THE HOUSE ON MANGO STREET

THE HOUSE ON MANGO STREET

SANDRA CISNEROS, THE

AUTHOR

Born Chicago, IL, 1954

Mexican father, Mexican-American mother

Had six brothers

Lived in Chicago and Mexico, in

barrios

SANDRA CISNEROS

Wrote stories and poems as a girl

Studied Creative writing in college

1976: Bachelor of Arts,

English, Loyola University 1978: Master of Fine Arts, Creative Writing, U. of

SANDRA CISNEROS: WRITER

Decided to use her unique voice instead of mimicking other writers Used her heritage for inspiration

Master’s thesis, My Wicked Wicked Ways, later published in 1987, was a collection of poems

THE HOUSE ON MANGO STREET

Published in 1984 Closely parallels

Cisneros’ childhood

Uses vignettes as a form of story telling

THOMS AND PERSPECTIVES

Vignettes as a form of storytelling

Cultural movements in literature, and the Western Canon

Examination of women in literature and society

VIGNETTES FOR

STORY TELLING

The House on Mango Street, English 10 H

VIGNETTE

THOMS is made of nearly 4 dozen vignettes

Vignette: a short, impressionistic scene “Vignette” comes from the French word

vignete vigne (vine). It originally

KEYS TO WRITING VIGNETTES

Keep it short (under 200 words) Focus on a single point

Make strong uses of the senses (imagery)

Show, don’t tell, what you are thinking

WRITING A VIGNETTE

Think of a time that you got into

trouble. Close your eyes and replay the scene in your head.

Jot down prominent images

Now, write down what you remember hearing

WRITING A VIGNETTE

How did you feel about this whole incident?

Now, reread what you have written.

MS. PARVIAINEN’S VIGNETTE

A stick house, waxy lines, red, yellow, my name blue walls

“Did you do that?” “She did” “She doesn’t know how to write”

No smells—maybe wax?

MS. PARVIAINEN’S VIGNETTE

“She did it,” I pointed to my sister, aged two, contentedly stacking orange and yellow Tupperware.

“She did?” my mom asked, perhaps trying to hold back a laugh. “She doesn’t even know how to write.”

I don’t know how the wax was

painstakingly scraped off the window. All I know is that my parents never let me

LITERARY

MOVEMENTS IN

LITERATURE

The House on Mango Street

CANON

Canon: a number of “essential

masterpieces” of a genre or medium

Fantasy and sci-fi series form canons to

catalog and document their “official” story line

⚫ Harry Potter

⚫ Lord of the Rings

LITERARY CANONS

Also refers to the accepted history of genre of literature

Examples:

⚫ Norton Anthologies

⚫ Great Books courses

THE HISTORICAL WESTERN CANON

Shakespeare (Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Hamlet)

Ovid, Aeschylus,

Euripides, Sophocles, Homer, Vergil

Chaucer

THE AMERICAN CANON

recognized American canonical writers were:

⚫ Mostly white men

⚫ American-focused (“Melting pot” ideal)

⚫ Considered “high culture”

QUESTIONING THE CANON

Who decides what books you read in high school?

Should we read books just because everyone else has?

The canon was questioned in the 1960s due to:

⚫ Civil Rights movement

⚫ Feminism

EXPANDING THE CANON

In the 1960s-80s, non-traditional writers rose to prominence

Included many races, women, writers of different cultural backgrounds

Black Americans/African-American writers:

Jewish-American writers:

⚫ Chaim Potok, Elie Wiesel Native American writers:

⚫ N. Scott Momaday

Chinese-American writers:

⚫ Maxine Hong Kingston, Frank Chin, C.Y. Lee

Hispanic and Latino Americans:

WHAT THESE HAVE IN

COMMON:

Stories derived from unique experiences

Use of distinctive voices

THE CANON DEBATE TODAY

Some want to keep the canon as is Others want to revise the canon

Some opt for broad overviews and then explore specific genres in depth

Some read only what appeals to them and eschew canons

MEXICAN-AMERICAN

CULTURE: HISTORY AND CURRENT ISSUES

HISTORY OF MEXICAN

AMERICANS

U.S. and Mexico have long had border debates

Mid-1800s: Mexico cedes CA, AZ, NM to the US

1900-1920: Mexican

immigrants recruited for low-cost labor

Immigration downturns during the Great Depression

Mexican-Americans face issues:

⚫ Forced repatriation

⚫ Rampant discrimination

⚫ Poverty

⚫ Restrictions through unfair laws

Chicano: US citizens of Mexican

descent, especially living in Chicago (Chicago + Mexicano Chicano)

1970s-80s: Chicano movement fought for

⚫ Fair pay for farm workers

⚫ Restoration of land grants

⚫ Voting and political rights

1980s: Strict immigration laws were passed

Sandra Cisneros was writing during the height of this conflict

CURRENT ISSUES

The language debate:

⚫ Assimilate and speak English only?

