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The House on Mango Street Literature Guide
About This Literature Guide ............................................................................................ 4  How to Use Our Literature Guides ................................................................................... 5  Author Biography: Sandra Cisneros (1954 - ) .............................................................. 6  Comprehension Check: Author Biography ..........................................................................7  Historical Context: The Mexican Population in Chicago ................................................... 8  Comprehension Check: The Mexican Population in Chicago ................................................ 10  Standards Focus: Literary Style—Novellas and Vignettes .............................................. 11  Pre-Reading Ideas ........................................................................................................ 13  Pre-Reading Activity: Thematic Literary Elements ........................................................ 14  Anticipation/Reaction Activity ...................................................................................... 15  Anticipation/Reaction Reflection .................................................................................. 16  Standards Focus: Allusions, Slang, and Spanish Words ................................................. 17  Vocabulary List ............................................................................................................. 22  Standards Focus: Note-Taking and Response Chart ...................................................... 23  Note-Taking and Response Chart: Sample ....................................................................... 24  Note-Taking and Response Chart .................................................................................... 25  Standards Focus: Journal Response—Sample................................................................ 26  Standards Focus: Journal Response Chart ........................................................................ 27  Part One ....................................................................................................................... 28  Comprehension and Analysis.......................................................................................... 28  Journal Topics .............................................................................................................. 29  Literature Focus: Sequence ........................................................................................... 30  Language Focus: Sentence Structure .............................................................................. 31  Part Two ....................................................................................................................... 33  Comprehension and Analysis.......................................................................................... 33  Journal Topics .............................................................................................................. 34  Literature Focus: Figurative Language ............................................................................. 35  Language Focus: Parallel Structure ................................................................................. 37  Part Three..................................................................................................................... 39  Comprehension and Analysis.......................................................................................... 39  Journal Topics .............................................................................................................. 40  Literature Focus: Character Interaction ........................................................................... 41  Language Focus: Context Clues ...................................................................................... 43  Part Four ...................................................................................................................... 45  Comprehension and Analysis.......................................................................................... 45  Journal Topics .............................................................................................................. 46  Literature Focus: Setting and Theme............................................................................... 47  Assessment Preparation: Allusions .................................................................................. 49  Part Five ....................................................................................................................... 52  Comprehension and Analysis.......................................................................................... 52  Journal Topics .............................................................................................................. 53  Literature Focus: Theme and Character – Gender Roles .................................................... 54  Language Focus: Colons ................................................................................................ 56  Part Six ......................................................................................................................... 58  Comprehension and Analysis.......................................................................................... 58  Journal Topics .............................................................................................................. 59  Literature Focus: Referential Texts – The Bible ................................................................. 60  Writing Focus: Task, Audience, and Purpose .................................................................... 62  Part One Quiz ............................................................................................................... 64  Part Two: Quiz .............................................................................................................. 65  Part Three: Quiz............................................................................................................ 67  Part Four: Quiz ............................................................................................................. 69  Part Five: Quiz .............................................................................................................. 71  Part Six: Quiz ................................................................................................................ 73  Mixed Review Final Test ............................................................................................... 75  Multiple Choice Final Test ............................................................................................. 77  Teacher Resources ........................................................................................................ 82  ©Secondary  Solutions   All  Rights  Reserved.   SAMPLE  ONLY.   NOT  FOR  USE  OR  SALE.   PLEASE  PURCHASE  FULL  VERSION  FOR  ACCESS.  ©2013 Secondary Solutions
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The House on Mango Street Literature Guide
Sample Agenda ........................................................................................................... 82 В Notes for the Teacher ................................................................................................... 85 В Summary of the Novel .................................................................................................. 86 В Vocabulary with Definitions ........................................................................................... 92 В Post-Reading Activities and Alternative Assessment .......................................................... 93 В Essay Ideas ................................................................................................................ 96 В Non-Essay Writing Ideas ............................................................................................... 97 В Project Rubric A ........................................................................................................... 98 В Project Rubric B ........................................................................................................... 99 В Response to Literature Rubric .......................................................................................100 В Answer Key ................................................................................................................. 102 В В©Secondary В Solutions В В All В Rights В Reserved. В В SAMPLE В ONLY. В В NOT В FOR В USE В OR В SALE. В В PLEASE В PURCHASE В FULL В VERSION В FOR В ACCESS. В В©2013 Secondary Solutions
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About This Literature Guide
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The House on Mango Street Literature Guide
How to Use Our Literature Guides
Our Literature Guides are based upon the Common Core State Standards, the National Council of
the Teachers of English and the International Reading Association’s national English/Language Arts
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В©Secondary В Solutions В В All В Rights В Reserved. В В SAMPLE В ONLY. В В NOT В FOR В USE В OR В SALE. В В PLEASE В PURCHASE В FULL В VERSION В FOR В ACCESS. В These Guides are designed to be used in their sequential entirety, or may be divided into separate
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пѓј Biographies of relevant non-fictional characters
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• Literature Focus—Worksheets and activities that directly address the content standards and
allow students extensive practice in literary skills and analysis. Literature Focus activities are
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пѓј Literary Response and Analysis, including Figurative Language, Irony, Flashback,
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пѓј Writing Strategies, including developing thesis statements, audience and purpose,
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Name _______________________________________
The House on Mango Street
Author Biography: Sandra Cisneros (1954 -
Period ________
)
Sandra Cisneros was born on December 20, 1954, in Chicago, Illinois. She is the third of
seven children and the only daughter, so she sometimes felt left out in her brothers’
company. Her father, a Mexican immigrant, worked as an upholsterer and frequently talked
about his sons, but not as often about Sandra. Her mother worked in a local factory and
completed most chores around the house so Sandra could focus on her schoolwork
because she felt an education was very important to her daughter’s future.
©Secondary  Solutions   All  Rights  Reserved.   SAMPLE  ONLY.   NOT  FOR  USE  OR  SALE.   PLEASE  PURCHASE  FULL  VERSION  FOR  ACCESS.  Señor Cisneros’s family still lived in Mexico City, so the entire family made an annual trip to
spend quality time with their extended family. Each time they returned to Chicago, the
Cisneroses unpacked their belongings into a new apartment, and the children enrolled in a
different school. Consequently, Sandra Cisneros had trouble making friends and feeling like
she belonged. She found reading, especially reading fairy tales, an excellent way to escape
her lonely childhood, and she was thankful that it was possible to do so, even in a poor
family, with the library card her mother helped her obtain.
In 1966, the family finally moved into a house of their own, which helped the children to stay
in one school. When she began high school at Josephinum Academy, an all-girls Catholic
school near her house, Cisneros found another place where she felt she belonged. Her
classmates and one particular teacher acknowledged her writing talent—especially poetry
writing—and encouraged her to continue.
During her college years, first at Loyola University in Chicago and then in the Master’s
Program at the University of Iowa, Cisneros found her unique writing voice. At first, she
looked around her classes and observed the faculty, realizing that she was very different
because she was a woman from a poor neighborhood with a personal identity that was part
American and part Mexican. Eventually she discovered that she could pull experiences
from her own life, especially the people and places from the neighborhoods of her
childhood, to write poems and stories that were both important and interesting.
At first, Cisneros could not make enough money as a full-time writer to pay her bills, so she
took a job as a counselor for high school dropouts at Latino Youth Alternative High School in
Chicago in 1978. During the day, she helped the students deal with their personal and
academic troubles while encouraging them to focus on their goals. In the evenings,
Cisneros gave public readings of her writing and worked on a small chapbook of her poetry,
entitled Bad Boys, which was published in 1980 as a limited run. Also that year, she left the
high school to take a job as a recruiter at her alma mater, Loyola University, in an effort to
encourage more Latino students to attend college. While in both school environments, she
continued to meet interesting people and collect their stories, which served as more
inspiration for the writing she did in her free time.
In 1982, Cisneros got her first big break: the National Endowment for the Arts awarded her a
grant, which allowed her to quit her job and focus only on her writing for a while. She finally
had time to put all her short writing pieces together, and the concept for her most famous
publication emerged. To get some distance from her home and the people she was writing
about, she left the United States to travel around Europe while she revised her little stories,
called vignettes. During this time, she also wrote more poems and built friendships with
people overseas. These friendships reminded her of how similar all people are, despite
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their many differences. She returned to the United States in 1984 for the publication of The
House on Mango Street, which received so much critical praise for its new style and fresh
voice that it won the Before Columbus American Book Award.
Shortly thereafter, Cisneros moved to San Antonio to work with the Guadalupe Arts Center.
She immediately found a community in San Antonio that made her feel welcome and
comfortable in a way she never felt in Chicago. San Antonio has been her home since.
After The House on Mango Street was published, she was also better able to earn money
and secure awards and grants that allowed her to focus on her writing.
В©Secondary В Solutions В В All В Rights В Reserved. В В SAMPLE В ONLY. В В NOT В FOR В USE В OR В SALE. В В PLEASE В PURCHASE В FULL В VERSION В FOR В ACCESS. В In 1987, she published a book of poems, My Wicked, Wicked Ways, which further cemented
her reputation as a gifted writer and may have been the catalyst for Random House to offer
her $100,000 for another book of fiction—the largest advance ever offered a Latino writer at
that time. Cisneros used the advance to write and revise a collection of short stories,
Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories, which was published in 1991. Her second book
of poetry, Loose Woman was published in 1994, and an epic novel entitled Carmelo was
published in 2002.
When Cisneros was a child, there were no Mexican writers that served as role models to
her. As a young Mexican-American girl, most people expected Sandra to grow up strong,
get married, have children, and take care of the home. She has never gotten married or had
children because she says she needs the quiet of her home to write, and her books and
poems are like her children. Instead Cisneros made a place in the world for herself, where a
young Latina can be creative, thoughtful, and intelligent while also being happy and
successful. Although she did not have suitable role models for her writing, as a best-selling
author and possibly the most famous Mexican woman writer, Cisneros has become a role
model for young writers, especially women, who are inspired by her dedication and talent.
She has also been able to use her writing as a means of educating non-Spanish speakers
about the Latino experience in America, thereby increasing our understanding of the basic
human themes of identity, belonging, and home.
Comprehension Check: Author Biography
Directions: Answer the following questions on a separate piece of paper.
1. What is one of the problems Sandra Cisneros faced in her youth? How did she
overcome it?
2. Do you find any similarities between your life and Sandra Cisneros’s? If so, what are
they? If not, what is one part of your life that is completely different from Cisneros’s?
3. In one or two paragraphs, write an even shorter summary of Cisneros’s life, from her
birth to the present day, including as many of the important events of her life as you can.
4. What is one life lesson you can learn from Sandra Cisneros’s life? Where do you see
that lesson exemplified in her life?
5. What do you think Sandra Cisneros is like, based on the information offered in the
article? Give three traits and evidence from the article to support your opinions.
