Reading: House on Mango Finals
What new name does Esperanza want to baptize herself into?
"Esperanza as Lisandro or Maritza or Zeze the X."
What does Esperanza say about her name in Spanish?
"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."
Why is Esperanza interested in Sally?
. Sally is a girl who appears to act different at school and home.
What is the problem with Rosa Vargas's children?
. They are wild, out of control, and disrespectful to themselves and others.
Who is Elenita?
A fortune teller
What disturbing thing happens on Esperanza's first day on the job?
A male co-worker forces Esperanza to give him a long kiss on the lips.
Who is Darius?
A troublemaker, but thinks about God
Who is Sister Superior?
Allows esperanza to eat her lunch at school
Who introduced Esperanza to her first job?
Aunt Lala
Why is Aunt Lupe important to Esperanza?
Aunt Lupe listens to Esperanza's poems and urges her to keep writing.
What advice does Mama give Esperanza?
Avoid feeling shame because it can keep you down.
What are the names of Esperanza's brothers that don't play with girls outside the house?
Carlos and Kiki
What does Rafaela wish to do before she gets old?
Dance at a bar
Who longs for a friend they can tell secrets to and dreams of a home with a yard and three washrooms?
Esperanza
What are Esperanza's feelings toward Nenny, Mama, and her great grandmother?
Esperanza feels close to her great-grandmother because they have the same name and the same personality, according to the Chinese zodiac, but she does not want to grow up to be like her great-grandmother. The woman seemed forced into a boring life of marriage and spent too much time looking out the window. Esperanza loves her mother, and her mother makes her feel loved when she hugs Esperanza and when they sleep together on rainy nights. Esperanza feels responsible for her little sister, Nenny, but she does not think of Nenny as a friend.
Why does Esperanza go to a fortuneteller?
Esperanza wants to know if she will ever get the house she is dreaming of.
Based on what you know of Esperanza's dreams for her future, what important life lessons do you think she can learn from her mother?
Esperanza wants to live on her own and make her own decisions, so her mother can teach Esperanza to be self-sufficient and learn to do everything for herself. Her mother can also teach her to use her talents, instead of giving them up, since it appears Esperanza's mother had to give up her artistic gifts of singing and drawing when she had her family.
How does Esperanza feel about her mother?
Esperanza's mother makes her feel safe, loved, and comfortable.
Why doesn't Esperanza talk to Sire about her feelings for him?
He already has a girlfriend, and Esperanza is too shy to mention her feelings.
What does the bum man offer to trade with Rachel?
He offers to trade a dollar for a kiss
What was Esperanza's relationship with the old oriental man?
He said he could be Esperanza's friend and that next time to go in the lunchroom and sit with him. As a result, he took advantage of Esperanza and kissed her.
Who is "Geraldo No Last Name"?
He was a man Marin danced with one night, just before he was killed.
Why does Alicia get up early to make tortillas?
Her father expects her to since her mother died.
What did Esperanza NOT want to inherit from her great grandmother?
Her place by the window
What does Esperanza's name mean in English?
Hope
What is the house on mango street like?
It is a small red house with a few trees out front and a small garage.
Why is Esperanza embarrassed at her baby cousin's baptism party?
Mama did not buy new dress shoes, so Esperanza had to wear her school shoes.
How is Louie's mother keeping his female cousin, Marin, busy during the day?
Marin babysits Louie's little sisters while his mother works.
Who are the Three Sisters?
Mysterious but wise
Who is Esperanza's responsibility and has an explosive laugh like Esperanza?
Nenny
The house on mango street is known as a?
Novella
How does Papa react when his father dies, and why is Esperanza uncomfortable?
Papa cries, and Esperanza has never seen him cry before.
What was Esperanza's first job and where was it at?
Peter Pan Photo Finishers on North Broadway where Esperanza has to match negatives with their prints, look at the picture and look for the same one on the negative strip, and put it in the envelope.
Esperanza pays close attention to her neighbors, partially because she is looking for role models. Identify three women who live near Esperanza and explain why she could not adopt each of the women's lifestyles.
