| The House On Mango Street |
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''The House on Mango Street'' is a 1984 Novella by Sandra Cisneros and illustrated by Nivia Gonzalez. It deals with a young Latina girl, Esperanza Cordero, coming of age in the Chicago ghetto. WRITING STYLE The style in which the Novella is written is described by Cisneros as a "poetic style," which she invented by glorifying and giving personification to elements generally seen as mundane and even ugly. Cisneros uses a series of poem-like Vignettes which together create an over encompassing view of Esperanza and her experiences on Mango Street. Interestingly, Cisneros doesn't use quotation marks around speech in ''The House on Mango Street''. PLOT SUMMARY Despite Esperanza's spoken desire to move out of her house on Mango Street, her actions and descriptions of her street show a strong sense of community and affection for the people living there. MAJOR THEMES These stories deal with the conditions of living in Chicago in the ghetto. Some themes discussed in this book include racism, racial stereotypes, sexism, substance abuse, estrangement and loss, the concept of home, and escape and return. These themes are discussed by the encounters Esperanza has with other people or herself. Though the vignettes are never said to be in chronological order, the events of the story seem to imply this because the encounters later in this book deal with more mature issues than those dealt with earlier in this book. Although Sandra Cisneros has stated that the story is not an autobiography, her experiences are similar to those of the protagonist. The story also contains many elements from the lives of the author's students. {Link without Title} . This book may be considered a Bildungsroman (A "coming-of-age" story). SYMBOLS An important symbol in this book is the four trees outside of Esperanza's window. Throughout the book, she compares herself to them and admires them for growing while being anchored to the ground. This shows the bravery and strength she has inside of her. |
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