a name? Is it what makes you, you, or me, me? Matthew Russell Childress, I got my middle name from my abuelito, and my last name came from history, all the way from Wales; my last name is even in history textbooks, the author of the Texas Declaration of Independence which is my relative George C. Childress. To me my name means strong, and intelligent; I hope I come across like that to others, and not some anemic fool. But I want to make a name for myself, through many great triumphs and victories. Making a name for myself, To see myself ascend to greatness, To achieve my goals, Making a name for myself. *Blue are the gerund phrases, and the brown are the infinitive phrases

Back Page Quote

“I believe The House on Mango Street should be read by all who wish to feel a sense of coming-of-age. Another reason The House on Mango Street should be read is because finding oneself is a prevalent theme, which can be applied to all areas of life. This book also made me feel empathetic towards many of the characters due to Sandra Cisneros’s way of immersing you into her literature.”-Matthew Childress