As I walked along the sidewalk, I noticed the cracks in the pavement that spoke of tales that only hard labor workers know to be reality. It was then when I realized that my life as a teenage adolescent boy was about to change. The cold breeze echoed sounds of silence which sent shivers down my spine once it touched my skin. The night sky was full of stars as though drops of rain on a window pane, captivating and clear. Not like the ones on the reservation, but the view was adequately similar. The smell of fresh trees masked the grotesque smell of carbon dioxide that pollute the air, but hey we need some type of means of transportation. Right then that moment clouded out the sound of rock bands, street performers, and the guy who sits at …show more content…
For this particular street is known for its seductiveness. It lures lonely men to lurk the streets only to receive a happy ending for a pretty penny, somewhere between 60 to 150 bucks, but then again I wouldn’t know. As we walk alongside the road we see a woman applying makeup to her worn down face with dark circles under her eyes that were highly visible even under the nighttime sky. I found myself gazing into her dilated eyes which screamed “I didn’t chose this lifestyle, it chose me”. I then gave her a brief smile and nod which signified “hey, I see you”, because I too, know what it’s like to have people not look into your eyes as though you are less of a human. I too, know what it’s like to have nothing and notice those around me who have everything. I too, know what it’s like to call the cold desolate street’s….home. Only left to think, “there ain’t no rest for the wicked” which coined the song from a band known as Cage the …show more content…
But before I could give in and let her “walk where she pleased”, a car slowly creeped up beside her. It's black tinted windows suggested that the driver had a much more mischievous agenda on his mind. I then grabbed Melanie’s arm positioned her to the right me and proceeded to keep moving forward. As we walked the car slowly followed. Melanie took hold of my hand and gripped it as though fear took hold of her. My heart began to race with every step we took. The feeling of the cold air on my skin was replace with heat of the rushing blood pounding through my vein. I was left only to think “what was this guy’s
In The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, and in A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, majority of the characters have dreams. Many of the dreams that reveal in the stories are unrealistic to come to a reality, considering where they come from, their backgrounds, and the environment around them. In The House on Mango Street, the main character Esperanza struggles to find her true identity and wishes she was a grown up making her own decisions and experiencing new things. While in Raisin in the Sun, Walter thinks he has everything under control, and only does what is best for him, not what is best for his family. In both The House on Mango Street and Raisin in the Sun, the authors reveal that maturity begins when you have to make
Reading is similar to looking into a mirror: audiences recognize themselves in the experiences and characters on the pages. They see the good, the bad, and are brought back to experiences they had overlooked to learn something more about themselves. Some characters touch readers so intimately that they inspire readers to be better than they already are. House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros, follows a young girl named Esperanza and her experiences while living on Mango Street. She is introduced with her desperate wish to escape her poor mostly-Latino neighborhood and live in a house of her own. Esperanza compares herself to her family, innocently knowing what she wants from a young ages. She is observant and holds insights into the lives of others, learning lessons from each person she encounters. While
My vignette “Him” is based off of “Sire”, a vignette in The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. In the book, the main character Esperanza talks about her feelings and experiences relating to a boy named Sire. She describes his eyes with a metaphor, comparing them to “dusty cat fur” which portrays them as easily moved and shifted, like cat fur blown by the wind (Cisneros 72). In my vignette “Him”, I incorporated a metaphor by using words like: “Dark melted chocolate” (Curry 1). I used this figurative language to illustrate my perception of the boy’s eyes as I know them: warm like a melted dessert and comforting, but excitingly different like dark chocolate.
Modern society believes in the difficult yet essential nature of coming of age. Adolescents must face difficult obstacles in life, whether it be familial, academic, or fiscal obstacles. In the House on Mango Street, Esperanza longs for a life where she will no longer be chained to Mango Street and aspires to escape. As Esperanza grows up on Mango Street, she witnesses the effect of poverty, violence, and loss of dreams on her friends and family, leading her to feel confused and broken, clinging to the dream of leaving Mango Street. Cisneros uses a reflective tone to argue that a change in one’s identity is inevitable, but ultimately for the worst.
