What is the summary of The House on Mango Street?

What is the summary of The House on Mango Street?

Synopsis. The House on Mango Street covers a year in the life of Esperanza Cordero, a young Chicana girl living in an impoverished Chicago neighborhood with her parents and three siblings. The book opens with Esperanza, the narrator, explaining how her family first arrived on Mango Street.

What does Esperanza lose in red clowns?

Esperanza poetically describes being sexually assaulted by a boy at a carnival under the laughing red clowns and tilt-a-whirl ride. She doesn’t say exactly what happened, but she implies that she was raped. She is angry at Sally because losing her virginity was nothing like what she said it would be.

What did Sally lie about in red clowns?

Red Clowns Esperanza begins this chapter by accusing Sally of having lied to her about sex. Sex didn’t turn out to be anything like the way Sally told it, or like it is in the movies.

How does Esperanza change throughout the story?

Esperanza learns to shape an identity through self-awareness and art. She learns that in order to escape the constricted life on Mango Street she must shed her dependence on men and struggle hard for self-determination.

Why did Esperanza let Tito push her?

Why does Esperanza let Tito push her into the water? She doesn’t have her voice around boys yet.

What does the rice sandwich symbolize?

Have you ever wanted something that others had but you did not? In the story, “A Rice Sandwich” by Sandra Cisneros, the author reveals to the reader about a universal lesson of wanting to have something that others have through the character Esperanza, who is wanting what she does not have: to eat in the canteen.

Who got raped in Mango Street?

Esperanza
The House on Mango Street: Chapter 39 Summary & Analysis Esperanza addresses this section to Sally. Esperanza has just been sexually assaulted at a carnival, and her narrative is confused and disjointed. She was at the carnival with Sally, as she likes watching Sally laugh on the rides.

What did Sally lie about to Esperanza?

Red Clowns Esperanza begins this chapter by accusing Sally of having lied to her about sex. Sex didn’t turn out to be anything like the way Sally told it, or like it is in the movies. Esperanza was waiting for Sally by the tilt-a-whirl at the carnival, but Sally never showed up.

What do the linoleum roses represent?

simile- “the ceiling smooth as wedding cake.” symbolism- the linoleum roses represent how Sally’s new life seems better after the marriage but in reality it’s just the same as before.

What is ironic about Esperanza’s name?

Esperanza, the narrator, reveals her name for the first time. She explains that it means “hope” in English, but in Spanish it means “sadness” and “waiting.” She got the name from her great-grandmother, and they were both born in the Chinese year of the horse.

How does Esperanza find her identity?

Why didn’t Esperanza mom want her lunch in the canteen?

At first her mother is reluctant because she thinks that all her children will want bag lunches then, but Esperanza convinces her that she is the only one who wants to stay at school, and her absence will make her mother appreciate her more.

Why did Esperanza turn down the boy who asked her to dance?

Esperanza’s cousin by marriage is interested in dancing with her, but she was too embarrassed at the beginning, and she turns him down. After dancing with Uncle Nacho, Esperanza is more confident of her beauty and appeal, and then she is flattered to be watched by a boy who is not related to her.