The book consists of a series of events which even though they're relevant they are not tied together. In the story the main character Esperanza, who comes from a Latin family, has just moved to their new "home". Without any real friends she decides to speak with the not so pleasant girls, Rachel and Lucy. Throughout the book however, all she really talks about is how she much she despises her house and how ashamed she is of it. She establishes her new life on Mango Street where the population is overwhelmed with Latinos, her own kind. She views others' sad lives they lead and she is determined to not end like any of them. Crimes, rape, police, arrests, child abuse were all expected on a daily basis. Never would she have known that actions such as those would affect her life and cause a great impact. The book ended with her absolute desire of moving away from Mango Street and commencing the change she needed in her life. She knows that she is the only one that can ever loosen ties with that town but never brake them.
2.Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid cliches.
The theme of the novel is to "make a story for your life". According to Esperanza's character all she ever could do was make a story to try and let that become her reality. It later became her motivation and kept her optimism through the thick and thin.
3. Describe the author's tone. Include three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).
The author uses various tones in her book considering that each passage takes place with different characters and are unlike each other in many ways.
- Hostility: "They think we're dangerous, they think we'll attack them with shiny knives. They are stupid people who are lost and got here by mistake." Esperanza shows her anger in seeing a white man/woman go into the Latino community only to show fear as if they were criminals. She shows that she reflects the same fears when she goes into a white people community and yet she doesn't treat them like criminals, just goes on about her way without being bothersome.
- Prideful: "I am an ugly daughter. I am the one nobody comes for... I have begun my own quiet war. Simple. Sure. I am one who leaves the table like a man, without putting back the chair or picking up the plate." In this passage Esperanza shows that she has no shame in herself or of her actions. She is proud to be who she is and the way she is. She isn't afraid of what others may think, but only of herself and what she would think if she acted like someone else.
- Confusion/Disappointment: "Sally, you lied. It wasn't what you said at all. What he did. Where he touched me. I didn't want it, Sally." In this excerpt Esperanza is behind her humiliation and disappointment to an unrealistic Sally. (She is unrealistic because she is absent at that moment) She is pouring out her feelings to something that will never really respond to all her questions or be there as support for her.
4.Describe five literary elements/techniques you observed that strengthened your understanding of the theme and/or your sense of the tone. Include three excerpts that will help your reader understand each one.
- Characters: Each character came with a specific background story that helped us view more of what Esperanza was constantly being exposed to. None of the characters had a type of life that she would ever want to lead. I was able to recognize why she so desperately wanted to leave Mango Street. She wanted to avoid becoming a failure in life and ultimately being stuck in jail or at home being abused by the man she would end up marrying. For example: "Earl lives next door in Edna's basement...Earl works nights," "They are bad those Vargases, and how can they help it with only one mother who is tired all the time from buttoning and bottling and babying, and who cries every day for the man who left," "Minerva is a little bit older than me but already has two kids and a husband who left." Those are only three of the dozens of characters that were each independently introduced with their background.
- Point of View: With the story being told from a first person point of view I was able to see, feel, and develop her character within myself. Everything she spoke or thought was so real and she was willing to share the information with the readers. With her speaking the whole time of what she encountered everyday a scene was able to play in my mind causing imagery. For Example: "In English my name means hope. In Spanish it means too many letters. It means sadness, it means waiting." Here definition of her name was all the more powerful and goes more into depth of what she is facing at that moment.
- Setting: All the sulking, depression, bad memories, pessimism was centered around that one street, Mango Street. The meaning of her lack of existence and the pain endured by Esperanza had been shaped and revolved around the street which she refused to call her home. Her goal in life was to come up with a new setting for herself and that's all she really cared for. However, Mango Street was of great significance because it was what held her back and she kept trying to push away. The strong gravitational pull would never allow her to abandon it. For example: "But the house on Mango Street is not the way they told it all. It's small and red with tight steps in front and windows so small you'd think they were holding their breath."
- Imagery:The details described in the book had my imagination painting pictures of the scenes during the sequence of the course of the book. Sandra Cisneros made some explanations into depth and that allowed me to view what the character herself was viewing as well. For example: "Up, up, up the stairs she went with the baby boy in the blue blanket, the man carrying her suitcases, her lavender hatboxes, a dozen boxes of satin high heels." The description was adequate enough to let us observe a big lady walking up the stairs with too much of what she doesn't truly need.
- Irony: Sally the very innocent girl that only wanted to brake the chains she had with her father hadn't realized that in doing so she would only find herself caught in a different set of chains. For example: "Until one day Sally's father catches her talking to a boy and the next day she doesn't come back to school.And the next." Then when she is married, "And he doesn't like her friends, so nobody gets to visit her unless she is working. She sits at home because she is afraid to go outside without his permission." Sally only worsened her situation when she got married. She expected freedom but the only thing she received was less company and double the amount of fear.