Sandra Cisneros uses personification and symbolism to affect the theme of the struggle self-consciousness and loss of innocence in a book full of short stories, The House on Mango Street. A young Hispanic preteen named Esperanza, uses a fortune of five dollars to buy a flimsy bicycle. Along with these two other young girls named Lucy and Rachel. The sense of owning a bike is a luxurious dream to them since they live near the poverty line. So, when they receive their bike, Esperanza loves riding it until she rides past her house, which is “sad and red and crumbly in places” (Cisneros 16). The author uses personification to bring down Esperanza to the reality of her situation by portraying her house negatively, which is a reflection of her
The author of The House on Mango Street and the producer of The Color Purple are able to integrate numerous important thematic ideas. Many of these ideas still apply to our current world, teaching various important lessons to many adolescents and adults. The House on Mango Street is a collection of vignettes written by Sandra Cisneros, a Mexican-American writer. The novel depicts many aspects of Sandra Cisneros’ life including racism, and sexism that she and the main character face. The novel revolves around Esperanza Cordero, a young Latina girl, who is growing up in Chicago as she faces the various struggles of living in America. The various vignettes reveal many experiences Esperanza has with reality and her navie responses to such harsh
An authors style defines itself as the way in which the author expresses themselves throughout the piece of literature. They express themselves through their word choice, word order, rhythm, imagery, sentence structure, figurative language, and literary devices. Sandra Cisneros’, “The House on Mango Street”, is a short story encompassing the events and thoughts of an un-named child narrator as they describe their family’s living arrangement. Sandra uses a distinct type of style throughout her writing which fits the short story well. On the other hand, William Carlos Williams’, “The Use of Force”, is a short story about a doctor’s visit to an unusual patients home. The stories have their own distinctive style which is unique to each but, there
In the society that Esperanza and her friends live in, love takes a back seat
The House On Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros is a fictional novel set in 1950’s Chicago. Centering around Esperanza’s Mexican American family and their neighbors on Mango Street, the story illustrates Esperanza’s growth and gain of experience. Throughout the story, Esperanza obtains insight on many diverse aspects of life, one being how different she is from the men and even the other women in her culture and society. She recognizes that many of the women in her life are opressed, and identifies that she craves to be different and more independent. Through the use of figurative language, Cisneros asserts that when women allow themselves to be dominated by men, they may be prevented from pursuing their aspirations.
The short story, “The House on Mango Street” is a fiction writing focused on a family as they move from house to house. The story is written by Sandra Cisneros. This paper will focus on three literacy elements that are significant in “The House on Mango Street.” Literacy elements are important, in fiction writing, because the different components allow the author to become more creative within their writing. The first literacy element that will discussed in this paper is the point of view, the second element will be the theme, and the last element will describe important symbolism throughout the story.
Over time, the image of men has changed. This is due mostly to the relaxation of rigid stereotypical roles of the two genders. In different pieces of literature, however, men have been presented as the traditional dominate figure, the provider and rule maker or non-traditional figure that is almost useless and unimportant unless needed for sexual intercourse. This dramatic difference can either perpetuate the already existing stereotype or challenge it. Regardless of the differences, both seem to put men into a negative connotation.
Esperanza’s mood in this first vignette of the novella “The House on Mango Street” is hopeful. Esperanza comes from a very large family consisting of her, her parents, her two brothers, and her younger sister. They move all of the time and recently moved to a house on Mango Street. Her family dreamed of a house with lots of space, but this house has one room and one bathroom. This would probably be crowded for all six members of Esperanza’s family. Esperanza is hopeful that one day she will have a beautiful house of her own. She lives in a poor neighborhood where everyone is hoping for better things. She doesn’t not like her house on Mango Street, it is not the house her parents were telling her they were going to have. Esperanza is ashamed of where she lives, she wishes she could live in a nice home in a nice neighborhood. Throughout this story, Esperanza
Conflicts are a part of many peoples' everyday lives. Some are big and some are small. Some involve death and some involve an argument. The purpose or argument for my topic is to prove that all conflicts/problems are important and everyone has a conflict at some point in their life. My thesis states that a conflict is some kind of a problem or quarrel; many people have these, no matter what age or race. My 1st reason is that people might have mixed feelings about your conflict, but you won't. For example, Esperanza says, "Bricks are crumbling in places and the front door is swollen you have to push hard to get in" (4). This quote illustrates that Esperanza's house is a problem because it's old and falling apart. Some people might not think that this is a conflict because they themselves might not have a house at all!!! However, some people might want to help. My next reason is, as you get older, your conflicts might get bigger. Esperanza says, "Aunt Lala said she found a job for me and to show up tomorrow saying I was a year older" (54). This shows that it is hard for Esperanza to get a job without lying. Obviously, she is too young to have a job. My last reason is death and abuse are major conflicts because they hurt people physically and emotionally. For example, Sally is having a very hard life, "Sally got married she likes being married except sometimes her husband gets mad and once he broke a door she is afraid to go outside without his permission" (101-102). This shows that Sally is having a big conflict and its hurting her personal life.
Marsha Blackburn once said, The American Dream is independence and being able to create that dream for yourself. This quote shows the belief that anyone can become successful with just hard work. However, the novel The House on Mango Street challenges this belief by showing how first generation immigrants face many challenges despite the hard work. The book House on Mango Street, written by Sandra Cisneros, is about a first generation Mexican-American girl named Esperanza growing up in the poorer part of Chicago. This book is written from her perspective where she talks about the challenges her family and other people in the book face as they try to achieve the American Dream.
John Rosado Ms. Bader 8/108 04/23/24 Argumentative Essay- The House on Mango Street Women battle against gender norms and male dominance, showing their fight for freedom and identity all around the world. In the novel The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros illustrates the lives of women in a neighborhood of color, where social expectations and male manipulation limit their opportunities. Through Esperanza’s journey, we witness the struggles Esperanza and other women face to break free from this feeling of entrapment. The struggles against gender norms and male dominance are equally important, revealing how these issues shape the characters lives and reflect the intricacy of power and identity.