The House on Mango Street | Teen Ink

The House on Mango Street MAG

By Bapalapa2 ELITE, Brooklyn, New York
Bapalapa2 ELITE, Brooklyn, New York
1044 articles 0 photos 1 comment

   InThe House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros defies traditional form and grammar tocreate an honest and passionate work. Her simplicity is beautiful, as are herabundant images and metaphors.

Through the young and imaginative eyes ofthe narrator, Esperanza, Cisneros gives the reader snapshots of a childhood in animpoverished Latino family in Chicago. Each brief passage highlights an incidentor observation in her life, from the childish pleasures of a used bicycle and thecompanionship of neighborhood trees, to the disappointment of moving to MangoStreet and the guilt of losing a relative.

Gifted with effortlessstorytelling ability and poetic sincerity, Cisneros brings together these storieswith their common thread of cultural oppression of women. Esperanza watches asthe women in her life become stuck in hopeless poverty and loneliness due totheir fathers or sweet-talking boyfriends who leave them with too many children.Esperanza sees the young mothers with a baby balanced on each hip, and the oldimmigrant women desperately struggling to maintain their Mexican roots. She vowsto leave Mango Street and work as a writer, but never to forget the women whocould not escape.

Esperanza's growth into a young woman and her desire torise above her beginnings make The House on Mango Street a poignant book forstudents of any culture and background. Its concise prose makes it ideal forreading either in a single evening, or in short sections over a longer period oftime.



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This article has 71 comments.


zethayala said...
on Jun. 30 2018 at 8:55 pm
zethayala, Phelan, California
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The house on mango street by cisneros it is a very good book. It is a very good book it is about a young girl named Esperanza that was growing up poor in Chicago. But she did not care even though it was hard for her and her family. I would recommend reading this book

on May. 2 2018 at 5:26 pm
ImanijAnderson,
0 articles 0 photos 1 comment
House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros was a good book, the plot was a little hard to figure out because of the way they wrote the chapters. This book is about a young girl named Esperanza who lives in a house on Mango st. She has siblings, but her mom wants to move because of there house. I believe its a good book to read if your looking for a good just a book to read.

Phantom19 said...
on Apr. 30 2018 at 2:52 pm
Phantom19,
0 articles 0 photos 1 comment
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros was a good book in all, but I couldn't grasp the plot because of how the chapters were written. The book is about a girl named Esperanza who lives in a house on mango st. Pretty self explanatory.I thought the book itself was a good poetry book but not as a story. My personal opinion is that you shouldn't read the book if you're looking for a good story.

debrannap23 said...
on Apr. 30 2018 at 2:30 pm
debrannap23,
0 articles 0 photos 1 comment
the house on mango street is a good book in my opinion.This book is about a teenage girl named Esperanza and how her and her siblings and other members of her family help each other.The story takes place in her neighborhood where she meets her friends.Also in my opinion I think you should avoid the book because there’s more books that are similar to this story,that includes thes some plot and purpose of the story. It’s more so like a remix of other books.

on Apr. 10 2018 at 3:01 am
ChristianC14 BRONZE, Victorville, California
1 article 0 photos 2 comments
The book the house on mango street by Sandra Cisneros people should not read this in my opinion. Its about esperanza and her family they all love Each other and help one another through struggles. I didn't like that it copies the book esperanza maybe its the same author im not sure but I did like esperanza better. Avoid this book and go read esperanza.

on Apr. 10 2018 at 2:53 am
ChristianC14 BRONZE, Victorville, California
1 article 0 photos 2 comments
This was a good book and trust me in not the most fond of books

on Mar. 21 2018 at 5:08 pm
AsenathRose GOLD, Chesapeake Beach, Maryland
14 articles 0 photos 22 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Let me be that I am and seek not to alter me,"--Shakespeare

I love this book. However, I never quite grasped the WHOLE thing being about women in suffering, i felt the magic of the ook was mainly based in a common location, and the beauty of it. The mysterious ending will never let me be satisfied.

on Mar. 15 2018 at 12:35 pm
marianaterrazas21, San Bernardino, California
0 articles 0 photos 1 comment
The book the House On Mango Street By Sandra Cisneros is a great book and i completely believe it's a great book to read. The book is about a young girl named Esperanza who improves in homes to the house on mango street. Esperanza, the main character feels that she does not belong with her family. She feels out of place because of her dreams to move from mango street and escape a world where men and husbands dominate and abuse women for example: "And the story goes she never forgave him. She looked out the window her whole life, the way so many women sit their sadness on an elbow. I wonder if she made the best with what she got or was she sorry because she couldn't be all the things she wanted to be. Esperanza. I have inherited her name, but I don't want to inherit her place by the window." Chapter 4, pg. 11. She Learns that she doesn't want to end up like her grandmother and many other women on Mango street. She learns about poverty “ I knew then I had to have a house. A real house. One I could point to. But this isn't it. The house on Mango Street isn't it. For the time being, Mama says. Temporary, says Papa. But I know how those things go." Chapter 1, pg. 5 and racism for example : "All brown all around, we are safe. But watch us drive into a neighborhood of another color and our knees go shakity-shake and our car windows get rolled up tight and our eyes look straight. Yeah. That is how it goes and goes." Chapter 12, pg. 28 throughout the book alongside her family and a couple friends. At the end of the book Esperanza realizes that she will leave but she will return for those who can't leave that easy and be successful “"I put it down on paper and then the ghost does not ache so much. I write it down and Mango says goodbye sometimes. She does not hold me with both arms. She sets me free. One day I will pack my bags of books and paper. One day I will say goodbye to Mango. I am too strong for her to keep me here forever. One day I will go away." Chapter 44, pg. 110 I think this book is great because it's not fantacy it shows some of the struggles growing up in a poor environment and growing up with a different race is and it shows what growing up is in her eyes.