В©2013 Secondary Solutions
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The House on Mango Street Literature Guide
Name _______________________________________
Period ________
The House on Mango Street
Historical Context: The Mexican Population in Chicago
According to the 2010 census, two-thirds of the United States’ Latino population lives in
California, Texas, or Arizona. However, the fourth most populous state for Latinos,
especially Mexicans, is Illinois. In 1850, the Mexican population of Chicago consisted of a
mere 50 people. By 1920, the census reported 1,200 Mexicans living in Chicago, and there
were over one million by the year 2000. Today, many Mexican-Americans living in Chicago
can trace their family’s history in the city as far back as the turn of the previous century.
В©Secondary В Solutions В В All В Rights В Reserved. В В SAMPLE В ONLY. В В NOT В FOR В USE В OR В SALE. В В PLEASE В PURCHASE В FULL В VERSION В FOR В ACCESS. В The period between 1900 and 1925 was full of change for both Mexico and the United
States. Mexico was experiencing a time of political unrest and war, so men looking for
better wages crossed the American border. In addition, many people found it unsafe to stay
in Mexico, so entire families fled the country for the political or religious safety and the
freedoms the United States offered.
At this time, Chicago’s economy was heavily reliant on the railroad, steel, sugar beet, and
meatpacking industries, but more workers were needed, sometimes to replace employees
on strike or men fighting overseas during World War I. Business leaders sent
representatives to the Southwest to hire newly arrived Mexican immigrants and transport
them north. The recruiters, called enganchistas, paid for the new workers’ railroad fees and
meals on the trip to Chicago, with the understanding that the Mexicans’ first paychecks
would be docked a percentage until the money was compensated.
They had better-paying jobs in the United States, but Mexicans still struggled. Many worked
ten or more hours per shift, and their meals consisted of small portions of bread or watereddown stew, if they ate anything at all. Mexican immigrants had difficulty finding reasonably
priced housing because many apartment complexes were owned by Europeans who
resented immigrants. Therefore, landlords unfairly raised rent prices for Mexicans, which
meant many people lived in the same apartment to be able to afford a roof over their heads.
With more people in such small spaces, good health and sanitation was difficult to maintain.
By the early 1920s, American soldiers had returned from war and wanted Mexicans to
vacate their jobs and their communities. In Chicago, neighborhoods called colonias, or
enclaves, were informally established to help keep Mexicans together. Some of those areas
included Calumet, on the near West Side of Chicago; the Back of the Yards area, near the
stockyards; and Pilsen, on the lower West Side. These enclaves gave rise to tortilla
factories, restaurants, markets, and Spanish-language newspapers like El Ideal. The 1930
census reports 20,000 Mexicans, both immigrants and American citizens, living in
Chicago—an increase of six hundred percent in just ten years.
When the Great Depression hit the United States, Mexicans were seen as expendable and
undesirable, so a nationwide campaign of repatriation began. Mexicans were rounded up
and sent back to Mexico, even those who were born in the United States and were
American citizens. Those who remained in the country had an even harder time getting jobs
and food for their families, and some were hurt or killed because of racial violence. At the
end of the campaign, about one-third of the Mexican population in the United States had
been forced out. In Chicago, the loss was not as severe, in part because of the involvement
of social workers and the work of settlement houses’ staff, who had already been offering
assistance to immigrants for decades.
В©2013 Secondary Solutions
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The House on Mango Street Literature Guide
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By the late 1930s, Mexicans in Chicago began to take action to protect themselves and
each other from the difficulties around them. Mutual aid societies were established in the
enclaves, which required members to put a portion of their earnings into a community
collection box each month. When a member needed money for a serious problem, like
unemployment, illness, or death, they were given a portion of the money in the community
savings to alleviate the issue. In addition, Mexicans, especially steel workers, joined labor
unions like the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) to win better wages and working
conditions and to fight racism they observed in the workplace.
В©Secondary В Solutions В В All В Rights В Reserved. В В SAMPLE В ONLY. В В NOT В FOR В USE В OR В SALE. В В PLEASE В PURCHASE В FULL В VERSION В FOR В ACCESS. В In 1940, there were 35,000 Mexicans living in or around Chicago, but that was about to
change. When Pearl Harbor was bombed in 1941, Mexicans living in the United States
joined the military to fight with the Allied forces in World War II. Some illegal immigrants
were able to earn their citizenship this way, including Sandra Cisneros’s father.
However, there were once again thousands of jobs needing to be filled, so the United States
government established the Bracero Program (brazo means arm in Spanish) to invite guest
workers from Mexico into the United States. These men were each on a six-month
employment contract to work in agriculture in the Southwest and the railroad industry in
Chicago and other major cities. The program ran until 1964.
In the meantime, the Mexican-American community in Chicago continued to expand. Some
braceros did not return to Mexico when their contracts were up, and they illegally stayed in
the country with friends or relatives, taking jobs where they could. Colonias spread to larger
areas, and an area near Pilsen called Little Village, or La Villita, became the center of
Mexican culture in Chicago and remains so today. Mexican families also moved out of the
city to the suburbs, including Joliet and Aurora, to find more space and larger homes. From
the 1950s to the 1970s, organizations like the Mexican Patriotic Committee, the Chicago
Area Project, and a branch of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)
formed to meet the community, educational, and civil rights needs of the 250,000 Mexican
citizens living in the Chicago area in 1970, a number that had increased five hundred
percent since 1950.
In the 1970s, the Chicano movement encouraged strength and pride in the Mexican culture
in Chicago. Muralists such as Mario Castillo painted reminders of their heritage—from Aztec
and Mayan symbols to entertainers, political leaders, and personal family members—as a
way to pay homage to their roots. Mexican-Americans also worked in community
organizations like the Spanish Coalition for Jobs and the Latino Institute to get the housing,
medical coverage, and education they needed for their families. Through these
organizations, they were also able to fight unfair employment practices and racial
discrimination in the workplace.
Today, Chicago remains a city where the Mexican culture is showcased and MexicanAmericans feel more empowered. Community service and activist groups work to educate
Mexican-Americans on the resources and issues that pertain to them, while smaller pride
organizations stage citywide celebrations, like the Mexican Independence Day Parade down
26th Street every September. Chicago’s National Museum of Mexican Art, opened in 1987,
has become a major institute for Mexican art and is visited by over 200,000 people annually.
Mexican-Americans have earned top offices in local, state, and federal government as
representatives of Chicago, and the state of Illinois, and they serve the more than one
million Mexican-Americans living in the metropolitan area as of 2010. It is clear that without
Mexicans’ contributions to the city’s industries, community, and culture for over a century,
Chicago would not be what it is today.
В©2013 Secondary Solutions
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Name _______________________________________
Period ________
Comprehension Check: The Mexican Population in Chicago
1. Create a graph showing the growth of the Mexican population in the Greater
Chicago Area from 1850 to 2010, according to census data.
В©Secondary В Solutions В В All В Rights В Reserved. В В SAMPLE В ONLY. В В NOT В FOR В USE В OR В SALE. В В PLEASE В PURCHASE В FULL В VERSION В FOR В ACCESS. В 2. What are three reasons that Mexicans moved to the United States between 1900
and 1950?
3. Describe several ways that the social workers, settlement houses, or activism
organizations helped Mexican immigrants and Mexican-Americans in Chicago.
4. Why is it logical that two-thirds of the Mexican-American population in the United
States lives in Texas, California, and Arizona?
5. Develop three research questions you could use to discover more about the
Mexican-American experience in Chicago or the United States.
В©2013 Secondary Solutions
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The House on Mango Street Literature Guide
Name _______________________________________
Period ________
The House on Mango Street
Standards Focus: Literary Style—Novellas and Vignettes
The House on Mango Street is a novella, which is shorter than a novel. When
compared to short stories, novellas are longer, with more conflicts and characters to
develop. One definition requires a novella to be between 17,500 words and 40,000
words. Other novellas you might have heard of include Of Mice and Men, Animal
Farm, and A Christmas Carol.
В©Secondary В Solutions В В All В Rights В Reserved. В В SAMPLE В ONLY. В В NOT В FOR В USE В OR В SALE. В В PLEASE В PURCHASE В FULL В VERSION В FOR В ACCESS. В Instead of chapters, House on Mango Street includes vignettes (vin-YETS), brief
descriptive writing pieces. In her vignettes, Sandra Cisneros describes the narrator,
Esperanza, and her dreams, her family members and neighbors, and the
neighborhood around Esperanza’s home. Each vignette is like a photograph, full of
sensory details to help readers feel and understand the message the author is trying
to convey. The vignettes seem disconnected at first, but careful readers will notice a
plot emerge as Esperanza relates her life and the lives of those around her.
In describing her concept of the book, Cisneros thought the reader “would
understand each story like a little pearl, or you could look at the whole thing like a
necklace.”
1. What benefits or challenges do you see to reading a novella written in vignettes?
Explain your answer on a separate piece of paper, using the facts from above.
In the introduction to the 25th anniversary edition of The House on Mango Street,
Sandra Cisneros wrote about the writer she was before publishing it. (Note: Cisneros
is talking about herself in the third person here.)
She wants to write stories that ignore borders between genres, between written
and spoken, between highbrow literature and children’s nursery rhymes,
between New York and the imaginary village of Macondo, between the U.S.
and Mexico. It’s true, she wants writers she admires to respect her work, but
she also wants people who don’t usually read books to enjoy these stories, too.
She doesn’t want to write a book that a reader doesn’t understand and would
feel ashamed for not understanding.
She thinks stories are about beauty. Beauty that is there to be admired by
anyone, like a herd of clouds grazing overhead. She thinks people who are
busy working for a living deserve beautiful little stories, because they don’t
have much time and are often tired. She has in mind a book that can be
opened at any page and will still make sense to the reader who doesn’t know
what came before or comes after.
2. Do you know people who don’t read in their free time? Based on Sandra
Cisneros’s opinions, what are a few reasons they might not read? Why does
Cisneros think people should read her stories? Write your answers on your
paper.
В©2013 Secondary Solutions
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The House on Mango Street Literature Guide
Name _______________________________________
Period ________
Cisneros continues to write about the style she adopted for House on Mango Street:
She experiments, creating text that is as succinct and flexible as poetry, snapping
sentences into fragments so that the reader pauses, making each sentence serve
her and not the other way around, abandoning quotation marks to streamline the
typography and make the page as simple and readable as possible. So that the
sentences are pliant as branches and can be read in more ways than one.
В©Secondary В Solutions В В All В Rights В Reserved. В В SAMPLE В ONLY. В В NOT В FOR В USE В OR В SALE. В В PLEASE В PURCHASE В FULL В VERSION В FOR В ACCESS. В 3. With poetic writing, fragments and longer sentences, no quotation marks, do you
think The House on Mango Street will be easy for you to read? Explain your
reasoning with personal experience or the details from above. Write your
answers on your paper.
In an interview she did with her publisher, Cisneros said she felt that The House on
Mango Street has a particular draw for teenagers because Esperanza has some of
the same questions they do.
I think that it speaks to young people's isolation, loneliness, and longing. . . . You
basically have to invent [your list of possibilities] as you go, and you don't know
who you're going to become yet. So you're looking around for models, as
Esperanza is. She's looking at other women around her, saying, "I don't wanna go
that way. I'm not going that way. But where do I go? Where do I fit? And how do
I make myself into the person I want to be if I don't see that person I want to be?" I
think that that's true for young people of any culture in their teens, when one day
they still feel like a kid and the next day, you know, you’ve got the responsibilities
of the adult.
