HOMS Playlist - Playlist for Esperanza

As mentioned earlier in the unit, you will be tasked with creating a playlist
for Esperanza. The goal is to imagine if Esperanza was coming to APIS tomorrow
and you need to create a playlist based on what you know about her from The
House of Mango Street.
You will need to select 5 songs that you will have to analyze. Your analysis of
each song needs to be at least 1-2 paragraphs long.
This means that you will need to find textual evidence/connection to the
novel (paragraph 1) and lyrics from the selected song (paragraph 2) to justify your
reasoning for choosing the song(s) for your playlist to Esperanza.
*Share your playlist with me via YouTube
**Your playlist must include at least 5 songs BUT if you want to include
more, you may include up to 10 songs. You do not have to include analysis for the
extra songs.
***This is a formative assessment that will be graded using Criterion A -
Analyzing

Example
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwMOC5i2eRk

HOMS Playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlN5QejfJvswMRfwIxI9WQu51AWpBFBh
Z

BENEE - Wishful Thinking

“Lying around, daydreaming
Wanting you now, but that's wishful thinking”

Chapter: Marin p.27

“Marin, under the streetlight, dancing by herself, is singing the same song somewhere. I know. Is
waiting for a car to stop, a star to fall, someone to change her life.”

Marin, one of the many cousins of Louie, has a strong desire for someone or something to
come in change her life. She feels trapped in her mother’s view of how her life should be and have
no freedom of controlling her own life. By the end of her day when she smokes her cigarette, “Marin,
under the streetlight, dancing by herself, is singing the same song somewhere. I know. Is waiting for
a car to stop, a star to fall, someone to change her life” (Cisneros 27). Marin hopes for someone or
something who would give her freedom and love. She feels as if living with her mother is restricting
her from doing what she truly wants. Or in her parent’s words, “trouble.”
Her life is like the chorus of the song Wishful Thinking by BENEE: “Lying around,
daydreaming. Wanting you now, but that’s wishful thinking.” Marin is wishfully thinking of someone or
something to change her life and to give her the freedom and love she longed for. She is constantly
thinking about it whenever and wherever she is. Even if it’s at work, daydreaming, or at night when
she intoxicates herself in smoke while watching boys walk by and sometimes listening to the radio.
Marin’s life is all about her wishfully thinking for a life of her own, a better one.

Lorde - Team
“We live in cities you'll never see on-screen
Not very pretty, but we sure know how to run things
Livin' in ruins of a palace within my dreams
And you know, we're on each other's team”

Chapter: Those Who Don’t p.28

“All brown all around, we are safe.”

Mango Street is not a very pretty place to live in. However even through ups and downs, the
relationships established in Mango Street still remain secure in people’s hearts. Like the community
of brown people living on Mango Street. “All brown all around, we are safe” (Cisneros 28). Other
ethnicities might racially profile brown people as dangerous, scary, or weird. But to Esperanza, she
feels like they are the people who would have her back and give her care and understanding
because they share a similar culture and background. Or simply, they are family.
The brown community on Mango Street is just like the song lyrics from Team by Lorde: “We
live in cities you'll never see on-screen. Not very pretty, but we sure know how to run things. Livin' in
ruins of a palace within my dreams. And you know, we're on each other's team.” From Esperanza’s
description of Mango Street, it is not a pretty place nor an ideal place. The house may be in
crumbles, but people still live in it. And the community doesn’t consist of all good or bad people.
There’s a mixture. There might be creepy men who sexually harass females or a doctor who saves
lives. But at the end of the day, they still deeply care for each other because of the similarities they
share, even if they don’t show it. They would never want someone to discriminate against someone
in their community because it also affects them too. The brown community of Mango Street is still a
team even though there are ups and downs.

EPIK HIGH - Home is far away

“The standards of the world is becoming like Everest
The more I go towards the top, stress builds up like a mountain”
Translated from:
세상의 눈높이 갈수록 에버레스트
정상을 향할수록 산더미만 되는 스트레스
Chapter: Alicia Who Sees Mice p. 31
“Alicia, Whose mama died, is sorry there is no one older to rise and make the lunchbox tortillas.
Alicia, who inherited her mama’s rolling pin and sleepiness, is young and smart and studies for the
first time at the university.”

Others might see Alicia as a strong girl on Mango Street, but inside she is barely holding,
with her fears of mice and fathers. In the novel, when Alicia’s mother passed away, her abusive
father expects her to fit into her mother’s shoes. Without her mother, “there is no one older to rise
and make the lunchbox tortillas” like how other mothers would. “Alicia, who inherited her mama’s
rolling pin and sleepiness, is young and smart and studies for the first time in university” (Cisneros
31). After her mother died, she had to be strong for herself because she knows her father wouldn’t
and the strongest woman she knows is her mother. So Alicia tries to be like her mother. She
inherited her mother’s rolling pin to make tortillas in the morning and her sleepiness from it. She
even studies at a university unlike other kids her age in school.
When her standard of a strong woman is her mother piled up the expectations of others,
Alicia would feel like becoming the strongest or decent to survive is nearly impossible. Similar to the
lyrics of EPIK HIGH’s Home is far away: “The standards of the world is becoming like Everest. The
more I go towards the top, stress builds up like a mountain.” Multiple hurdles are being thrown at
Alicia ever since she was young. If she fails to overcome it, her father would most likely take
advantage and make her more afraid of fathers. Or she wouldn’t be able to make herself a tortillas
lunchboxes in the morning. Or overcome her fear of mice. The stress is overwhelming her, but all
she can do is just keep going on with life.

