Literary Analysis #5: The House On Mango Street

GENERAL

1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read, and explain how the narrative fulfills the author's purpose (based on your well-informed interpretation of same).

This novel explains the reality that many people go through. It is a story of a young girl living in a town that she does not like at all. She feels that she is trapped. Esperanza is a young girl who is guiding us through her life. She is always watching the things that are going on and we get to listen to different stories of peoples life’s while she is talking about hers. I feel that the author’s purpose of writing this novel was to show young girls that are in the shoes of Esperanza that there is in a happy ending. Just because you are from in place that has low expectations doesn’t mean that you have to set the bar that low for yourself.

2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid cliches.

The theme was that no matter where you live, how you look, what others think of you, how much money you have, the amount of friends you have, you shouldn't  set low standards for yourself. People will put you down, make you feel that you don’t belong at times but nothing is easy. As long as you do what you need to do that's all you need. 

3. Describe the author's tone. Include a minimum of three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).

The author's tone was pretty constant. It had great details and gave you that feeling that you were welcome to continue reading. 

• Every first few sentence the novel said, “We didn’t always live one Mango Street.” Right there the Narrator begins the story with a line that lets you know that she expecting you to be listening.(page 3) 
• The next example is when Esperanza says, “this was the house Papa talked about when he held a lottery ticket and this was the house Mama dreamed up in the stories she told us before we went to bed.”(page 4) 
• “I knew then I had to have a house. A real house. One I could point to. But this isn’t it. The house on Mango Street isn’t it. For the time being, Mama says. Temporary, says Papa. But I know how those things go.”(page 5) In this line she lets us into her thoughts during a moment in which she is feeling horrible about herself. She allows herself to be vulnerable. 

4. Describe a minimum of ten literary elements/techniques you observed that strengthened your understanding of the author's purpose, the text's theme and/or your sense of the tone. For each, please include textual support to help illustrate the point for your readers. (Please include edition and page numbers for easy reference.)

Diction- “ If you don’t get them you may turn into a man.” Nenny says this when Lucy, Esperanza, and Rachel are talking about why women grow hips. With this statement we as readers are reminded how young these girls and how for being so young they have had to go through so much already. 
Characterization- “ Yes, I nodded even though I knew that wasn’t my house and started to cry. I always cry when nuns yell at me, even if they’re not yelling.” (page 45) Here we see a side of Esperanza that we have not gotten to see from her so far. Well, we did in the first chapter when a nun commented on her house but this is the first time we see Esperanza spill tears. It lets us see that she is strong but every strong person has a heart that aches when in distress. 
Setting- “One day I will my pack my bags of books and paper. One day I will say goodbye to Mango. I am too strong for her to keep me here forever. One day I will go away. (page 110) When I give this as an example of setting it doesn’t make much sense, unless you are me, so let me explain myself. I mean a seting as in set of mind. She is in a new way of thinking. There is no longer anything fences that will hold her back. Only herself can get in the way now. 
Personification- “The dog is big, like a man dressed in a dog suit, and runs the same way its owner does, clumsy and wild and with the limbs flopping all over the place like untied shoes” (page 21) This part is where the new kid(Meme Ortiz) comes into the neighborhood and even his dog matches the way that the environment is.
Point of view- “But I think diseases have no eyes. They pick with a dizzy finger anyone, just anymore.” (page 59) Aunt Lupe was sick and I think this could be a connection with the surroundings. It is described as a place where no one wants to be by choice. Esperanza could say she dislikes it so much that it makes her “sick”. 
Conflict- “ The water pipes broke and the landlord wouldn’t fix them because the house was too old. We had to leave fast. We were using the washroom next door and carrying water over in empty milk gallons.” (page4) The whole was affected by their way of living. The pipes was the reason that they had to move which later becomes the reason why Esperanza finds the motivation to be better then what others expect her to be. 
Mood- “The snoring, the rain, and Mama’s hair that smells like bread.” (page 7) I love this part because it reminds me of my grandparents house. It would be raining while grandpa is knocked out on the couch, snoring amd grandma and I would be baking something sweet at midnight. So when I read this quote coming from young Esperanza I can feel the calmness she feels in that period of time that this is happening in.
Theme- “Before Keeler it was Paulina , but what I remember most is Mango Street, sad red house, the house I belong but do not belong to.” (page 110)Yay! A happy ending to a wonderful story. This quotes raps up everything. This is where she puts it into writing the things that she has learned. 
Imagery- “Everybody laughing except me, because I’m wearing the new dress, pink and white with stripes, and new underclothes and new socks and the old saddle shoes I wear to school, brown and white, the kind I get every September because they last long and they do.” (page 47) Esperanza is feeling like a out cast. She knows that if she had money this wouldn’t be happening. It doesn’t help either that everyone is laughing but at the same time I feel that maybe she thinks they are all laughing but really it could all be in her head. I wouldn’t be surprised though if they were all laughing only because this is a cruel place that she is in. 