4. Do you think young people are basically isolated and lonely? Are young people
searching for role models? Do you agree that teens can be a kid one day and an
adult the next? Respond to Cisneros’s comments. Do you think a story like this
is one you will like to read? Write your answers on your paper.
Cisneros characterizes her novella as a coming-of-age story, or a bildungsroman. In
this type of book, a young main character has to learn about his or her world through
observation and questioning, and this new education forces the character to make
some surprising or uncomfortable realizations in order to become an adult. You may
have read another bildungsroman, like To Kill a Mockingbird, The Catcher in the
Rye, or Ender’s Game. Can you think of any more?
5. Predict what kind of adult knowledge Esperanza may learn in The House on
Mango Street that may cause her to mature and feel like an adult. Write your
answers on your paper.
Interview Responses from "The House on Mango Street” – The Story on YouTube.com, KnopfGroup
Channel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Pyf89VsNmg
В©2013 Secondary Solutions
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The House on Mango Street Literature Guide
Name _______________________________________
Period ________
The House on Mango Street
Pre-Reading Ideas
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Journal or discuss topics related to the book, such as feeling a sense of belonging, growing
up, prejudice, identifying a role model, or dreams for adult life.
Complete a K-W-L (Know, Wonder, Learned) about the Latino culture. Write research
questions from the Wonder column and have the students report their findings to the class.
Share and discuss photos of Mexicans or Mexican-Americans (Chicanos) in everyday life.
One excellent resource is Mexican Chicago, from the Images of America series by Arcadia
Press.
Find out about the term “rite of passage” and brainstorm a list of events that might be
considered a rite of passage, e.g. moving from childhood to adolescence or adolescence to
adulthood. Examples may include permission to go somewhere without parents, a job,
babysitting, a religious ceremony, a cell phone, car keys, first kiss or sexual experience,
graduation, etc.
Read a short story from Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories by Sandra Cisneros.
“Eleven,” about a girl who is forced to wear an uncomfortable sweater from the lost and
found at school, is one that is frequently anthologized.
Read picture books with both English and Spanish in them. Some examples might be
Gathering the Sun by Alma Flor Ada and Simon Silver; Loverboy by Lee Merrill Byrd; My
Colors, My World by Maya Christina Gonzalez; I Remember Abuelito: A Day of the Dead
Story by Janice Levy, Loretta Lopez, and Miguel Arisa; In my Family by Carmen Lomas
Garza; or This Home We Have Made by Anna Hammond. Discuss the flow of language and
the themes that the stories have in common.
The Mayans and the Aztecs used to inhabit the area that is now Mexico and beyond. Read
some of their ancient stories and mythology and compare them to mythological stories from
other cultures.
Chicago has a rich history of muralists, especially those with cultural significance. Search for
photos of Chicago murals and look closely at them to determine their message or purpose.
Some artists to begin your search might include Jeff Zimmerman, Hector Duarte, and
Alejandro Medina. The Chicago Public Art Guide also has a portfolio of some on their
website.
Bring in a picture of your home and write about it while looking at the picture. You can
describe it, explain your feelings about it, or narrate an event that took place there.
Alternately, search for a picture of your dream home or simply write about what your dream
home would need to have, as Esperanza does in the first vignette of The House on Mango
Street.
Sandra Cisneros said the vignettes in this novella were partially inspired by stories from her
family, friends, and students. During an interview, when someone asked if the events in the
novella really happened, her answer was, “all fiction has a basis in truth.” Tell a story to
another student without him/her taking notes, and then have your partner tell you a story, in
the same manner. Afterwards, take about ten minutes to write your partner’s story down.
How much did you get right? How much did you have to make up to bridge a gap in your
memory? Discuss whether it matters that part of the story is not true.
Begin planning a Mexican festival, to be held after completion of the novella. Break into
groups, with each group responsible for researching and planning something different, such
as decorations, music, food, games or activities, or anything else that interests your class. It
can even be a school wide event or fundraiser, with Spanish classes, Latino clubs, the dance
class or band participating. Be sure to get families involved.
Arrange for speakers to come in and share their stories with the students. The speakers
may want to explain how they overcame adversity, created a path for their life that was not
traditional, or accomplished the dreams they had as a child.
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The House on Mango Street Literature Guide
Name _______________________________________
Period ________
The House on Mango Street
Pre-Reading Activity: Thematic Literary Elements
Directions: For the following statements and questions, compose several sentences
or a paragraph giving your reaction or answer to each question. Do your writing on a
separate sheet of paper.
В©Secondary В Solutions В В All В Rights В Reserved. В В SAMPLE В ONLY. В В NOT В FOR В USE В OR В SALE. В В PLEASE В PURCHASE В FULL В VERSION В FOR В ACCESS. В 1. List five qualities that constitute a hero. Explain why each of these qualities
makes someone heroic.
a. Consider: How much do a person’s physical qualities and achievements
contribute to making a person heroic?
b. Which should be held in higher regard: a person’s physical achievements,
his/her intellectual qualities, or his/her moral character? Defend your answer.
2. Discuss how the statement, “Your reputation precedes you,” applies to your life.
a. How important do you think a person’s reputation is to his or her future?
How can a person’s reputation be created based on pictures or comments
that are posted in social networking sites?
b. Think about a time when you have formed a preconceived idea about a
person based solely on his/her reputation. How accurate was your notion of
the person?
3. Discuss how revenge motivates human behavior.
a. Provide a personal, literary, or historical example of revenge. Discuss how
the vengeful actions fed on themselves and caused more vengeful actions.
b. Explain why you think humans tend to want to get revenge. Is revenge the
best approach to take? Why or why not?
4. Consider the cultural importance of hospitality and generosity.
a. Why do you think people consider hospitality and generosity to be important
hallmarks of a culture?
b. Select a particular historical or modern-day culture and explain how its
people display hospitality and generosity to each other.
5. The House on Mango Street repeatedly returns to the theme of man’s changing
fortunes.
a. Provide a modern-day example of man’s fortunes changing for the better and
an example of man’s fortunes changing for the worse.
b. Anticipate how you think this theme will be developed in The House on
Mango Street.
After you have answered Questions 1-5, you will be divided into five small groups.
As a group, discuss and summarize your group’s responses.
В©2013 Secondary Solutions
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The House on Mango Street Literature Guide
Name _______________________________________
Period ________
The House on Mango Street
Anticipation/Reaction Activity
Directions—Before reading the novel: In the “Before Reading” column, write “yes” if you
agree with the statement, “no” if you disagree with the statement, and “?” if you don’t have a
strong opinion or are not sure about the statement.
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No = I disagree
Before
Reading
? = I don’t know
After
Reading
Statement
1. The names people are given determine what type of
people they will become.
2. Little girls should be able to wear anything, even if it
makes them look like women.
3. Getting to know the neighbors is an excellent way to
feel comfortable in a new home.
4. People who are born smart will have an easy time
being successful.
5. Beautiful women use their looks as power to control
others.
6. Where we live now has nothing to do with our lives in
the future.
7. Dreams are as important to human survival as
education, love, and health.
8. When trying to build a life, people need role models
more than they need motivation.
After completing the “Before Reading” column, get into small groups and tally the number of
“yes,” “no,” and “?” responses for each question. Each group member should keep track of
the tally.
Group Members:
Statement #
1
Yes
No
I Don’t Know
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Once you have collected your data, discuss those issues about which your group was
divided. Make your case for your opinions, and pay attention to your classmates’
arguments. Once you have discussed all of the issues, answer the Pre-Reading Individual
Reflection questions on the next page on your own.
*Your teacher will collect and keep your chart and responses to use after you have
finished reading the novel, when you will complete the Post-Reading Individual Reflection.*
В©2013 Secondary Solutions
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The House on Mango Street Literature Guide
Name _______________________________________
Period ________
The House on Mango Street
Anticipation/Reaction Reflection
Pre-Reading Individual Reflection
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responses to answer the following questions on a separate piece of paper. Be sure
to use complete sentences.
1. Which statements triggered the most thought-provoking or interesting
discussion?
2. Summarize the discussion/debate.
3. For any of the statements that you discussed, what were some of the strongest
or most memorable points made by your group members?
4. What was your reaction when a group member disagreed with the way you feel
about an issue?
5. Was any argument strong enough to make you change your mind or want to
change any of your initial responses? Why or why not? What made the
argument effective?
Post-Reading Individual Reflection
Directions: After reading the novel, revisit your Anticipation/Reaction Activity and
your answers to the discussion questions. Now that you have read the novel,
complete the “After Reading” column on page 15 and answer the following questions
on a separate piece of paper, comparing your responses. Answer each question
using complete sentences.
1. How many of your responses have changed since reading the novel?
2. Which statements do you see differently after reading the novel?
3. Describe an important part of the novel that affected you or made you think
differently after reading.
4. In small groups, talk to some of your classmates about their responses. How are
their responses different after reading the novel?
5. Overall, are the feelings of your other group members the same or different from
yours? Do any of their responses surprise you? Which ones? How?
6. Why do you think there might be so many different opinions and viewpoints?
What do you feel has contributed to the way you and your other classmates
responded to each statement?
В©2013 Secondary Solutions
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The House on Mango Street Literature Guide
Name _______________________________________
Period ________
The House on Mango Street
Standards Focus: Allusions, Slang, and Spanish Words
Part 1
Mango Street, Loomis Street, Keeler Street,
Paulina Street: Mango Street is a fictional
location, but Loomis and Paulina are streets in
the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago, which
has a high population of Mexicans and other
immigrants. An even bigger Mexican
population is in the Little Village neighborhood,
where Keeler is located.
“Chinese year of the horse”: The Chinese
zodiac associates each year with an animal
and its characteristics. It rotates on a twelveyear cycle. People born in “the year of the
horse” are thought to be cheerful, flexible,
perceptive, intelligent, childish, and stubborn.
Esperanza: The narrator’s name means
“hope” in Spanish.
“the neighborhood is getting bad”: People
are moving into the neighborhood that are not
welcome by the speaker.
“shiny Sunday shoes”: In many cultures, it is
important to dress up to go to religious
services on the weekend. Often, kids have
special clothes they only wear on Sunday, so
their good clothes stay clean during the week.
“You sure got quite a load”: You are
carrying heavy objects.
“popsicle lips”: lips that are big and pink, as
after eating a popsicle
marimbas: instruments similar to xylophones,
but with lower and broader ranges
Tarzan: Created by Edgar Rice Burroughs in
1912, this fictional character is a child raised in
the wild by apes—the subject of hundreds of
books, comic books, movies, television shows,
and songs.
