The House on Mango Street
These stories are vignettes, which are short impressions or descriptive images of the people, places, and events in the canvas of the narrator’s life, which she paints with strokes of figurative language.
Instructions: As you read the vignettes, answer and discuss the following in complete sentences.
Monday 4-28
Chapter 1 – The House on Mango Street
1. The house on Mango Street that the narrator and her family moved into was better than the apartments they had lived in, she says. A) In which ways was it better and b) in which ways was it disappointing?
2. The narrator concludes this chapter by telling us she knew she “had to have a house. A real house….But this isn’t it.” Her parents tell her the house on Mango Street is temporary. What does she mean when she concludes with “I know how those things go”?
Chapter 2 – Hairs
The narrator begins this chapter by telling us that everybody in her family has different hair. Then she describes the differences.
3. Is your hair different than other members of your family? Describe your hair and how it is similar or different than others in your family.
Chapter 3 – Boys and Girls
4. Why can’t the narrator’s brothers be seen talking to her outside the house?
5. Why does she compare herself to a red balloon tied to an anchor?
Chapter 4 – My Name
In the chapter about her name, the narrator tells us she was named Esperanza, which was her great-grandmother’s name. She also tells us she’d like to give herself a new name like “Zeze the X.”
6. How about you; what’s the story surrounding your name, and if you could change your name what would you change it to? Also, if you have a nickname, what is it?
7. Esperanza mentions that she believes Mexicans and Chinese “don’t like their women strong.” Discuss what might cause her to believe this.