The House on Mango Street Reading Questions- Part I

1 !!1!Name%_____%%Date%_____%%Class%Hour%_ ____% The House on Mango Street Reading Questions- part I "The House on Mango Street 1. What topics are covered in this vignette? 2. Where did the narrator live before she moved to The House on Mango Street ? 3. How were her previous homes different? 4. In what kind of House would she like to live? 5. Does her new home live up to her expectations? Why not? "Hairs" 6. What is this vignette about? Answer this and don't mention the topic hair. When you have done so, you will have mentioned theme. 7. Who are the members of Esperanza's family? !!2!"Boys and Girls" 8. What do you learn about the narrator's culture from the way the children are thought of and the way the children behave? 9. What does this vignette tell about the relationship between males and females?

2 10. "Until then I am like a red balloon, a balloon tied to an anchor." What is the anchor? 11. What is the thing in her life that is holding her in place? What will free her? "My Name" 12. What has caused her to think negatively about her name? 13. After whom was Esperanza named? 14. What do you learn about Esperanza's Mexican culture that was foreshadowed in "Boys and Girls"? !!3!Name%_____%%Date%_____%%Class%Hour%_ ____% The House on Mango Street Reading Questions- part 2 "Cathy Queen of Cats" 15. What do you learn about bigotry from Cathy? 16. What do you learn about Alicia? Why do you think Alicia stopped being friendly with Cathy? 17. What do you learn about Esperanza from the way she accepts the stories from Cathy? "Our Good Day" 18. How does Esperanza make friends with Lucy and Rachel?

3 What makes them better friends than Cathy? 19. Rachel and Lucy: Who were they in "Cathy Queen of Cats"? What choice does Esperanza make in this vignette? What does it mean? !!4!"Laughter - Here is another vignette that is about more than the facts it presents. 20. What is the theme of the vignette? "Gil's Furniture Bought and Sold" 21. What does the astute reader learn about Esperanza from this vignette? "Meme Ortiz" 22. What must it be like to go through life with two multiple names and titles depending upon which language you are using. 23. Which language is Esperanza's? Are you sure? "Louie, His Cousin & His Other Cousin" 24. What is Marin's role in the family? 25. Fill in the missing pieces and explain why Louie's cousin was arrested. !!5!Name%_____%%Date%_____%%Class%Hour%_ ____% The House on Mango Street Reading Questions- part 3 "Marin" 26.

4 Who is Marin? Why is she unable to leave her House ? How does she plan to change her situation? Why do Esperanza and her friends admire her? 27. What does this vignette tell us about the role some women are asked to play in society? What does Marin feel will save her? "Those Who Don't" 28. How do outsiders see Esperanza's neighborhood? How does Esperanza feel when she visits other neighborhoods? 29. Does anything that is mentioned in this chapter ring true for you? "There Was an Old Woman She Had So Many Children She Didn't Know What to Do" 30. What is Rosa Vargas' life like? What is the solution? Is there fault? !!6!31. Why does Rosa Vargas cry every day? Why do her children misbehave? What happens to her son Angel? "Alicia Who Sees Mice" 32. Alicia from "Cathy Queen of Cats" is the subject of this vignette.

5 What are some of the obstacles she must overcome to continue to improve herself? How does the culture of her family hold her back? 33. How does Alicia's father treat her efforts to get an education? "Darius & the Clouds" 34. What is the theme of this prose poem? %%!!7!Name%_____%%Date%_____%%Class%Hour %_____% The House on Mango Street Reading Questions- part 4 "And Some More" 35. Who is the speaker of each line? Can you attach a name to each? 36. What is the destructive element involved in this scene? "The Family of Little Feet" 37. What happens to Esperanza when she and her friends are given some cast-off shoes? How do the shoes change them? What effect do they have on the men in the neighborhood? 38. What is happening in this vignette that is so powerful that the girls want to forget that it happened?

6 Where does the power lie? There are many things that are dangerous that are described here. Mr. Benny from the corner grocery notices one danger. Are there others? Think back to "Marin" and "Alicia !!8!Who Sees Mice" or look forward in the book follow the character of Sally. What are the dangers are there in Esperanza's world? "A Rice Sandwich" 39. Why does Esperanza want to eat in the school canteen? How does she get her mother to help her? 40. Esperanza tries to be part of something she sees as special. What was the reality of the canteen? 41. Describe Esperanza's shame. "Chanclas" 42. What is the significance of the last two lines of this vignette? 43. Consider the events in "The Family of Little Feet." What is the ambivalence the character has about her growing sexuality?

7 %%%!!9!Name%_____%%Date%_____%%Class%Hou r%_____% The House on Mango Street Reading Questions- part 5 "Hips" 44. What are the girls doing as they talk about hips? What are hips good for? What does their conversation tell you about their ages? 45. Why does the author contrast the talk of developing bodies with the songs of the jump rope? What is the purpose of the juxtaposition of these two topics? 46. How has Nenny separated herself from the group? "The First Job" 47. Which quality of Esperanza's personality shows up while she is at her first job? 48. What information do you have from previous stories about Esperanza and other women in the book that would account for Esperanza's shyness and reticence? !!10!"Papa Who Wakes Up Tired in the Dark" 49. Why does Esperanza's father cry?

8 How does his crying make her feel? 50. What phrase does Esperanza use that indicates she feels more an American than a Mexican? "Born Bad" 51. What happens to Aunt Lupe? Why does Esperanza believe she deserves to go to hell? 52. What special relationship did Esperanza have with her aunt? 53. This is the first story to indicate the path of escape for Esperanza. What is it? Who encouraged her? 54. What do you think will be one of your paths to your future? What gift do you have that "will keep you free"? Have you begun "to dream the dreams"? %%%!!11!Name%_____%%Date%_____%%Class%Ho ur%_____% The House on Mango Street Reading Questions- part 6 "Elenita, Cards, Palm, Water" 55. Why does Esperanza seek a home? Remember back to "The House on Mango Street ." 56.

9 Is there anything in the story to indicate that Esperanza is still a little girl? "Geraldo No Last Name" 57. Why does Geraldo have no last name? From the information Cisneros provides, do you believe that his death was inevitable? 58. They never saw the kitchenettes. They never knew about the two-room flats and sleeping rooms he rented, the weekly money orders sent home, the currency exchange. How could they? 59. If she did not even know his last name, how does she know about his life? 60. Who else has no last name in the story? Why is this so? !!12!"Edna's Ruthie" 61. The narrator does not know what is wrong with Ruthie. Any answer about her problem would be speculation, but good readers have good speculations. What do you think? "The Earl of Tennessee" 62.

10 Here is a case where the observant reader is smarter than the narrator. Explain the last paragraph of this vignette. Sire" 63. Why is Esperanza afraid of Sire? What do her parents think of him? 64. Why is she so curious about what he does with Lois, and why does this curiosity make her feel as though "everything is holding its breath inside me" [73]? 65. How would you advise Lois? !!13!66. In one ear, Esperanza hears her mother's voice which says that "those girls are the ones that go into alleys." Esperanza also wonders where Sire takes Lois and what happens there. What is the conflict that Esperanza is in? Would you describe the conflict as Esperanza against another person, against herself, against nature, or against society? Who out there could make a case for all four?