Avon: a makeup company that trains women to
go into homes and sell its products
“Apples, peaches, pumpkin pah-ay”: The first
line is from the song “Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin
Pie” by Jay and the Techniques in 1967. The
second line is not in the song, but it fits the
rhythm and rhyme scheme of the real lyrics.
whitewalls: also known as whitewall tires or white
sidewall tires, these tires are considered stylish,
expensive, and high-maintenance
flooring: pushing the gas pedal all the way to the
floor, making the car go fast
“what cream is best for taking off moustache
hair”: a lotion that has chemicals to break down hair
(ex. Nair)
“a star to fall”: Sometimes called a falling star or
shooting star, these streaks in the night sky are
meteoroids entering the atmosphere. Some
people believe that making a wish after seeing a
falling star will help their wish come true.
“straw brim”: a large hat made of straw and often
used by farmers because of the brim, which keeps
sun out of their eyes and off their necks and ears
“There Was an Old Woman…”: an English
th
nursery rhyme dating back to the late 18 century.
The full text reads, “There was an old woman who
lived in a shoe. / She had so many children, she
didn’t know what to do; / She gave them some
broth without any bread; / Then whipped them all
soundly and put them to bed.”
“playing chicken”: a game in which two players
try not to give up on a dare or conflict. If one gives
up, that player is “chicken” and cowardly. If neither
gives up, they both suffer the worst outcome,
sometimes a serious injury.
“swollen floorboards”: floorboards on a car or
vehicle that have absorbed water and may begin to
rot soon
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“I bought the Statue of Liberty for a dime”:
The Statue of Liberty is a statue of the Roman
goddess of freedom, holding a tablet and a
torch, with a broken chain at her feet. It is
over 300 feet tall and stands in New York
harbor as the first thing some immigrants see
when they arrive in the United States.
Tourists can buy small replicas of the statue
as a souvenir.
“big brass record…with holes”: refers to a
music box
containing
tiny metal
“combs,”
that when
plucked by
the holes on
the record,
produce
sound.
В©2013 Secondary Solutions
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Part 3
“The Eskimos got thirty different names for
snow”: a common belief, which is stated to show
how words can convey the importance of a
culture. Although it is true the Eskimo-Aleut
languages have many words for snow, the English
The House on Mango Street Literature Guide
Name _______________________________________
language has about as many, including sleet,
hail, blizzard, and flurry.
cumulus: clouds that are white and puffy
nimbus: clouds that are dark and tall, usually
warning of precipitation
“your mama”: a common, all-purpose insult
“too much trash”: an insult, suggesting the
target is unwanted or dirty
“Cream of Wheat cereal”: a breakfast
product like grits or oatmeal, but made of
finely ground wheat kernels
foot fleas: chigoe fleas, or “chiggers,” are
parasites which burrow into the feet of humans
and other mammals to lay eggs, leaving an
irritating blister at the site
chicken lips: an insult
frijoles: “beans” in Spanish, and a staple of
many Latin American diets
tamales: With a history traced back to the
Ancient Mayans, tamales are a traditional
Central American dish made of a starchy corn
dough called masa that is filled with a variety
of foods, placed in a corn husk wrapper, and
then steamed or boiled
Cinderella: a fairy tale character who endured
abuse at home, received magical help, and
married a prince who found her by using a
shoe that fit only her foot
double-dutch rope: a jump rope game using
two ropes, which alternately turn in opposite
directions
whiskey words: things people might say
when they are drinking or drunk
bushel basket: a wooden basket used to
collect crops in a field
“the ones who wear keys around their
necks”: These classmates use their keys to
enter an empty house after school, since their
parents will be gone, usually working
afternoon or evening shifts at their jobs.
patrol boys: boys who wander around the
school or neighborhood to keep their
classmates, especially the younger ones, safe
while traveling to and from school
300 Spartans: a movie from 1962 about 300
soldiers from the city of Sparta who lead a
Greek army against an even larger Persian
army, and refuse to surrender
Sister Superior: the leader of a group of nuns
or the principal of a school run by nuns
three-flats: buildings that have three
apartments
chanclas: sandals or flip-flips; also, old,
unwanted shoes
Period ________
baptism: a sacred ceremony in Christian
religions, when a person is welcomed into the
faith community
“tilts his thumbs to his lips”: a silent signal that
someone has been drinking alcohol and may be
drunk
saddle shoes: a laced, usually leather shoe with
a plain white toe and heel, but a black saddleshaped area in the middle of the shoe, in the lace
and ankle area
“my cousin by first communion or something”:
probably meant to be “first cousin,” meaning the
child of her aunt or uncle, or perhaps “cousin by
marriage,” referring to a child who is her aunt’s or
uncle’s nephew in another family
“I like coffee, I like tea”: The indented, italicized
rhymes in this vignette are jump rope jingles,
chanted while a person is jumping rope to help
keep rhythm.
hoochi-coochie: a sexually suggestive belly
dance or belly dancer, from which the classic blues
song “Hoochie Coochie Man” by Muddy Waters
takes its name
heebie-jeebie: a modern idiom to refer to a feeling
of anxious discomfort; also, a blues song by Louis
Armstrong, in which he sings to a woman about
doing “the heebie jeebies dance,” which may also
be a euphemism for sexual intercourse
Tahiti: an island located in the French Polynesia
collection of islands in the southern Pacific Ocean,
known for �ote’a, a fast hip-shaking dance often
confused with Hawaiian hula dancing.
merengue: a term which refers to a style of both
music and partner dance originating from the
Dominican Republic, but popular worldwide.
Dancers hold their upper body upright while their
feet move to the fast musical arrangements, often
written in a 2/4 signature.
tembleque: Translated from Spanish, it means
“wobbly” or “trembling.” It is also the name of a Puerto
Rican pudding dessert made with coconut milk, or a
beaded headdress worn by folk dancers in some
Spanish-speaking countries.
“Skip, skip, snake in your hips”: Although this is
just a jump rope chant, it has sexual undertones.
“She misses on maybe so”: Lucy was jumping
rope while chanting and did not jump at the right
time when she said the last “maybe so,” which
ended her turn jumping.
“naphtha laundry soap”: Naphtha is a liquid
mixture of hydrocarbons, and products made with it
include lighter fluid and some cleaning supplies.
However, Fels-Naptha (no h after the p) is a brand
of laundry soap now owned by Dial, which comes
in bar form and is used as a stain remover or
laundry detergent booster.
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“light-years away”: a form of hyperbole or
exaggeration; about six trillion miles (just under
ten trillion kilometers), or the distance light
travels in a vacuum in 365.25 days
“social security office,” “social security
number”: a nine-digit number issued by the
United States government through local
Social Security Offices to help track wages
and other income earned, to calculate how
much an individual needs to pay in taxes, and
to determine how much and which types of
insurance an individual is entitled to when
they retire from working
dime store: a store offering inexpensive
items for sale, often at ten cents or less, also
known as a “five and dime” or “five and ten.”
The modern equivalent is the dollar store.
“negatives with their prints”: referring to
the film that comes out of cameras, called
“negatives” after the film is processed, and
the photos created from the film, called
“prints.” Touching negatives with wet or
greasy fingers can damage them, making
them it difficult to create more prints of the
same picture, which is why employees of
photo-processing stores handle the negatives
with clean gloves on.
Oriental man: “Oriental” is used to refer to
people, objects, or ideas from the Eastern
world, specifically those from Asia, according
st
to American English usage. In the 21
century, some consider it offensive to use the
term to describe a person or group of people,
but opinion varies.
Period ________
large increase of confirmed cases into the
1950’s, when a vaccine was developed. There
is still no cure for those already inflicted with the
disease. Blindness may be a result of a blood
clot due to her inactivity.
Wonder Woman: a superheroine created by
William Moulton Marston for DC Comics. She
has superhuman strength, speed, and agility; a
Lasso of Truth; and a pair of indestructible
bracelets.
Beatles: an English rock band of four men who
played together between 1960 and 1970 and the
best-selling band or musical act in history
Marilyn Monroe: an award-winning American
actress, model, and singer, primarily in the 1950’s
and one of the original sex symbols in American
culture
The Waterbabies: a children’s novel published in
1983 and written by Reverend Charles Kingsley.
The story follows Tom, a young chimney sweep
who drowns and becomes a water baby; he
receives an education in morals and Christian
values, and finally proves himself good enough to
return to life in human form.
Kool-Aid: a brand of fruit-flavored powder mixed
with sugar and water, making a drink that is
marketed primarily for kids
Bugs Bunny: a Warner Brothers cartoon character
created in 1938, who appears as a rabbit who
walks upright and talks with a Brooklyn accent. He
is known for being clever and enjoys playing tricks
on other characters in the television show.
“planets were all mixed up”: referring to a belief in
astrology and the power of planetary position to affect
human events and decisions
plaster saint: a plaster statue of a saint in the
Catholic religion
Palm Sunday cross: Palm Sunday is the Sunday
before Easter in Christian faiths, when they
celebrate Jesus’s arrival into Jerusalem. Today,
palm fronds are passed out during or after the
Palm Sunday service, after which they are often
tied into a cross-like shape and displayed in the
home.
voodoo hand: a diagram related to the voodoo
religion practiced by people in the West Indies or
people with ancestors from that area
Milwaukee: a city in Wisconsin with a rich history
of brewing and distributing beers
the sign of the cross: a way to bless someone
or something in Christian religions, by tracing a
cross in the air
“They’re not like ordinary playing cards”:
Elenita is using tarot cards, which have seventyeight cards in a deck and can be used by mystics
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abuelito: “grandfather” in Spanish
“Está muerto”: “(He) is dead” in Spanish
evil day: referring to the belief in astrology
and that some days are more lucky than
others
Joan Crawford: a famous actress in movies,
television, and on stage. She was one of the
top female actresses from the 1920s through
the 1940s, but continued to appear on screen
until 1975. The book and movie Mommie
Dearest is her adopted daughter’s story of
the abusive relationship Crawford had with
her children.
