LITERATURE ANALYSIS #3

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read according to the elements of plot you've learned in past courses (exposition, inciting incident, etc.).  Explain how the narrative fulfills the author's purpose (based on your well-informed interpretation of same).
- The novel begins with Esperanza talking about how much she has moved and all the other places she has lived before moving to Mango Street. Esperanza describes the neighborhood and house that her, Mama, Papa, Carlos, Kiki, and Nenny are currently living in; a neighborhood in which she doesn't view as a home. On Mango Street, Esperanza soon meets Rachel and Lucy, two sisters who teach her about womanhood. As time progresses, Esperanza's sexuality begins to grow. Esperanza then meets Sally, a girl who is often beat by her father. In order to escape Sally marries a salesman. Esperanza becomes upset by this occurrence, making it her goal to ultimately leave mango Street and get a home of her very own and come back for all the other individuals who were unable to escape Mango Street. We then learn that no matter how much she wants too, Esperanza cannot escape Mango Street. 
Exposition: Esperanza's descriptions of the neighborhood of Mango street.
Rising Action: Esperanza trying to escape the neighborhood.
Conflict: Esperanza learning to accept Mango Street.
Falling Action: Esperanza realizing that she does indeed belong on Mango Street.
2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid cliches.
- The theme of The House on Mango Street is maturity. Throughout the entire novel, Esperanza, Lucy, Nenny, and Rachel soon begin to learn about the things that they will soon experience in life, such as wearing high heels and lipstick. As times goes on, Esperanza begins to experience these very things. In the novel, Esperanza also overcomes her flaws and grows as a person.
3. Describe the author's tone. Include a minimum of three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).
- I feel that there is no actual tone presented in the novel. Since The House on Mango Street is made up of vignettes the author's tone varies from hopeful to frightened.
Hopeful "One day I'll own my own house, but I won't forget who I am or where I came from. Passing bums will ask, Can I come in? I'll offer them the attic, ask them to stay, because I know how it is to be without a house." (page 87)
Frightened "Sally, make him stop. I couldn't make them go away. I couldn't do anything but cry. I don't remember. I don't remember. Please don't make me tell it all." (page 100)
 Disillusioned "I am tired of looking at what we can't have. When we win the lottery... Mama begins, and than I stop listening. (page 86)
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.) 
- Symbolism: "Their strength is secret. They send ferocious roots beneath the ground. They grow up and they grow down and grab the earth between their hairy toes and bite the sky with violent teeth and never quite their anger. This is they keep." (page 74) The growing trees symbolize Esperanza's eagerness to grow up, like the trees do, and ultimately leave Mango Street.
- Rhetorical Questions: "I could've been somebody, you know?" (page 91) This demonstrates Esperanza's mother's shame for quitting school. She was a "smart cookie" and she had potential, but she quit because she didn't have nice clothes. 
- Foreshadowing: "I knew the 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 those things go." (page 5) Esperanza foreshadows that in order for her to be happy and succeed in life she must leave the house on Mango Street."
- Imagery: "Out stepped a tiny pink shoe, a foot as soft as a rabbit's ear, then the thick ankle, a flutter of hips, fuchsia roses and green perfume." (page 76) Esperanza describes Mamacita's physical appearance as she watched Mamacita step out of the taxi.. 
- Simile: "The taxi door opened like a waiter's arm." (page 76) This quote describes how Mamacita (along with the baby boy) stepped out of the taxi when she arrived to live across the street from Esperanza. 
- Personification: "Four skinny trees with skinny necks and pointy elbows like mine." (page 74) The trees represent who Esperanza is. They are stuck in the ground just like Esperanza is stuck in the house on Mango Street.
- Repetition: "I hold and hold and hold him." (page 57) Esperanza reflects on death after finding out that her abuelito died. She holds her Papa in her arms because she's afraid of ever losing him.
- Metaphor: "There are clouds that look like big fields of sheep." (page 36) A metaphor is demonstrated when Rachel describes her favorite clouds.
- Anaphora: "Not a flat. Not an apartment in the back. Mot a man's house. Not a daddy's girl." (page 108) Esperanza lists all the things she doesn't want in her home. She wants a house to be all her own.
- Point of View: "By the time we got to Mango Street we were six-Mama, Papa, Carlos, Kiki, my sister Nenny and me." (page 3) The novel is narrated by Esperanza. Through her first person narration we learn about her and the people who surround her.

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)?
- The author uses both direct and indirect characterization for readers to learn about characters through not only their appearances, but their thoughts and feelings as well.
Direct Characterization: 
"I would've liked to have known her, a wild horse of a woman, so wild she wouldn't marry." (page 11) Esperanza is describing her Grandmother.
"From our room we can hear them, but Nenny just sleeps and doesn't appreciate these things." (page 74) Esperanza tells us that her sister does not appreciate nature. 
Indirect Characterization:
"My Papa's hair is like a broom, all up in the air." (page 6) A reader can infer that Esperanza's dad as uptight.
""One day I'll own my own house, but I won't forget who I am or where I came from. Passing bums will ask, Can I come in? I'll offer them the attic, ask them to stay, because I know how it is to be without a house." (page 87) We can infer that Esperanza is a very caring and kind individual.
2. Does the author's syntax and/or diction change when s/he focuses on character?  How?  Example(s)?
- Yes, the author's syntax and diction does change when she focuses on character. When characterizing characters, Cisneros uses lengthy descriptions for certain characters, while much shorter descriptions for others. 
"My Papa, his thick hands and thick shoes, who wakes up tired in the dark, who combs his hair with water, drinks his coffee, and is gone before we wake, today is sitting on my bed." (page 57)
"I would've liked to have known her, a wild horse of a woman, so wild she wouldn't marry." (page 11)
3. Is the protagonist static or dynamic?  Flat or round?  Explain.
- I believe that Esperanza is a dynamic character due to the changes she experiences throughout the entire novel. Esperanza begins as an innocent girl who then changes into a woman after being rapped. Esperanza is a round character, in the novel she changes a great deal and seems to create her character as well as the person she strives to become.
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 the book I came away feeling like I had actually met Esperanza. Learning about Esperanza's journey through life made me feel as if I'd experienced the entire journey with her. Esperanza was an extremely realistic character, which made connecting to her and her experiences very easy.  
"One day I will 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) As time passed, Esperanza became aware of her own strength. In life, individuals often have a difficult time identifying their own inner strength, however, as they get older they soon realize how strong they truly are, it just takes time, which is something that every individual could relate to.