Literature Analysis #3 ~ The House on Mango Street

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).

Exposition: The first four vignettes show-case Esperanza, her family, and Mango Street. The first story speaks about the family and how they ended up at Mango, after moving several times, in a run-down, less-than-perfect home, a house they hadn't imagined would be theirs. The story 'Hairs' talks about the families type of hair, yet it is much deeper than that, actually identifying each person's personality with their hair type. The third story tells about the clear separation between boys and girls, which will later turn into a large hiatus between men and women. Esperanza then introduces her name, herself, as wanting to be like her grandmother, a wild-horse, but she would never let a man carry her off and make her miserable. Esperanza also depicts the difficulties being stuck between two cultures, in one she is hope, in the other sadness, waiting, and bad luck.

Inciting Incident: Moving to the less than beautiful house on Mango Street. Their very own house, but not the house they imagined, not the ideal house, not the house their parents always promised.

Rising Action: Esperanza begins to grow up. The book takes a big shift, from talking about hips and jumping rope, to Esperanza getting her first job to pay for private school, to comforting the man of the house, her papa, but overall she feels as though she cannot handle adulthood. She sees everything that is wrong in her neighborhood.

Conflict: Esperanza notices the struggle of women on Mango Street. Some of her women neighbors being abused, some getting pregnant and then abandoned, others being locked up by overprotective husbands, and her friend Sally being beaten by her father for being 'too beautiful.' The struggle of the  women is rooted within Esperanza, being raped (suggested by the vignette 'Red Clowns') while waiting for Sally at a carnival.

Climax: Sally gets married young and early to escape one prison, but enters another. Esperanza wants her freedom though. At a funeral Esperanza meets three women, las comadres, and they read her palm and tell her to make a wish. The woman, as if reading her mind, reassure her that one day she will leave Mango Street, but only if she promises to return and help the others. The comadres tell her that she must complete the circle, not forget who she is, not forget where she came from.

Falling Action: Esperanza accepts that her 'home' is Mango Street, Alicia makes her realize that she is Mango Street, just like Alicia will always be Guadalajara. Esperanza once again gets told that she must return and help the others, she must help Mango get better.

Resolution: Esperanza hopes that she will soon packs up her things and build a career in writing, but she will always remember to return to Mango Street and help those who cannot escape.

2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid cliches.
The theme of the novel is growing, growing into adulthood, maturing, and leaving the negative of life behind and creating or evolving into something better.

3. Describe the author's tone. Include a minimum of three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).
The tone of the book is hopeful. Their is always hope in Esperanza's heart that she will leave Mango street for good one day. There is also hope for the rest of the inhabitants of Mango Street, Esperanza promises she will return and aid the others. The book always remains hopeful that Esperanza will be one of the few to get out of Mango, to escape the chains of the typical women's role, and the ignorance that surrounds her.

• "She does not hold me with both arms. She sets me free. 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 forever. One day I will go away. ...They will not know I have gone away to come back. For the ones I left behind. For the ones who cannot."
• "When I am too sad and too skinny to keep keeping, when I am a tiny thing against so many bricks, then it is I look at the trees. When there is nothing left to look at on this street. Four who grew despite concrete. Four who reach and do not forget to reach. Four whose only reason is to be and be."
• "In English my name means hope."

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.)