“I knew her sick from the disease that
would not go”: Although the disease Aunt
Lupe has is never named, other clues in the
vignette – she used to swim, her body is limp,
her legs are useless, the fact that it is a longterm and incurable disease – suggest that it
might be polio, a disease that experienced a
В©2013 Secondary Solutions
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The House on Mango Street Literature Guide
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for divination and determining the themes of
someone’s life in the past, present, and future.
los espíritus: “the spirits” or “the ghosts” in
Spanish
evil eye: a look believed to cause injury or
bad luck for the person it is directed at
hit-and-run: an accident when someone or
something is hit, usually by a car, but the
driver leaves without reporting it or claiming
responsibility
cumbias: a style of music and partner dance
originally from Colombia, where it was
traditionally used in courtship rituals
salsas: a style of music and partner dance
with a reputation for being sensual and sexy
rancheras: a style of music associated with
mariachi, with themes of love, the beauty of
nature, and loyalty to the homeland
brazer: an insulting term for a Mexican
immigrant who acts like the stereotypical
Mexican immigrant
wetback: in Spanish, mojado; an insulting
term for an illegal Mexican immigrant, since
he or she must have waded through the Rio
Grande to get across the border
money orders: papers promising payment of
a pre-determined amount of money, like a
check, but more secure, since the amount is
pre-paid to the issuer of the money order
babushka: “grandmother” in Russian; the
term for a scarf some Eastern European
women wear over their hair and tie under
their chins
Emperor’s nightingale: from “The
Nightingale,” a fairy tale written by Hans
Christian Anderson, in which a freedomloving nightingale bird teaches the Emperor
of China that he cannot own everything he
wants
Marlon Brando: an award-winning actor and
civil rights activist who had a reputation for
saying what he felt and breaking rules, known
for his roles in movies such as Viva Zapata!,
On the Waterfront, The Godfather, and A Dry
White Season
sphinx: a mythical creature with the head of
a woman and the body of a lion
braille: a form of reading for blind people,
created by Louis Braille in 1825, in which the
blind use their fingers to feel patterns of
raised dots, which correspond to letters
“The Walrus and the Carpenter”: a poem in
Through the Looking-Glass, the sequel to
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, both
written by Lewis Carroll. In the poem, the title
characters convince a group of young oysters
Period ________
to leave their safe home, talk to them about
sophisticated subjects, and then eat all the
oysters with little regret.
jukebox: a machine used to play popular music,
originally records, but now able to play CDs or
MP3 files
45 records: a flat music storage disc with a
spiral groove, popular during most of the 1900s;
a “45” refers to the smaller discs, about seven
inches in diameter, which turn at forty-five
revolutions per minute on a record player or in a
jukebox
crook of the arm: the area inside the elbow
when the elbow is bent
pitching pennies: a game in which players sit a
set distance from a wall and throw their pennies or
alternative objects at it. The winner is the person
whose penny lands closest to the wall, usually
winning all the pennies.
“It made your blood freeze”: It made you so
scared or nervous that you felt cold or shivered
involuntarily.
punk: an insult for a useless boy or teenager,
with a suggestion that he is a criminal
“those girls are the ones that go into alleys”:
suggests that the girls are sexually active in
alleys, where they think they can have privacy
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Part 5
Mamacita: “mommy” in Spanish
Mamasota: “an attractive woman” in Spanish
hatboxes: boxes with a detachable lid and a
handle, meant to carry large hats that would be
crushed in regular luggage
Holy smokes: an American exclamation to show
surprise or disbelief
hollyhocks: tall perennial plants that have wide
rounded leaves and multiple small flowers that
grow on the same stem
Cuándo: “when” in Spanish
ВЎAy, caray!: an exclamation of surprise in
Spanish, like “oh, wow!”
dominoes: a matching game using black tiles
with white dots on them
Rapunzel: a fictional character from a German
fairy tale, which the Grimm Brothers included in
their story collections. Rapunzel is a beautiful
woman with long hair who is trapped in a tower
by an evil witch until a prince helps her escape.
silver string: a way to hold on to something
valuable and make it look more beautiful, like tying
a ribbon on a present, but with stronger material
“eyes like Egypt”: eye makeup that is heavy
and black, usually with lines at the edge of the
eyelids and points on the outside of eyes
The House on Mango Street Literature Guide
Name _______________________________________
Cleopatra: Cleopatra VII, a woman who
served as the last pharaoh of Ancient Egypt
and had a reputation for being beautiful,
clever, and strong-willed
“enough is enough”: a phrase indicating that
the speaker is upset and does not want to deal
with any more unwelcome behavior/comments
“lay their necks on the threshold”:
referring to the guillotine, a device that was
used to cut off the head of a human in the
th
th
19 and early 20 centuries
“ball and chain”: a heavy chain connecting
a prisoner to a heavy metal ball so the
prisoner cannot run away; an insult for a
boyfriend, girlfriend, or spouse who weighs
the partner down with responsibilities or
prevents him/her from achieving personal
goals
“who leaves the table like a man”: who
leaves the table without cleaning up after
himself because the woman is responsible for
doing that
morning glories: a type of flower. Many
morning glories open in the morning to
absorb full sun, curl up in the evening, and
repeat the cycle the next morning. Ancient
civilizations in Central America used sulfur
extracted from morning glories to strengthen
rubber, which might explain why Esperanza
thinks the flowers are powerful. In the
Victorian language of flowers, morning glories
symbolize love in vain.
Madame Butterfly: most commonly known
as a tragic Italian opera, but versions of the
same story have been told in short stories,
novels, and movies. It is a complex story
about unrequited love, hope, courage, and
despair, in which the title character waits
years for her missing husband to return to
her. Eventually, he does, but he is married to
someone else and wants to take their young
son away, so she kills herself.
comadres: “close female friends” in Spanish,
sometimes referring to the godmothers of a
woman’s children, who also act as their
mothers (“co-“ meaning together and
“madres” meaning mothers)
smart cookie: slang for an intelligent person
Period ________
cuernos (horns), besos (kisses), and
empanadas (turnovers).
cockscombs: sometimes spelled coxcombs; an
edible flowering plant whose head tapers up to a
point, like a flame
theater curtains: thick heavy curtains, made of
velour or velvet fabric and hung between the front
of a stage and the audience
pickup: the shortened version of “pick-up truck,”
referring to a light truck with an open back and
low sides
Rip Van Winkle: the main character in a short
story written by Washington Irving and published
in 1819. Beginning before the American
Revolutionary War, the story describes Rip as a
lazy husband who is trying to avoid his wife’s
nagging when he discovers some men in a
clearing in the mountains and falls asleep. When
he awakes twenty years later, the land is no
longer under British rule because the Americans
won the war, but his wife and friends are dead.
His daughter, now an adult, agrees to take him in,
and he returns to his old lazy habits.
“the monkey garden had been there before
anything”: a reference to the Garden of Eden in
Genesis, the first book of the Old Testament of
the Bible. It states that God created the Earth in
six days, but on the last day he created humans
and put them in the Garden of Eden to live
happily and innocently. Eventually, they are
tempted to break his rule by eating a fruit from the
Tree of Knowledge, and God banishes them from
the garden, causing them to work and live a more
difficult life.
tilt-a-whirl: a circular carnival ride, which goes up
and down short hills while also spinning in tight
circles that could cause riders to feel dizzy and
nauseous
The Three Sisters: reminiscent of the Three
Fates, creatures who appear in Greek, Roman,
and Norse mythology by different names, but who
are usually in charge of destiny, or the past,
present, and future of all individuals
Guadalajara: the capital city of the Mexican state
Jalisco
petunias: tubular flowers native to South
American countries because of their need for long
periods of sun exposure
“Nobody to shake a stick at”: an idiom that
means nobody of importance
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sweetbread: known as pan dulce in Spanish.
Examples include conchas (seashell),
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The House on Mango Street Literature Guide
Name _______________________________________
Period ________
The House on Mango Street
Vocabulary List
Directions: Use a dictionary to find the meanings of the following words in The House on
Mango Street. Your teacher will direct you to do this either as you read each section, or as
a pre-reading activity. Whatever method your teacher chooses, be sure to keep this list and
your definitions to use in vocabulary exercises and to study for quizzes and tests.
Part 1
barrettes
rosettes
pincurls
raggedy
inherit
wobbly
crumbly
sassy
Part 2
lopsided
scrambling
pleated
dangle
Part 3
doughy
velvety
strutted
tavern
canteen
anemic
slip
authority
cue
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Part 4
imitate
capsules
limp
intern
notify
wedged
Part 5
ferocious
droop
despite
fuchsia
hysterical
nylons
suede
content
Part 6
twangy
porcelain
fringe
will
bazaar
marble
trudged
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The House on Mango Street Literature Guide
Name _______________________________________
Period ________
The House on Mango Street
Standards Focus: Note-Taking and Response Chart
Directions: As you read each vignette of The House on Mango Street, use words
or short phrases to summarize the details in each of the categories below.
Completing this activity will help you understand and appreciate what you are
reading, find common motifs in the vignettes, and trace character development and
theme. A sample chart for the first vignette, “The House on Mango Street,” has
been done for you on the next page.
В©Secondary В Solutions В В All В Rights В Reserved. В В SAMPLE В ONLY. В В NOT В FOR В USE В OR В SALE. В В PLEASE В PURCHASE В FULL В VERSION В FOR В ACCESS. В Vignette Number:
Title:
Setting: Describe the time
and place of the action in
each vignette, if possible.
(The where and when)
Characters: Write the
names of the major
characters involved in
each vignette. (The who)
Plot: Write the main events, the most important information, and the relevant
details from this vignette. (The what)
Connection: Write down anything that
you found familiar in this vignette. Has
anything similar ever happened to you or
someone you know? How would you
handle a comparable situation? Are you
reminded of other stories? Are there any
lessons or themes that you recognize?
Prediction: Make a guess as to what
may happen next in the vignette. Write
what you think will happen and the
effect it will have on the characters and
on the plot.
Thoughts/Illustration: Record your thoughts and illustrate a summary of the
vignette using a simple but detailed drawing. (i.e., one that you will be able to refer
to later and understand how it relates to your knowledge of The House on Mango
Street).
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The House on Mango Street Literature Guide
Name _______________________________________
Period ________
Note-Taking and Response Chart: Sample
Vignette Number: 1
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Mango Street”
Setting: the narrator’s
new house on Mango
Street, but she mentions
several apartments she
used to live in, too
Characters: the narrator;
also mentioned: Mama,
Papa, Carlos, Kikki,
Nenny, a nun from school
Plot: The narrator explains that she and her family used to live in a series of
apartments that were run-down and maybe in poor neighborhoods. However, now
they live in a small house that her parents own. The narrator thinks it is
disappointing because it is not the house she dreams of, but her parents say this is
a temporary move. She doesn’t believe them.
Connection: When I was young, my
aunt and uncle moved to a big house on
a street with other brand-new homes. I
thought it was wonderful and wanted one
just like they did, but my parents said we
would move into a new house when they
won the lottery. My parents never bought
lottery tickets, so I understood that they
were joking with me.
Prediction: I think that the narrator will
be embarrassed about where she lives
again, but she will eventually accept it
as a nice place.
Thoughts/Illustration: The narrator is unhappy at her new home, but thinking
about a nicer, bigger house to live in.
В©2013 Secondary Solutions
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The House on Mango Street Literature Guide
Name _______________________________________
Period ________
The House on Mango Street
Note-Taking and Response Chart
Vignette Number:
Title:
Plot:
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Connection:
Characters:
Prediction:
Thoughts/Illustration:
Vignette Number:
Title:
Plot:
Setting:
Connection:
Characters:
Prediction:
Thoughts/Illustration:
В©2013 Secondary Solutions
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The House on Mango Street Literature Guide
Name _______________________________________
Period ________
The House on Mango Street
Standards Focus: Journal Response—Sample
As you read each vignette of The House on Mango Street, you will be completing a chart
like the one at the bottom of this page.
©Secondary  Solutions   All  Rights  Reserved.   SAMPLE  ONLY.   NOT  FOR  USE  OR  SALE.   PLEASE  PURCHASE  FULL  VERSION  FOR  ACCESS.  Under “Quotes,” select two or three quotes from each vignette that capture your attention
and/or are meaningful in some way.
Under “Responses,” respond to your quote choice using ideas from the following guide:
• Make a personal or global connection to the quote.
• Make a prediction based on the content of the quote.