Ruthie is married with a nice house outside of the area, but she is living with her mother, and it is unclear if Ruthie will ever be reunited with her husband and why they are separated. Sally has an unhealthy relationship with her father, who is physically and possibly sexually abusing her, so she rushes into a marriage before she is an eighth grader, and her new husband controls her just as much as her father did. Rafaela is a beautiful woman who may be happily married, except that her husband locks her in her apartment once per week so he can go have fun with his friends. None of these women have freedom, happiness, safety, or a job or responsibility outside their marriages. On the contrary, freedom, happiness, safety, and the ability to practice her writing craft are all things that Esperanza hopes for her life, so she rejects these three women as role models.
How is Sally's life from school different from her home life?
Sally is abused at home and she lives in a strict household. At school, she is loved by everyone. She has her skirts shorter and wears makeup at school.
Why does Esperanza appear to disapprove Sally's marriage with an older man?
Sally's husband is controlling, and Esperanza does not think Sally loves her husband.
What does Sally do in the Monkey Garden?
She agrees to exchange kisses with some boys in return for her house keys.
Why does Esperanza meet and become friends with Rachel and Lucy?
She contributes money to buy and share a used bike with the sisters.
How does Esperanza behave toward her sister, Nenny, at the beginning of the novella?
She feels Nenny is a responsibility, not a true friend.
What are Alicia's dreams for her future?
She hopes to graduate from university and move away from home.
What happens to Esperanza at the carnival?
She is raped by several men she does not know.
What is wrong with Aunt Lupe?
She is sick with an incurable disease.
What can you infer about Rafaela, based off what we know about her life?
She is stuck and unhappy with her marriage.
Why does Alicia stay up so late each night?
She is studying for her college classes
What does Esperanza do on her first real job?
She matches negatives to prints at a photo-finishing store.
Why did Esperanza want to work in the vignette "The First Job"?
She needed money and the Catholic High school cost a lost. Papa told her that nobody went to public school unless you wanted to turn bad.
Why does Esperanza like Marin?
She tells her adult things
Cisneros's language use is very poetic, but the word choice and sentence structures are fairly simple. Why do you think she wrote this way? What effect does it have on a reader's experience?
She wanted to write a book that anyone, even a character from her novella, could be invited to read and enjoy. Cisneros's novella reads very easily, with very few challenging words, but a great deal of meaning behind each sentence. I think she succeeded in making the text an enjoyable read for anyone.
Describe two things Esperanza wants in her future
She wants a home and wants to leave house on mango street
Why does Esperanza plan to welcome bums into the attic of her adult home?
She wants to be kind to others who know what it is like to be without a house.
How does Esperanza react to the incident with Sally?
She wants to die and never returns to the Monkey Garden again.
What does Esperanza want to do for lunch at school?
She wants to eat in the cafeteria
What similarities did Esperanza and her great grandmother have?
Similarities: they shared a name. They were both born in the Chinese year of the horse
Describe your opinion of the title of the novella. Is it a good title? If so, why? If not, what should it be named instead, and why?
The House on Mango Street is a good title for the novella because Esperanza discovers how important where she comes from is. She cannot escape it, no matter how hard she tries; she'll always need to return to it. But she also learns how to help herself while she lives in the house on Mango Street, which will hopefully lead to Esperanza achieving all her life goals. -- OR -- No, The House on Mango Street is not a good title for the novella. Although Esperanza is from Mango Street, it is not all she wants to be, and she realizes this during the novella. She writes about all the different women in her neighborhood, potential role models, and discovers that none of them are living a life she wants to lead. The house on Mango Street is the opposite of what she wants to become.
What is the climax chapter/vignette?
The Red Clowns because the experience changes Esperanza's goal for the future
The House on Mango Street is a story that cycles back on itself. Explain how the structure of the text reflects Esperanza's own hope for her future.
The first vignette in The House on Mango Street is about the house that Esperanza lives in, which she does not like because it does not meet her expectations or needs. The last vignette has several lines in it that are quotes from the first vignette, with slight changes to reflect her change in attitude. This return to the first vignette is related to the reminder Esperanza receives, from both the three sisters and Alicia. They tell her that she will need to return to Mango Street eventually because that is where she is from, and she eventually accepts this as an imperative for her life, so she can help those who cannot leave.
