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The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

Major Themes:

  • Identity: Esperanza struggles with her identity as she matures, feeling limited by her community. She uses writing as a form of expression.
  • Gender Roles: The novel explores how women are treated by men and the expectations placed upon them. Esperanza defies these expectations.
  • Growing Up: Esperanza experiences the struggles of those around her as they seek male attention, leading her to uncomfortable situations. Women in her culture are expected to adhere to specific gender roles, which she rejects.
  • Cultural Expectations: Examines the traditions and community standards of a Chicano community. It explores how these expectations affect characters, particularly women.

Esperanza’s Voice and Perspective:

  • Her voice evolves, shifting from an observer to someone who forms her own opinions.
  • Initially, she desires to leave Mango Street, but later, her perspective changes.

Symbolism, Motifs, and Allusions:

  • Symbols such as windows represent the limited freedom women experience, yet they desire to escape.
  • Allusions to books add depth, and motifs reinforce central themes.
  • The house itself becomes a symbol of self and identity, desire and a trap.

Language and Imagery:

  • Cisneros uses vivid language and imagery to shape Esperanza’s identity and reflect her internal conflicts.
  • Imagery associated with her hair, for example, reflects her feelings.
    The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Robert Fitzgerald

Characteristics of an Epic Hero:

  • Odysseus displays cunning (e.g., “Nobody” and the Cyclops) and possesses an epic flaw.
  • He is a traveler who faces perils, embodying the hero's journey.

Key Plot Events:

  • Encounter with Polyphemus (Cyclops).
  • Circe transforms Odysseus’ men into pigs.
  • Scylla is a six-headed monster, Charybdis a whirlpool, and Helios’ cattle lead to the death of Odysseus' men.

Greek Values:

  • Hospitality is shown through refuge granted to Odysseus.
  • Loyalty is demonstrated by Odysseus towards his family.
  • Cleverness is used by Odysseus to navigate his way home.

Roles of Women:

  • Penelope, Circe, and Calypso each play significant roles with varying expectations. Noble women are expected to serve men/be leaders with control, maintain a good family, and have a royal palace.

Epithets:

  • Epithets define a character’s characteristics.
    Devices and Structure

Citing Novels, Poems, and Short Stories:

  • Understanding how to properly cite these literary forms is crucial.

Literary Devices:

  • Recognizing and interpreting literary devices such as metaphor, simile, personification, alliteration, hyperbole, allusion, and symbolism.
    • Examples: is/like, as/swaying tree/sandy sells sea shells…/exaggeration/Esperanza alludes to madam butterfly/ symbol of windows

Themes Across Genres:

  • Identifying common themes such as growing up.

Structure:

  • Analyzing how structure (vignettes, stanzas, dialogue) shapes meaning in a text.
    • Vignettes represent memories, dialogue emphasizes emotion, and stanzas add structure and pacing.

Context and Setting:

  • Understanding how historical and cultural contexts influence characters and themes. In The Odyssey, the context of gods and the creation of the land is crucial and it affects the characters response to them.
    MLA Citations

Formatting:

  • Know the format for the heading, title, page numbers, spacing, font/size, and Works Cited page.

In-text Citations:

  • Short stories: (Poe, 1)
  • Poems: (Poe, line 17) or (Poe, l. 17)
  • Novels and novellas: (Cisneros, 21)
  • Epic poems: Use book and line when applicable (Homer, Odyssey, Book 9, line 14) or (Homer, Odyssey, IX, l. 14)

Formatting Titles:

  • Know how the names of short stories, poems, or novels should be formatted when mentioned in an essay.
    • “Quoted” / Italicized
    • Article / novel/book
    • Chapter name/
    • Shorter / longer