• Analyze the significance of the quote as it relates to the development of the plot.
• Analyze the significance of the quote as it relates to the development of a character.
• Explain how the quote changes your opinion of a character or plotline.
• Explain how this quote confuses the plot.
• Describe in detail why you find that this quote is important or well said.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Below is a list of some possible ways to start your quote response
“I wonder why . . . "
"This reminds me of . . . "
"What if . . ."
"This is significant because . . ."
"This might foreshadow . . . "
"This leads me to believe that . . . "
"This makes me question . . . "
Vignette
“The House on Mango Street”
Quote
Response
p. 4 “But the house on Mango Street is
not the way they told it at all."
This leads me to believe that the narrator
is disappointed with the house that her
family moves into. I wonder if she will be
more happy and accepting of her home by
the end.
p. 5 “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.”
This reminds me of when a family friend
came to visit right after we moved from the
condo to a house. It was bigger than the
condo, and I was happy with it, but
bringing the friend over to see the new
place made it feel small, unimpressive,
and a little dirty. I was able to see my
house from a stranger’s point of view, and
it was embarrassing then.
В©2013 Secondary Solutions
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The House on Mango Street Literature Guide
Name _______________________________________
Period ________
Standards Focus: Journal Response Chart
Vignette #s
Title
Title
and
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Response
Quote
Response
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The House on Mango Street Literature Guide
Name _______________________________________
Period ________
The House on Mango Street
Part One
Comprehension and Analysis
В©Secondary В Solutions В В All В Rights В Reserved. В В SAMPLE В ONLY. В В NOT В FOR В USE В OR В SALE. В В PLEASE В PURCHASE В FULL В VERSION В FOR В ACCESS. В Directions: To help you understand all aspects of the novel, respond to the following
questions or statements. Write your responses on a separate piece of paper using
complete sentences.
“House on Mango Street”
1) Who are the people that live with the narrator?
2) Contrast the house on Mango Street with the narrator’s dream house.
3) How long do the narrator’s parents plan to live in the house on Mango Street? How
does the narrator feel about this?
“Hairs”
1) Describe each of the narrator’s family members according to his or her hair.
2) How does the narrator feel about her mother? Find evidence to support your
decision.
“Boys and Girls”
1) According to the narrator, can boys be friends with girls? What experience does she
have to support her opinion?
2) How does the narrator feel about her sister?
3) What does the narrator wish for? Why does she want one?
“My Name”
1) What is the narrator’s name and what does it mean?
2) Who is she named after? What was that woman like?
3) What is a woman’s role in Mexican society, according to the narrator?
“Cathy Queen of Cats”
1) Who is Cathy and why is she the queen of cats?
2) Why does Cathy’s family have to move soon?
3) How do you think Esperanza feels about their reason for moving?
“Our Good Day”
1) What does Esperanza get for five dollars?
2) How does Cathy react to the purchase? How do you think she feels about
Esperanza’s new friendship with Rachel and Lucy?
3) What do the girls do with their new purchase on the first day? What do they plan to
do with it in the future?
4) Why do Rachel and Lucy seem better friends to Esperanza than Cathy does?
“Laughter”
1) How are Rachel and Lucy alike? How are Esperanza and Nenny alike?
2) What do the houses remind Esperanza of? Who agrees with her?
3) What does the incident with the house suggest about Esperanza and Nenny?
В©2013 Secondary Solutions
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The House on Mango Street Literature Guide
Name _______________________________________
Period ________
The House on Mango Street
Part One
Journal Topics
В©Secondary В Solutions В В All В Rights В Reserved. В В SAMPLE В ONLY. В В NOT В FOR В USE В OR В SALE. В В PLEASE В PURCHASE В FULL В VERSION В FOR В ACCESS. В Directions: For each vignette, two journal topics have been provided: the first prompt (A) is
personal and narrative or creative, while the second one (B) is more informational or
persuasive. Choose one to write according to your teacher’s requirements.
“The House on Mango Street”
A. What does your house look like? Describe its good and bad points.
B. Is it better to get none of something that you hope for, or is it better to get part of it?
Explain your reasoning.
“Hairs”
A. What is your hair like? How is it different from others in your family?
B. What is it about your family that makes you feel loved, safe, or supported?
“Boys & Girls”
A. How do boys and girls interact with each other in your life? Give a few examples.
B. What are some expectations or responsibilities boys have that are usually masculine?
What are some expectations or responsibilities girls have that are usually feminine?
Give some exceptions to these rules.
“My Name”
A. Write what you know about your name. What does it mean? How was it chosen? How
do you feel about it? What similes or metaphors would you use to describe your feelings
about it?
B. Do you think that someone’s name or birthday determines their personality or future?
Explain. Do you pay attention to horoscopes or zodiac signs? Why or why not?
“Cathy Queen of Cats”
A. Has someone ever shown prejudice toward you because of your age, race, ethnic
background, religion, or something else? What did the person do or say? How did you
react?
B. If you could help Esperanza respond to Cathy’s prejudiced comments rationally, what
would you tell her she should have said to increase understanding and awareness
between them?
“Our Good Day”
A. Describe a good day with your friends.
B. Why do you think simple toys, like bicycles and kites, are still popular in an era of cell
phones, the Internet, and video games? Explain your reasoning.
“Laughter”
A. Which family member are you most like, physically? How? Which family member are
you most like in personality? How?
B. Do you feel that you most often make friends with people who think like you do? Why or
why not? Give a few examples to support your answer.
В©2013 Secondary Solutions
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The House on Mango Street Literature Guide
Name _______________________________________
Period ________
The House on Mango Street
Part One
Literature Focus: Sequence
В©Secondary В Solutions В В All В Rights В Reserved. В В SAMPLE В ONLY. В В NOT В FOR В USE В OR В SALE. В В PLEASE В PURCHASE В FULL В VERSION В FOR В ACCESS. В The way The House on Mango Street was written can be challenging to readers
because the events are not told in sequential order. When a story is told in
sequential order, the first event is explained first, the second event is explained next,
and so on, until the last event is told at the end of the story.
Esperanza does explain the events in the story in sequential order most of the time,
but sometimes she skips to the past, which is called a flashback. In addition, some
vignettes do not describe any events, but they do share Esperanza’s feelings or her
dreams for the future, which is a form of character development. It is important to
pay attention to these shifts in time and tone in order to understand the text and its
purpose.
Directions: Paraphrase the statements below to put them in sequential order on the
timeline. If a phrase does not seem like an event in Esperanza’s life, but rather a
point of character development, draw a star next to the statement and leave it off the
timeline.
Esperanza loves the bread-like smell of her mother’s hair.
Esperanza and Nenny notice a house that reminds them of Mexico.
Esperanza spends time with her little sister while her brothers play separately.
Esperanza’s great-grandmother was forced to get married.
Esperanza meets Rachel and Lucy and buys a bike with them.
Esperanza, Rachel, and Lucy spend the day riding their bike together.
Rachel and Lucy laugh in the same way.
Esperanza dreams of a bigger house with a large yard and three washrooms.
Cathy becomes Esperanza’s friend.
Esperanza’s name makes her feel uncomfortable, and she wants to change it.
Esperanza’s family moves to the house on Mango Street.
Esperanza does not want to grow up like her great-grandmother.
Cathy walks away and is not Esperanza’s friend anymore.
В©2013 Secondary Solutions
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The House on Mango Street Literature Guide
Name _______________________________________
Period ________
The House on Mango Street
Part One
Language Focus: Sentence Structure
В©Secondary В Solutions В В All В Rights В Reserved. В В SAMPLE В ONLY. В В NOT В FOR В USE В OR В SALE. В В PLEASE В PURCHASE В FULL В VERSION В FOR В ACCESS. В A complete sentence has a subject and a verb.
Examples:
Nikaria laughed.
Hoang has walked.
The team was losing.
These types of sentences are simplistic and lack extra information to deepen our
understanding of the subject. We can add adjectives, adverbs, phrases, clauses, or even
additional subjects and verbs to make our sentences more interesting.
Examples:
Nikaria laughed suddenly.
Nikaria laughed yesterday.
Nikaria laughed at her brother.
Nikaria laughed, spewing soda out of her mouth.
These are still all simple sentences, but they offer a bit more information. However, they
appear to all relate to the same incident, so combining the sentences would be appropriate
to convey a more complex event.
For example:
Yesterday, Nikaria cracked up at her brother, spewing soda out of her mouth.
Directions: Combine the simple sentences in each block into one complete sentence on
the space provided. Then, share your sentence with a partner and write down your
partner’s sentence. Finally, find a sentence in the vignette “The House on Mango Street”
that gives the same information and copy it down.
1. We had to leave the flat. The flat was on Loomis. We had to leave quick.
a. Your sentence:
b. Your partner’s sentence:
c. Cisneros’s sentence:
2. The water pipes broke. The landlord wouldn’t fix the pipes. The house was too old to fix.
a. Your sentence:
b. Your partner’s sentence:
c. Cisneros’s sentence:
В©2013 Secondary Solutions
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The House on Mango Street Literature Guide
Name _______________________________________
Period ________
3. That’s why Mama and Papa looked for a house. That’s why we moved into the house.
The house is on Mango Street. Mango Street is far away. Mango Street is on the other
side of town.
a. Your sentence:
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c. Cisneros’s sentence:
4. This is the house Papa talked about. He talked about it and held up a ticket. The ticket
was from the lottery. This was the house Mama dreamed up in stories. She told these
stories to us. We heard these stories before we went to bed.
a. Your sentence:
b. Your partner’s sentence:
c. Cisneros’s sentence:
5. The laundromat downstairs had been boarded up. The laundromat had been robbed
two days before. The owner had painted on the wood. The wood said YES WE’RE
OPEN. The owner did not want to lose business.
a. Your sentence:
b. Your partner’s sentence:
c. Cisneros’s sentence:
6. Now, look at the sentences for each item. What similarities or differences do you see?
7. What did you notice about Sandra Cisneros’s use of conjunctions (and, but, or) and
commas in her writing? What does this suggest about Cisneros’s writing style in the rest
of the book?
В©2013 Secondary Solutions
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The House on Mango Street Literature Guide
Name _______________________________________
Period ________
The House on Mango Street
Part Two
Comprehension and Analysis
В©Secondary В Solutions В В All В Rights В Reserved. В В SAMPLE В ONLY. В В NOT В FOR В USE В OR В SALE. В В PLEASE В PURCHASE В FULL В VERSION В FOR В ACCESS. В Directions: To help you understand all aspects of the novel, respond to the following
questions or statements. Write your responses on a separate piece of paper using
complete sentences.
“Gil’s Furniture Bought & Sold”
1) Describe the item in the store that fascinates Esperanza.
2) Why does Esperanza pretend she does not want it?
3) How does Nenny react to the item? What is Esperanza’s opinion of Nenny’s
behavior?
“Meme Ortiz”
1) How are Meme and his dog alike?
2) Was Meme’s house built well? Cite details from the vignette to support your
conclusion.
3) Why do you think Esperanza thinks the large tree in his backyard is so memorable?