CHARACTERIZATION 

1. Describe two examples of direct characterization and two examples of indirect characterization.  Why does the author use both approaches, and to what end (i.e., what is your lasting impression of the character as a result)?
Both indirect and direct characterization is used because it changes things up and it is a great strategy to make reading a lot more interesting. Sandra Cisneros has a way of writing to where you get a specific out look on a character. The way she describes her characters make you almost become part of the characters. 

• Indirect: “I’m about to tell her that’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard, but the more I think it…” (page 50) Esperanza has her own thoughts but is easily influenced as we can see clearly. Also, another example of her being easily influenced is when her uncle Nacho says, “Then Uncle Nacho is pulling and pulling my arm and it doesn’t matter how new the dress Mama bought is because my feet are ugly until my uncle who is a lair says, You are the prettiest girl here, will you dance, but I believe him, and yes, we are dancing, my Uncle Nacho an me, only I don’t want to at first.” Uncle Nacho saw that she was self conscious about her shoes so decided to pull her out on the dance floor to show her that she is beautiful. To him it didn’t matter if her shoes were not the most lovely things on the planet. He told her she was the prettiest girl in the room and she doesn’t believe it but after dancing around she starts to believe it. Which is awesome because I am she IS very pretty on the outside as she is on the inside. 
• Direct: “They are without respect for all things living, including themselves.” (page 29) The kids of Rosa Vargas are wild and this is example of the truth being told. “Is a good girl, my friend, studies all night and sees the mice, the ones her father says do not exist. Is afraid of nothing except four legged fur. And fathers.” (page 32) Alice is only afraid of ending up working hard her whole live and never enjoying herself and of course her father because he is stuck in the place she doesn’t want to be in. 

2. Does the author's syntax and/or diction change when s/he focuses on character?  How?  Example(s)? 
When the novel takes time to focus on Papa it changes things a lot because not only does Esperanza feel shocked about her father crying but we are a bit shocked that she would be telling us this. She gets to see her father in a way that she has never seen him in and we get to be with her in that moment. 

• “Your abuelito is dead, Papa says one early morning in my room. Esta muerto, and then as if he just heard the news himself, crumples like a coat and cries, my brave Papa cries. I have never seen my Papa cry and don’t know what to do.” (page 56) 

3. Is the protagonist static or dynamic?  Flat or round?  Explain.

The protagonist is a dynamic and a round character. Some examples of this are in the ending of the story when Esperanza is saying how one day she is going to get out of the place that she in. She says out loud how she is going to leave and what others are going to say about her when she does leave. 

4. After reading the book did you come away feeling like you'd met a person or read a character?  Analyze one textual example that illustrates your reaction.

After reading this novel I come away feeling like I met the characters that were introduced. Each chapter that we read goes into details of the life’s of each person or group of people that Esperanza knows. 

• “Earl lives next door in Edna’s basement, behind the flower boxes Edna paints green each year, behind the dusty geraniums.” Getting to know how each character lives was a big part of feeling like we were apart of the story and characters.