Post by HeavyMetalQueen on Oct 5, 2005 11:23:49 GMT -5
This isn't a story, but an analysis on "The House on Mango Street" (chapter, not whole book). I did this for Literature class and had to give it a star rating. I got a very high mark on this paper. I don't know why, but I felt like posting it on here.
The House on Mango Street[/u]
(*****)
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this excerpt from Cisneros' book of the same name. Sandra has a fantastic writing style that gets readers hooked after reading the first few lines. In this excerpt, Sandra describes the life of a young girl who was obviously born into poverty and longs for a better life. This is introduced to us when the narrator, the young girl, explains why she and her family had to leave the flat on Loomis. The place became flooded and the family had to use milk gallons to carry the water to and fro. The narrator then goes on to say how she longs for a real house with running water, working pipes, and a big yard. She is disappointed when she and her family move into a house that is anything but. Even though her parents tell her and her siblings that they will buy their dream house, the narrator knows that this will never happen. The girl thinks this because she knows it is difficult for a poor, working-class Hispanic family to better themselves. It is not clear how she knows this, but she just does. The house on Mango street is described as something akin to a prison, or something that seems to squelch life and freedom. By the way the house is described, with its tight red steps and small windows, it is as if the narrator is trying to say the house is like a force that sucks the life out of whoever lives there.
Also, it seems as if the narrator is ashamed of her humble life, of the places she stays at. For instance, when the family was living on Loomis and the nun asked her where she lives, the girl narrator gestures towards the third floor of the building and when the nun is appalled at the girl's living conditions, the narrator became ashamed because the nun's reaction made her feel like nothing. She is ashamed of the tiny red house and the experience with the nun made her all the more determined to get out of that life of poverty and get herself the house of her dreams. It seems as if the parents tell their children about how someday they will be living in a dream house as if to give them hope, to let them know that anyone can achieve their dreams. It has certainly worked on the narrator. I got the feeling that this story is about hope, hope for a better life, and believing that it will happen. The story describes the life of a lot of Hispanic families, particularly the poor ones, and the type of conditions they live in. Sandra describes a cry for a better life in this book, a yearning to get out of the grasp of whatever is holding back the young narrator. The house on Mango street symbolizes that thing that is holding back the narrator, with they way the house is so negatively depicted. Could that "thing" be the economic status she was born into? The ambience or the atmosphere of the place she lives in? It is not really made known to the reader. All in all, this story is excellently written, a sensitive, colorful piece of work that definitely deserves a five-star rating.
((the underlined part was so the teacher could read it aloud to the class))
The House on Mango Street[/u]
(*****)
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this excerpt from Cisneros' book of the same name. Sandra has a fantastic writing style that gets readers hooked after reading the first few lines. In this excerpt, Sandra describes the life of a young girl who was obviously born into poverty and longs for a better life. This is introduced to us when the narrator, the young girl, explains why she and her family had to leave the flat on Loomis. The place became flooded and the family had to use milk gallons to carry the water to and fro. The narrator then goes on to say how she longs for a real house with running water, working pipes, and a big yard. She is disappointed when she and her family move into a house that is anything but. Even though her parents tell her and her siblings that they will buy their dream house, the narrator knows that this will never happen. The girl thinks this because she knows it is difficult for a poor, working-class Hispanic family to better themselves. It is not clear how she knows this, but she just does. The house on Mango street is described as something akin to a prison, or something that seems to squelch life and freedom. By the way the house is described, with its tight red steps and small windows, it is as if the narrator is trying to say the house is like a force that sucks the life out of whoever lives there.
Also, it seems as if the narrator is ashamed of her humble life, of the places she stays at. For instance, when the family was living on Loomis and the nun asked her where she lives, the girl narrator gestures towards the third floor of the building and when the nun is appalled at the girl's living conditions, the narrator became ashamed because the nun's reaction made her feel like nothing. She is ashamed of the tiny red house and the experience with the nun made her all the more determined to get out of that life of poverty and get herself the house of her dreams. It seems as if the parents tell their children about how someday they will be living in a dream house as if to give them hope, to let them know that anyone can achieve their dreams. It has certainly worked on the narrator. I got the feeling that this story is about hope, hope for a better life, and believing that it will happen. The story describes the life of a lot of Hispanic families, particularly the poor ones, and the type of conditions they live in. Sandra describes a cry for a better life in this book, a yearning to get out of the grasp of whatever is holding back the young narrator. The house on Mango street symbolizes that thing that is holding back the narrator, with they way the house is so negatively depicted. Could that "thing" be the economic status she was born into? The ambience or the atmosphere of the place she lives in? It is not really made known to the reader. All in all, this story is excellently written, a sensitive, colorful piece of work that definitely deserves a five-star rating.
((the underlined part was so the teacher could read it aloud to the class))