Daya - Sit Still, Look Pretty

“No, I don't wanna sit still, look pretty”

Chapter: The Family of Little Feet p.42

“We are tired of being beautiful.”

After Rachel, Lucy, and Esperanza confidently strutted down the street like it’s their runway
in their new shoes, feeling so powerful. They ended up getting cat calls from creepy men trying to
harass the young girls because they were wearing high heels. It made their unstable self-esteem
plummet and sympathize, “We are tired of being beautiful” (Cisneros 42). Society has sexualized
high heels to be inappropriately sexually appealing to the opposite sex which in no way should be
supported. For women, wearing high heels is not always trying to seduce a man or anything. Some
women, like Esperanza and her friends, just want to wear them for themselves, not to impress
anyone or to fit it. Just catcalls from across the streets can hurt a woman’s confidence and pride in
wearing high heels.
How Rachel, Lucy, and Esperanza feel is just like Daya’s song, “Sit Still, Look Pretty”. In the
chorus the song goes, “No, I don’t wanna sit still, look pretty.” After the Bum man tries to sexually
harass the girls, they no longer have an interest in doing something like this again because they are
scared of it happening once more. The words and actions of creepy men catcalling them hurt and
leave scars because it happened young. Making them more cautious of how they present
themselves in society in the future. They don’t want to sit still, look pretty for men to inappropriately
comment nor for men to take control of their lives. Women just want to go about life freely not
worrying about how they look and how they act.
Billie Eilish - my future
“'Cause I, I'm in love
With my future
Can't wait to meet her
And I, I'm in love
But not with anybody else
Just wanna get to know myself”

Chapter: A House of My Own p.108

“Only a house quiet as snow, a space for myself to go, clean as paper before the poem.”

Ever since Esperanza moved into Mango Street in disappointment, she always wishes for a
house of her own. A house just for herself, not anyone else. “Only a house quiet as snow, a space
for myself to go, clean as paper before the poem,” she says (Cisneros 108). She dreams of her
future to be with herself doing what she wants and what she likes. She wants authority and control in
her future and not going down the path society paved for her. With a nice house, where she can call
home because she has never done that in her past.
This strong desire of hers wanting a house of her own is similarly like what Billie Eilish wants
in her future, in her song, “my future”: “'Cause I, I'm in love. With my future. Can't wait to meet her.
And I, I'm in love. But not with anybody else. Just wanna get to know myself.” In this song, she
emphasizes that she loves what her future holds, and she can’t wait to experience it first hand. Her
future is for herself to learn, not for anyone else. As well as how Esperanza dreams of a house of
her own, for her to do anything she wants. To learn about how to grow and to write stories to share
with the world. A house of her own would be the greatest escape from her life on Mango Street for
herself to finally follow her dreams.

Criterion A: analysing
Level 1-2 Level 3-4 Level 5-6 Level 7-8

The student: The student: The student: The student:

A1: Provides limited A1: Provides adequate A1: Competently A1: Provides perceptive
analysis of the content, analysis of the content, analyzes the content, analysis of content,
context, language, context, language, context, language, context, language,
structure, technique and structure, technique and structure, technique, style structure, technique, style
style of text(s) and the style of text(s) and the of text(s) and the of text(s) and the
relationship among texts. relationship among texts. relationships among texts. relationship among texts.
A2: Provides limited A2: Provides adequate A2: Competently A2: Perceptively
analysis of the effects of analysis of the effects of analyzes the effects of the analyzes the effects of the
the creator’s choices on the creator’s choices on creator’s choices on an creator’s choices on an
an audience. an audience. audience. audience.
 A3: Rarely justifies
opinions and ideas with
examples or explanations;
uses little or no
terminology.
A4: Evaluates few
similarities and differences
by making minimal
connections in features
across and within genres
and texts.
A3: Justifies opinions and
ideas with some
examples and
explanations, though this
may not be consistent;
uses some terminology.
A4: Evaluates some
similarities and differences
by making adequate
connections in features
across and within genres
and texts.
A3: Sufficiently justifies A3: Gives detailed
opinions and ideas with justification of opinions
examples and and ideas with a range of
explanations; uses examples, and thorough
accurate terminology. explanations; uses
A4: Evaluates similarities accurate terminology.
and differences by making A4: Perceptively
substantial connections compares and contrasts
in features across and by making extensive
within genres and texts. connections in features
across and within genres
and texts.

My only recommendation is to reference more terminology when you write the summative as
well as focus on authorial choices and how that impacts meaning and mood. Ms. Stefanie