⚫ Keep Spanish only in the home?

⚫ Speak Spanish openly in public? Self-Identification:

⚫ On the U.S. Census, historically only race has been considered

CURRENT ISSUES

Negative stereotypes that affect quality of life:

⚫ Purchasing a home

⚫ Obtaining higher education

⚫ Finding a job

STATISTICS

In 2007 Census studies, our country is divided roughly:

⚫ 77% White

⚫ 11.2% Black

⚫ 4.5% Asian

⚫ 13% Hispanic*

STATISTICS: EDUCATION

% with

HS/Equiv. +

% with

Bachelor’s +

All Americans 84.5 27.5

White 87 29.1

Black 80 17.3

Asian 85.8 49.5

STATISTICS: FINANCES

Median Family Income

All $ 61,173

STATISTICS: THE POVERTY

LINE

% Living Below the Poverty Line

All 13

White 10.2

Black 24.7

Asian 10.6

WOMEN IN LITERATURE & WOMEN IN

MEXICAN-AMERICAN CULTURE

WOMEN AS WRITERS

Women have been writing for centuries

Women have not always been recognized as authors

⚫ Many works have been lost

⚫ Some are under never revealed pseudonyms

REGARDING WOMEN IN

LITERATURE

Some have made lists of “exemplary” women

⚫ Why are these lists necessary?

Today, women are acknowledged as authors

Big Question in Education: Are high school students biased towards

WOMEN IN ESPERANZA’S

WORLD

Patriarchal Structure

“Patriarchy” has two roots:

⚫ Pater meaning “father”

⚫ Arche meaning “rule”

DUALITY OF CHICANO

PATRIARCHY

Men in Esperanza’s world are

expected to embody machismo (from “macho”)

Men should embody respect, dignity, forcefulness of personality

DUALITY OF CHICANO

PATRIARCHY

Women are expected to embody marianismo (from the Virgin

Mary)

Women are to be a source of

nurture, moral authority, and be centered at the home

Women are to be placed on a pedestal and venerated for

THE ISSUE:

These roles are strictly ideals as

described by anthropologists; there is no “guidebook” outlining this

Roles are more often exaggerated or distorted into oppression and

dysfunction

COMING OF AGE

BILDUNGSROMAN

Literally in German means “a novel of education”

Specifically: a story with a young protagonist entering adulthood.

TRAITS OF THE

BILDUNGSROMAN

Initially, the protagonist experiences emotional loss, prompting the journey Difficult obstacles are met that test the protagonist

The protagonist faces a conflict with the surrounding society or world

“COMING OF AGE” EXAMPLES

Jane Eyre

Great Expectations Huck Finn

The Catcher in the Rye A Separate Peace

IMAGERY

Use of the five senses in descriptions to heighten understanding, to place the

reader in the moment

“Pine smoke wafted through the air from the

cabin. I walked barefoot across the cold,

dew-covered grass towards the door. By the time I reached my door, my feet were

plastered with droplets and tiny green

METAPHOR

Comparing to unlike objects

SIMILE

Comparing two unlike objects using “like” or “as” to connect them

“Drinking the last inch of chai left to steep too long is liking ingesting

PERSONIFICATION

Comparing an inanimate object (or animal) to a distinctly human quality

“As the winds danced by…”

HYPERBOLE

An exaggeration, for effect

“I’ve told you a thousand times.” “I’m so hungry that I could eat a

SYNESTHESIA

Crossing the senses in writing

Consider connecting two distinct senses

IDIOM

A figure of speech; a phrase that is not meant to be interpreted literally

“It’s raining cats and dogs” “When pigs fly”

ANALYZING FIGURATIVE

LANGUAGE

Figurative language usually hinges on comparisons

Identify the two things being compared

Now, consider the effect on

⚫ The story told in the poem