What do the girls realize as a result of the items from the family with little feet?
The girls realize that their bodies are maturing into the bodies of women.
How do the neighbors deal with the Vargas kids?
The neighbors ignore the kids, since the children do not listen to their warnings.
What is the theme of the story? How does the author portray the theme?
The struggle for self-definition is a common theme in a coming-of-age novel, or bildungsroman, and in The House on Mango Street. The author portrays it by showing Esperanza's life struggles, curiosity, her maturing, etc.
Esperanza's decision to leave home is easier to make once she talks to who?
The three sisters
What do the three sisters and Alicia convince Esperanza to do?
They all convince her to return to Mango Street so she does not forget who she is
What do Mamacita, Minerva, Rafaela, and Sally have in common?
They all have men who control and mistreat women.
What does Esperanza notice about strangers who come into her neighborhood and new neighborhoods she drives through?
They feel scared and unsafe
What do the girls do with the items from the family with little feet?
They play dress-up and walk around the block.
What do the three mysterious sisters see in Esperanza's future?
They see Esperanza leaving Mango Street and going far away.
Who convinced Esperanza to go out on the dance floor at the baptism party?
Uncle Nacho
Who is Esperanza?
Wants to escape, but knows she'l return
Who is Cathy?
a girl who insults Esperanza and offers to be her friend till Tuesday (tells her the neighborhood is getting bad)
What about Meme Ortiz's backyard does Esperanza remember best?
a large tree
What do Esperanza and Nenny want to buy at Gil's store?
a music box
Another neighbor, Minerva, is trapped in a marriage with a husband who is __________, but Esperanza does not know how to help her.
abusive
What happened to Louie's male cousin?
arrested for stealing a car
Rafaela asks the kids to_______to help her imagine a sweeter alternative to her life.
buy her coconut and papaya juice
After Alicia's mother died, what did Alicia's father expect her to do?
cook for him
Who is Aunt Lupe?
died after Esperanza and her friends mimicked her
Who is Geraldo?
died at the hospital without surgical attention
What will Esperanza know she has to do, once she leaves home?
eventually return for those who cannot leave
Who is Rachel and Lucy?
explored the neighborhood on a bike and high heels
When Esperanza feels weak, she looks upon the ________ for strength and determination
four skinny trees
Esperanza has many _______ in the story, but only few get to see who she really is.
friends
Esperanza examines the difference between what?
girls and boys lives
In the beginning, the narrator, Esperanza is discontent with what?
her home
What do Esperanza, Rachel, and Lucy receive from the family of little feet?
high heels
Which body part inspires Rachel, Lucy, and Esperanza to make up sexually suggestive jump rope songs?
hips
Esperanzawantstogrowupbeautifulandcruel,likethewomenin the movies, so she can __________.
keep her personal power
Who is Sally?
kissed boys in Monkey Gardem
Rafaela's husband _______each Tuesday night because he's afraid she will run away from him.
locks her in her home
Who is Mama?
loving, safe, but living with regrets
What does Marin expect to do if she returns to Puerto Rico?
marry her boyfriend
Mama wants the best for her daughter, but she is aware that?
men cannot be relied upon to take care of their wives
Based on the clothing she wears when she returns home from school, Sally's father probably expects her appearance to be ___________.
modest and age-appropriate
Who is Alicia?
obedient daughter and university student
Esperanza's mother regrets quitting_______becauseshedidnot have the right clothes.
school
When her son begins to_______,Mamacita feels like her heart is breaking.
sing american commercial songs
What does Marin do each night?
stand out front of her house
What does Louie's cousin do with the Cadillac he drove?
takes his cousins for a ride
What is Rosa Vargas's life like?
tiring - she cries because she has too many kids to take care of alone
Who is Sire?
wakes up Esperanza's sexual feelings
Esperanza writes about ________ in several vignettes, obviously searching for a role model.
women