1. Flashback: "We didn't always live on Mango Street. Before that we lived on Loomis on the third floor, and before that we lived on Keeler. Before Keeler it was Paulina, and before that I cant remember. But what I remember most is moving a lot." Pg 3
2. Personification: "It's small and red with tight steps in front and windows so small you'd think they were holding there breath." Pg 4 OR "I think diseases have no eyes. They pick with a dizzy finger anyone, just anyone." Pg 59
3. Repetition: "Where do you live? she asked. There, I said pointing up to the third floor. You live there? There. I had to look to where she pointed- the third floor, the paint peeling, wooden bars Papa had nailed on the windows so we wouldn't fall out. You live there? The way she said it made me feel like nothing. There. I lived there. I nodded." Pg 5
4. Characterization: "But my mother's hair, my mother's hair, like little rosettes, like candy circles all curly and pretty because she pinned it in pin curls all day, sweet to put your nose into when she is holding you, holding you and you feel safe, is the warm smell of bread before you bake it, is the smell when she makes room for you on her side of the bed still warm with her skin, and you sleep near her..." Pg 6
5. Metaphor: "Until then I am a red balloon, a balloon tied to an anchor." Pg 9
6. Alliteration: "Cathy who is queen of cats has cats and cats and cats. Baby cats, big cats, skinny cats, sick cats. Cats asleep like little donuts. Cats on top of the refrigerator. Cats taking a walk on the dinner table. Her house is like cat heaven." Pg 13
7. Simile: "It's like drops of water. Or like marimbas only with a funny little plucked sound to it like if you were running your fingers across the teeth of a metal comb." Pg 20
8. Hyperbole: "The Eskimos got thirty different kinds of snow, I say. I read it in a book. ... There are a million zillion kinds, says Nenny. No two are exactly alike." Pg 35
9. Synesthesia: "The yellow pillow, the yellow smell, the bottles and the spoons. Her head thrown back like a thirsty lady. My aunt, the swimmer." Pg 58
10. Allusion: "I took my library books to her house. I read her stories. I liked the book The Waterbabies. She liked it too." Pg 60
11. Symbol: "When I am too sad and too skinny to keep keeping, when I am a tiny thing against so many bricks, then it is I look at the trees. When there is nothing left to look at on this street. Four who grew despite concrete. Four who reach and do not forget to reach. Four whose only reason is to be and be."

 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)?
INDIRECT

1. "I want to be like the waves on the sea, like the clouds in the wind, but I'm me. One day I'll jump out of my skin. I'll shake the sky like a hundred violins." (Esperanza's poem)
2. "That's right, I add before Lucy or Rachel can make fun of her. She is stupid alright, but she is my sister."
3. "Shame is a bad thing, you know. It keeps you down. You want to know why I quit school? Because I didn't have nice clothes. No clothes, but  had brains. Yup, she says disgusted, stirring again. I was a smart cookie then." (Esperanza's mother)
4. "...but I have decided not to grow up tame like the others who lay their necks on the threshold waiting for the ball and chain. ...I have begun my own quiet war. Simple. Sure. I am one who leaves the table like a man, without putting back the chair or picking up the plate."

DIRECT

1. "Her name was Guadalupe and she was pretty like my mother. Dark. Good to look at. In her Joan Crawford dress and swimmer's legs. Aunt Lupe of the photographs."
2. "Sally is the girl with eyes like Egypt and nylons the color of smoke. The boys think she's beautiful because her hair is shiny black like raven feathers and when she laughs, she flicks her hair back like a satin shawl over her shoulder and laughs."
3. "Ruthie, tall skinny lady with red lipstick and blue babushka, one blue sock and one green because she forgot, is the only grown-up we know who likes to play."

2. Does the author's syntax and/or diction change when s/he focuses on character?  How?  Example(s)?
Diction changes when a child is speaking, the vocabulary is not extensive and smaller, sillier phrases are used. The diction when an adult is speaking is slightly different, often times opening a window to their past, or to their feelings.
 

3. Is the protagonist static or dynamic?  Flat or round?  Explain.
Esperanza is dynamic and round. Esperanza, despite all the things against her, defeats the negatives and aspires to become a great author, not to be stuck by some abusive man, not be limited by gender, race, or class. Throughout the book we see her constant growth, she goes from a playful and cheerful child, to an unsure adolescent, to a mature and wishful young lady. Through the stories we also witness Esperanza's full character, she depicts emotion, anger, fear, isolation, etc., as well as the thoughts and characteristics of a child growing up.
 

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. 

The person seemed real, Esperanza completely encased all the emotions and turns of growing up. At the beginning we see her skipping rope, playing games, then we see the awkward transition of puberty, wanting the physical aspect but not yet being able to stop playing with the children. Esperanza then eases into maturity, wanting to better herself, coming to peace with where she comes from, and aspiring to be an author. Esperanza has goals, she has ambition. She also reminds me of many of the kids I grew up with, and those that I continue to grow with, which made her seem very real.