“Louie, His Cousin, & His Other Cousin”
1) Who are Louie’s cousins?
2) How do you know that the car the other cousin is driving is expensive and luxurious?
3) How did Louie’s other cousin get the car? Why did you make that inference?
“Marin”
1) What are Marin’s plans for her future?
2) What is Marin’s nightly ritual?
3) What are three words you or Esperanza might use to describe Marin’s personality?
“Those Who Don’t”
1) How do strangers feel in Esperanza’s neighborhood? How is that different from the
feelings Esperanza and her neighbors have?
2) How do people from Esperanza’s neighborhood behave when they are in a different
area of town?
“There Was an Old Woman She Had So Many Children She Didn’t Know What to Do”
1) Who is Rosa Vargas? Describe her life.
2) What does Esperanza think the Vargas children are missing, aside from their father?
3) How do other people in the neighborhood react to the Vargas children?
“Alicia Who Sees Mice”
1) What are Alicia’s responsibilities at home? Why?
2) What is Alicia afraid of?
3) How does Alicia’s father react when she mentions mice? How does he feel about
women in general?
В©2013 Secondary Solutions
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The House on Mango Street Literature Guide
Name _______________________________________
Period ________
The House on Mango Street
Part Two
Journal Topics
В©Secondary В Solutions В В All В Rights В Reserved. В В SAMPLE В ONLY. В В NOT В FOR В USE В OR В SALE. В В PLEASE В PURCHASE В FULL В VERSION В FOR В ACCESS. В Directions: For each vignette, two journal topics have been provided: the first prompt (A) is
personal and narrative or creative, while the second one (B) is more informational, analytic, or
persuasive. Choose one to write according to your teacher’s requirements.
“Gil’s Furniture Bought & Sold”
A. Have you ever been to a place (i.e. a store, a home, a tourist attraction) that had so much to
look at that you felt overwhelmed? Describe the place and some of the items you remember
from it.
B. Is it fair for Gil to have such a beautiful object in a store and not sell it? Explain your position.
“Meme Ortiz”
A. Write a narrative about a time you risked your safety to win a competition or to have more fun.
Would you do it again?
B. Create an overview of a competition entitled the Annual Tarzan Jumping Contest. How would it
be set up and what are the rules? How would you publicize a competition like this? How would
the winner be determined?
“Louie, His Cousin, & His Other Cousin”
A. Describe an interaction with someone you barely know that changed your life in some way.
B. What do you think of Louie’s other cousin? Is he generous for taking the kids for a ride or
unwise for involving them and delaying his escape? Explain your opinion or what you would
have done in his situation.
“Marin”
A. Who is a person in your life who “is older and knows lots of things”? What did he or she teach
you?
B. Is it better to wait for someone to change your life or to do it yourself? Give an example from
your experience that may support your opinion.
“Those Who Don’t”
A. Explain how you felt when you went into a strange neighborhood and were not welcomed. How
did the residents there behave that made you feel unwelcome? How did you react?
B. In this vignette, Esperanza states, “All brown all around, we are safe.” What aspects, aside from
race, separate people from others who are different? Do you think segregation or integration is
the way to build safe neighborhoods and cities? Why?
“There Was an Old Woman She Had So Many Children She Didn’t Know What to Do”
A. When you were young, did families in your neighborhood take care of each other together or
mind their own business? Describe an incident to illustrate your impression.
B. Do you think a society should work together to take care of its children, or should parents govern
only their own children? What are responsibilities that should be shared in the society and
others that should fall to the parents alone?
“Alicia Who Sees Mice”
A. Recount an incident when you were scared or you shared your fears with others. Include their
reactions to your fears.
B. Alicia and Marin, who are mentioned earlier in the novella, both have plans for their futures.
Contrast their methods for achieving their goals and explain why you think one girl will be more
successful than the other.
В©2013 Secondary Solutions
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The House on Mango Street Literature Guide
Name _______________________________________
Period ________
The House on Mango Street
Part Two
Literature Focus: Figurative Language
В©Secondary В Solutions В В All В Rights В Reserved. В В SAMPLE В ONLY. В В NOT В FOR В USE В OR В SALE. В В PLEASE В PURCHASE В FULL В VERSION В FOR В ACCESS. В Figurative language is a tool writers use to describe a feeling, or create a picture or
situation when the usual words do not convey it perfectly. Several forms of figurative
language and their definitions are listed below.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
alliteration: the repetition of initial consonant sounds to invoke a feeling or sound
allusion: a reference to a person, place, or item outside the context of the text
metaphor: the comparison of two unlike things
personification: the act of giving an animal or inanimate object human characteristics
onomatopoeia: a word that mimics the sound it describes
simile: the comparison of two unlike things, using the word “like” or “as”
symbolism: the use of items to represent ideas or qualities
synesthesia: the explanation of one sensory experience by describing another
Part I
Directions: Read the sentences below. Identify which type of figurative language is being
used, and write your answer on the line provided. Then, underline the examples of that type
of figurative language in the sentence.
1.
This winter is like an old dog that cannot decide
where to rest for the night.
2.
Several scaly snakes slithered across the street this
morning!
3.
You should have seen Khoi at the swim meet! He
was showing the kinds of times Michael Phelps put up in his pre-Olympic days!
4.
As I packed my things for college and moved into my
dorm, the falling maple leaves reminded me that my childhood was over.
5.
Parvati drove home that night, with the feeling that the
moon was following her to ensure she arrived safely.
6.
I love to drink a mug of hot chocolate while listening to
the sweet notes of a jazz concert, away from the bitter cold outside.
7.
Happiness is breathing the fresh mountain air while
working with your hands.
8.
Serena’s mother clicked her tongue to show she
disapproved of a teenager with such an expensive purse.
Pick one of the sentences above and explain its use of figurative language. Why was the
sound, comparison, or imagery important to describing the situation?
В©2013 Secondary Solutions
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The House on Mango Street Literature Guide
Name _______________________________________
Period ________
Part II
Directions: Read each of the examples of figurative language from The House on Mango
Street below. On the lines below the quotation, identify the type of figurative language being
used and explain the line using literal language (simple factual description), rather than
figurative language.
©Secondary  Solutions   All  Rights  Reserved.   SAMPLE  ONLY.   NOT  FOR  USE  OR  SALE.   PLEASE  PURCHASE  FULL  VERSION  FOR  ACCESS.  1. “And me, my hair is lazy. It never obeys barrettes or bands.” (6)
2. “Until then I am a red balloon, a balloon tied to an anchor.” (9)
3. “[Rachel and Lucy] are wearing shiny Sunday shoes without socks.” (15)
4. “Me, I never said nothing to him except once when I bought the Statue of Liberty for a
dime.” (20)
5. “Then he starts [the music box] up and all sorts of things start happening. It’s like all of a
sudden he let go a million moths all over the dusty furniture…” (20)
6. “But watch us drive into a neighborhood of another color and our knees go shakity-shake
and our car windows get rolled up tight and our eyes look straight.” (28)
7. “… and nobody looked up not once the day Angel Vargas learned to fly and dropped
from the sky like a sugar donut, just like a falling star, and exploded down to earth
without even an �Oh.’” (30)
8. “Alicia, who inherited her mama’s rolling pin and sleepiness, is young and smart and
studies for the first time at the university.” (31)
В©2013 Secondary Solutions
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The House on Mango Street Literature Guide
Name _______________________________________
Period ________
The House on Mango Street
Part Two
Language Focus: Parallel Structure
В©Secondary В Solutions В В All В Rights В Reserved. В В SAMPLE В ONLY. В В NOT В FOR В USE В OR В SALE. В В PLEASE В PURCHASE В FULL В VERSION В FOR В ACCESS. В In geometry, when lines are parallel, they run side-by-side smoothly, with no confusion
about which line is which. In communication, sentences that use parallel structure use the
same forms of subjects, verbs, phrases, or clauses. When parallel structure is used well, a
sentence is clear and smooth. When parallel structure is not used well, a sentence can be
confusing and distracting to the reader. There are several common types of parallel
structures.
A. Using verbs as nouns (gerunds or infinitives)
Incorrect: Deborah loves camping, scrapbooking, and to bake.
Correct: Deborah loves camping, scrapbooking, and baking.
Correct: Deborah loves to camp, to scrapbook, and to bake.
B. Using adjectives or adverbs
Incorrect: The new Prius is compact, quiet, and runs on very little gas.
Correct: The new Prius is compact, quiet, and energy-efficient.
Incorrect: Liliana danced into the room quietly and with grace.
Correct: Liliana danced into the room quietly and gracefully.
C. Connecting phrases or clauses with a coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so)
Incorrect: Carlos and JosГ© went hiking and then to a fast food restaurant.
Correct: Carlos and JosГ© went on a hike and then to a fast food restaurant.
D. Comparing options
Incorrect: I would prefer eating at home instead of to go out for dinner tonight.
Correct: I would prefer eating at home instead of going out for dinner tonight.
E. Offering a list of items
Incorrect: Schools are unfair because of grades, dress codes, and using cell
phones.
Correct: Schools are unfair because of grades, dress codes, and cell phone policies.
Directions: Combine the short sentences below into one complete sentence that uses
parallel structure.
1. Gil’s Furniture Bought & Sold sells old refrigerators.
He also sells dusty couches.
The televisions he is selling probably do not work.
2. Meme Ortiz has a dog.
The sheepdog has grey eyes.
Meme gave the dog two names.
The dog has a clumsy, floppy run.
В©2013 Secondary Solutions
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The House on Mango Street Literature Guide
Name _______________________________________
Period ________
©Secondary  Solutions   All  Rights  Reserved.   SAMPLE  ONLY.   NOT  FOR  USE  OR  SALE.   PLEASE  PURCHASE  FULL  VERSION  FOR  ACCESS.  3. Louie, his mom, and his sisters live in the basement of Meme’s house.
Marin is also living in the basement of Meme’s house.
Louie’s other cousin is going to jail.
4. Marin wears her skirts short.
She also has pretty green eyes.
She has a boyfriend back in Puerto Rico.
5. In a neighborhood of another color, Esperanza’s knees begin to shake.
The car windows get rolled up.
Straight ahead is where she looks.
6. Efren Vargas chipped his buck tooth on a parking meter.
Refugia Vargas’s head was stuck between two slats in the gate.
Death is what resulted when Angel Vargas fell.
7. Staying up late and studying is something Alicia likes doing.
Alicia studies for university.
The kitchen is not where Alicia wants to stay all her life.
В©2013 Secondary Solutions
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The House on Mango Street Literature Guide
Name _______________________________________
Period ________
The House on Mango Street
Part Three
Comprehension and Analysis
В©Secondary В Solutions В В All В Rights В Reserved. В В SAMPLE В ONLY. В В NOT В FOR В USE В OR В SALE. В В PLEASE В PURCHASE В FULL В VERSION В FOR В ACCESS. В Directions: To help you understand all aspects of the novel, respond to the following
questions or statements. Write your responses on a separate piece of paper using
complete sentences.
“Darius & the Clouds”
1) What does Esperanza think there is a shortage of on Mango Street?
