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House On Mango Street Analysis and Review
House On Mango Street Analysis and Review
Street”
Analysis and Review
I. The Story’s Structure
(Setup):
“Mango Street” is a novella (short novel)
Uses poetic language, but fairly simple word choice and
sentence structure (fragments, simple sentences). Why??
1) Reflects a young girl’s short attention span
2) Imitates the neighborhood’s setup
(lots of people, not any one person has very much space
on the page or in the neighborhood)
3) Unfinished vignettes remind us that women’s lives were
often left “unfinished” as well.
II. A Few Characters:
Esperanza- wants to escape the neighborhood, but
knows she will return
Mama- loving to her children, but lives with regrets of
her own
Alicia- works hard at home, goes to college
Sally- a girl in the neighborhood who kisses boys in the
Monkey Garden; very mature
Sire- a male in the neighborhood who watches
Esperanza; she’s attracted to him.
II. A Few Characters:
Aunt Lupe- the aunt who was sick; Esperanza played
charades and mimicked her
Rachel + Lucy- play friends; they ride bikes together
and play dress up
Elenita- a fortune teller whom Esperanza asks about her
chances of having a “home”
The Three Sisters- older women who are wise, but
disappear one day
Geraldo- a man in the neighborhood who dies without
getting the hospital help he needs
III. Parts of the Story (Plot
Pyramid):
EXPOSITION: Esperanza shares her
personal information with us- her house,
family, difference between the boys and
girls, and what her name means, and her
desire to leave
RISING ACTION: Esperanza starts out as
very childlike, but as the story progresses,
she matures, sees differences in herself,
and is increasingly attracted to males
III. Parts of the Story (Plot
Pyramid):
CLIMAX: Sally leaves Esperanza in the Monkey Garden
alone, she is attacked
FALLING ACTION: Esperanza realizes a boy is not her
way out of the neighborhood; writing her story is her
only way out.
RESOLUTION: The reader circles back to Esperanza
telling us about her house on Mango Street, with an
added determination to leave, but peace of mind
because now she has written down her story.
IV. Symbolism + Motifs (Reocurring Ideas):
1) __________________________________
2) __________________________________