Questions
Characterize the social constraints of the women in Esperanza’s neighborhood, and describe how Esperanza both responds to and transcends the social forces in her environment. Discuss the metaphor of...
View ArticleHistorical Perspective
A Mexican Immigration to the United States Cisneros plays on her dual Mexican American heritage throughout her work, and The House on Mango Street in particular reflects the experience of Mexicans in...
View ArticleConstruction
A Point of View The House on Mango Street is narrated by the adolescent Esperanza, who tells her story in the form of short, vivid tales. The stories are narrated in the first person (“I”), giving the...
View ArticleCulture and Heritage
A Difference Esperanza keenly observes the struggles of Hispanic Americans who wish to preserve the essence of their heritage while striving to forge productive lives within American culture. It is...
View ArticleThemes
Coming of Age Through various themes in The House on Mango Street Esperanza reveals herself as both a product of the community in which she lives and one of the only figures courageous enough to...
View ArticleCharacters
A Esperanza Cordero “In English my name means hope. In Spanish it means too many letters,” says Esperanza Cordero. In a child-like voice, Esperanza records impressions of the world around her. Her...
View ArticlePlot Summary
The House on Mango Street is the coming of age story of Esperanza Cordero, a preadolescent Mexican American girl (Chicana) living in the contemporary United States. A marked departure from the...
View ArticleSandra Cisneros
The experiences of Esperanza, the adolescent protagonist of The House on Mango Street, closely resemble those of Sandra Cisneros’s childhood. The author was born to a Mexican father and a Mexican...
View ArticleIntroduction
The House on Mango Street, which appeared in 1984, is a linked collection of forty-four short tales that evoke the circumstances and conditions of a Hispanic American ghetto in Chicago as seen through...
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