2) What does Darius see at the end of the vignette, and where does he see it?
3) How are Darius’s comments in this vignette so surprising in comparison to his normal
behavior?
“And Some More”
1) What starts the disagreement between the girls?
2) Is the name-calling serious, meant to hurt each other's feelings, or is it just joking?
Explain your opinion.
3) How is Nenny’s behavior different from the rest of the girls’? Why do you think that is
the case?
“The Family of Little Feet”
1) What do the girls get from the family with little feet? How do the girls react to the gifts?
2) What discovery do the girls make because of the gifts? Why do you think they just made
this discovery now?
3) How does the behavior of the boys and men in the neighborhood change?
“A Rice Sandwich”
1) Why does Esperanza want to eat in the canteen?
2) Which reasons does Esperanza use to convince her mother to write a note for her?
3) What was Esperanza’s experience in the canteen?
“Chanclas”
1) What did Esperanza’s mother forget? How does she react to this mistake?
2) How do Esperanza’s feelings change during her dance with her uncle?
3) Who else wants to dance with Esperanza? Why do you think she mentions him
watching her dance?
“Hips”
1) What are the girls doing in this vignette while they talk about hips?
2) Name three things the girls say hips are needed for.
3) Contrast Nenny’s comments with the other girls’ comments. Take a guess at Nenny’s
age, and explain your guess.
“The First Job”
1) Why does Esperanza need to get a job?
2) What does Esperanza do at her job?
3) List three moments during her first day that are awkward or uncomfortable for
Esperanza.
В©2013 Secondary Solutions
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The House on Mango Street Literature Guide
Name _______________________________________
Period ________
The House on Mango Street
Part Three
Journal Topics
В©Secondary В Solutions В В All В Rights В Reserved. В В SAMPLE В ONLY. В В NOT В FOR В USE В OR В SALE. В В PLEASE В PURCHASE В FULL В VERSION В FOR В ACCESS. В Directions: For each vignette, two journal topics have been provided: the first prompt (A) is personal and
narrative or creative, while the second one (B) is more informational or persuasive. Choose one to write
according to your teacher’s requirements.
“Darius & the Clouds”
A. Tell the story of a time when a concept that was extremely complex was simplified for you. It
could be a school concept (e.g. double-digit multiplication), a personal solution (e.g. how to
resolve an argument with a friend), or a much larger issue (e.g. why there is suffering in the
world).
B. Write about your spiritual feelings. Do you believe in a greater presence in the world? Have you
been raised in a certain religion, and how has that faith community changed you, as you have
gotten older? If you do not have a religion, has that affected your life? How?
“And Some More”
A. Describe a normal afternoon you spent with some friends.
B. Do you think it is normal and acceptable for friends to call each other names and insult each
other, like Esperanza, Rachel, and Lucy do in this vignette? Is it all in fun, or does it really hurt
feelings? Does it strengthen a friendship or weaken it? Use personal experience to support your
ideas.
“The Family of Little Feet”
A. Do you remember the time when you first realized that your body was turning into a body more
like an adult’s? Explain how you made that discovery.
B. Is it fair that women and men are categorized and judged by the clothing they wear? What are
the benefits and disadvantages of such judgment?
“A Rice Sandwich”
A. Describe a situation in which you got something you really wanted because you thought it was
very special, but once you had it, it was nothing like you expected?
B. The kids at the canteen have keys around their necks because they return home after school to
an empty house. What determines when a child can be at home alone? Is it age, ability, or
maturity? What would be the requirements for your child(ren) to be able to stay home alone for
several hours?
“Chanclas”
A. Describe one of your most embarrassing moments. Now, after time has passed, how have your
feelings about the incident changed?
B. Do you feel that some people put too much pressure on themselves to look perfect? Cite
evidence from the news or your experience to illustrate your position.
“Hips”
A. The girls compare growing up to blooming roses. What is another comparison you could draw?
Write an extended metaphor, connecting the process of growing up to something else.
B. How should people behave when they are around others who are younger or more innocent?
Should they protect that innocence or destroy it? Why?
“The First Job”
A. Describe a situation like Esperanza's, when someone took advantage of your trusting nature and
made you feel uncomfortable.
B. If you were in a similar situation with the older man in this vignette, what would you do to defend
yourself or report the aggressor’s behavior?
В©2013 Secondary Solutions
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The House on Mango Street Literature Guide
Name _______________________________________
Period ________
The House on Mango Street
Part Three
Literature Focus: Character Interaction
В©Secondary В Solutions В В All В Rights В Reserved. В В SAMPLE В ONLY. В В NOT В FOR В USE В OR В SALE. В В PLEASE В PURCHASE В FULL В VERSION В FOR В ACCESS. В In some stories, like the ones in The House on Mango Street, there are so many characters
that you do not know which ones are going to be important to the plot and development of
the story, and which are not. However, in this novella, it is clear that Esperanza is the most
important character. Therefore, analyzing her relationships with each of the other
characters will help to better understand her and the way the plot elements emerge.
Character mapping is one way to show relationships between people in a visual way. It
allows for as many characters and relationships as there is space to put them, and readers’
maps tend to look different because they understand and perceive the characters differently.
However, each map reflects the essence of the characters’ relationships, which requires
both summary and analysis skills on the part of the person doing the mapping.
Below is an example of a character map for the popular Grimm Brothers fairy tale,
Cinderella. To read it correctly, start with the shape at the end of the arrow as the subject of
the sentence, fill in the words on the arrow, and use the shape the arrow points to as the
object of the action or phrase. For arrows with two points, the sentence can begin from
either shape.
Ex: Father is unaware of the abuse of Cinderella.
В©2013 Secondary Solutions
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The House on Mango Street Literature Guide
Name _______________________________________
Period ________
Directions: Use the space below or another piece of paper to create a map of the
characters you have encountered in The House on Mango Street so far, with Esperanza in
the middle. As you complete the map, consider a few things:
 Use shapes to reflect the characters’ personalities. Cinderella’s stepmother is sharp and
mean, so a rectangle is more appropriate than a circle. Since the stepmother is a
rectangle, it makes sense for her daughters to be squares, which are smaller versions of
a rectangle.
 The placement of a shape is important, too. Some shapes could be closer to Esperanza
because she has a close relationship with those people, but others will be further away.
Consider putting characters whose relationships are similar, like her family members, in
the same general area to keep the arrows neater and easier to follow.
 Not all relationships will create two arrows. Cinderella’s stepsisters know who the prince
is, but the fairy tale does not state that he even knows who the stepsisters are.
В©Secondary В Solutions В В All В Rights В Reserved. В В SAMPLE В ONLY. В В NOT В FOR В USE В OR В SALE. В В PLEASE В PURCHASE В FULL В VERSION В FOR В ACCESS. В Follow-up
As you continue to read The House on Mango Street, refer back to your map for help
remembering the characters. You can also add new characters or revise relationships as
needed.
В©2013 Secondary Solutions
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The House on Mango Street Literature Guide
Name _______________________________________
Period ________
The House on Mango Street
Part Three
Language Focus: Context Clues
В©Secondary В Solutions В В All В Rights В Reserved. В В SAMPLE В ONLY. В В NOT В FOR В USE В OR В SALE. В В PLEASE В PURCHASE В FULL В VERSION В FOR В ACCESS. В Context is the environment around a focused object. In the context of your classroom,
there are probably desks, posters, students, and a teacher. These are around you, and they
add to your understanding of what a classroom is.
With reading and vocabulary, context is similar: it is the words or sentences around a certain
word that all contribute to your understanding of the word. Read the sentence below and try
to use the context to guess at the underlined word.
I love Club Day at my school because I enjoy gathering information from the multifarious
organizations I could join: from Video Gamers Anonymous to the volunteer-driven Key Club,
from Young Entrepreneurs to Club Français.
What do you think multifarious means?
Now, write the meaning of the word, as found in a print or online dictionary.
Underline the words in the original sentence that were good context clues, hinting at its
meaning.
Directions: For each selection from The House on Mango Street below, a) record the
meaning you infer for each bold word, b) write the word’s meaning from a dictionary, and c)
underline the context clues in the sentence that could help clarify its meaning. The first one
has been done for you.
Ex. “A very fat lady crossing the street says, You sure got quite a load there. Rachel shouts,
You got quite a load there too. She is very sassy.” (16)
a) Inferred meaning:
rude
b) Dictionary meaning:
outspoken or inconsiderate
1. “Because Lucy has long legs she pedals. I sit on the back seat and Rachel is skinny
enough to get up on the handlebars which makes the bike all wobbly as if the wheels
are spaghetti, but after a bit you get used to it.” (15-16)
a) Inferred meaning:
b) Dictionary meaning:
2. “We saw the yellow Cadillac at the end of the block trying to make a left-hand turn, but
our alley is too skinny and the car crashed into a lamppost. . . . The nose of that yellow
Cadillac was all pleated like an alligator’s, and except for a bloody lip and a bruised
forehead, Louie’s cousin was okay.” (24-25)
a) Inferred meaning:
b) Dictionary meaning:
В©2013 Secondary Solutions
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The House on Mango Street Literature Guide
Name _______________________________________
Period ________
3. “His feet were fat and doughy like thick tamales, and these he powdered and stuffed
into white socks and brown leather shoes.” (39)
a) Inferred meaning:
В©Secondary В Solutions В В All В Rights В Reserved. В В SAMPLE В ONLY. В В NOT В FOR В USE В OR В SALE. В В PLEASE В PURCHASE В FULL В VERSION В FOR В ACCESS. В b) Dictionary meaning:
4. “It’s Rachel who learns to walk the best all strutted in those magic high heels.” (40)
a) Inferred meaning:
b) Dictionary meaning:
5. “Across the street in front of the tavern a bum man on the stoop. . . . Now you know to
talk to drunks is crazy and to tell them your name is worse, but who can blame her.” (41)
a) Inferred meaning:
b) Dictionary meaning:
6. “The special kids, the ones who wear keys around their necks, get to eat in the canteen.
The canteen! Even the name sounds important. And these kids at lunch time go there
because their mothers aren’t home or home is too far away to get to.” (43)
a) Inferred meaning:
b) Dictionary meaning:
7. “I’m no Spartan and hold up my anemic wrist to prove it. I can’t even blow up a balloon
without getting dizzy.” (44)
a) Inferred meaning:
b) Dictionary meaning:
8. “But most important, hips are scientific, I say repeating what Alicia already told me. It’s
the bones that let you know which skeleton was a man’s when it was a man and which a
woman’s.
“They bloom like roses, I continue because it’s obvious I’m the only one who can speak
with any authority; I have science on my side.” (50)
a) Inferred meaning:
b) Dictionary meaning:
Application: With your dictionary still open, find a word you didn’t know and read its
definition. Write a sentence below, trying to use the word and include several context clues
around it in the sentence to clarify its meaning. Then switch papers with a partner and try to
infer the meaning of the word he or she used.
9.
a) Inferred meaning:
b) Dictionary meaning:
В©2013 Secondary Solutions
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The House on Mango Street Literature Guide

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