on Feb. 22 2018 at 5:36 pm
viviancatalan,
0 articles 0 photos 1 comment
"The House On Mango Street"by Sandra Cisneros is a real world situation that is inspiring and helpful. The book House On Mango Street is about a girl named Esperanza who had a wonder life before until her parents won the lottery and everything went down hill from there. They have a home that is big and have their own back yard and nobody tells them nothing and live with there family. But the bad news is that is old and makes a creek noise every time someone walks in the basement. Also she lives in a bad part of the the city like the ghetto side. Esperanza has three sisters and she is the oldest. Her father is very hard working and realizes on her to teach her sisters right."Because I am the oldest, my father has told me first, and now it is my turn to tell the others. I will have to explain why we can't play. I will have to tell them to be quiet today." She wants to be all grown up fast and get married before she is an adult (before 18). I found interesting Sally, Esperanza cousin. Sally she is so trustworthy and so educated and cares for everyone. Even though she lost her mother she still is good and does good things and acts all grown up. Some things that stood out to me is that the specific details and how the story is put out the text. Its really like how the story is told by a girl and how she describes everyone and the setting its feels like I am actually there with her. I like that the story gives us questions that we should ask ourselves and keeps us open about that. I think that you should read the story its so inspiring and will help you if you don't have stuff like others and can't afford stuff.

nich23 said...
on Jan. 16 2018 at 11:56 am
nich23, Riverside, California
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“The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros is a great book with a lot of life lessons and details that will draw you in with every page. The book is about a girl named Esperanza who grows up and deals with in what we call today the projects, or the ghetto. She is embarrassed about the setting of her early years and is eager to grow up and leave Mango Street. Also, she navigates through changes and relationships and boys. She meets a lot of strange faces and familiar faces, but they are all unique and different. Some of the characters that I found interesting are Sally, Nenny, and Louie and his cousin. I found Sally interesting because of how young she is and how quick she is to grow up. She wants to be an adult so fast that she gets married before she is even 18. Nenny I found interesting because of immaturity and mission to enjoy life. I also admire he ability to not care what people think of her, of course she is still young, but it is till a valuable quality to have. Louie’s cousin interests me because of his lack of care for authority. I can relate to him because I too had a problem obeying the law and listening to authority so, of course, he stuck out to me. What I liked about this book is the writing style. It is not a book that you can just breeze through, you have to focus on each word and absorb each sentence to get the full effect of the writing. I also like the random pop up of characters. I feel that it gives a background to the story and makes it more realistic. For example, in the chapter titled The Family of Little Feet, it talks about a random of family that gave Esperanza and her friend a couple pair of shoes. “There was a family. All were little.” This quote portrays the random and warm feeling of this family with little feet. In conclusion, with the setting and life lessons, vast variety of characters, careful writing style, and attention to detail, I recommend anyone and everyone to read and experience The House of Mango Street

shylygarcia said...
on Jan. 10 2018 at 2:24 pm
shylygarcia,
0 articles 0 photos 1 comment
The house on mango street is a very good book to read if you like reading about peoples lives and the struggles they go through. The story is about a girl who struggles in a poor neighborhood that she cant get out of. In my opinion I think this is a really good book because It´s interesting to read about someones hard time in life and how she overcame that. If your looking for a book to read I would recommend this one because this book it´s a interesting book to read and it keeps you from putting the book down

i love this !

on Dec. 1 2017 at 1:26 pm
Kimberly56683,
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The house on mango street is a really good book written by Sandra Cisneros that states many different types of problems and daily troubles that the girl "Esperanza" had went through. I would say you should read this book because you could relate to some of the experiences Esperanza went through. It is a very nice book that states lots of imagery of Esperanza's life. There was many different scenarios that may or may not be relatable in many people's lives. She explains how she feels about almost everything she went through. The main plot of where the book all started and got interesting was when Esperanza explains how her and her family moved into the house on Mango Street. I really liked how in the beginning she actually writes about herself before she starts talking about Esperanza. I also liked how Esperanza went through so many different types of scenarios and brought in many different types of people into the story. She would always explain how she thought other people felt as well as herself and that made this book even more creative because in other books it'll only explain the main characters' feelings. Another thing that is very unique about the book is how all the different scenarios have their very own names as if they're their own little books themselves. Like "The Family of Little Feet", "Beautiful and Cruel", "Laughter", and many more. Esperanza never liked living on Mango Street and wanted to be somewhere else. "I'm going to tell you a story of a girl who didn't want to belong" explains how she didn't want to be where she was at. This book is an amazing book even though it might some weird because of all the scenarios that will be stated. Even with all the scenarios there are many good things about the book. There are people of all ages who read and should read the book of "Esperanza" and all the people who come in and out of her life.

sglover said...
on Nov. 15 2017 at 12:33 pm
sglover,
0 articles 0 photos 2 comments
the house on mango street, written by sandra cisneros is a very good book to read if you are ever bored. the house on mango street follows a 12 year old girl named esperanza. Her family had moved into a house on a street called mango street in the latino section of Chicago.Throughout the course of the novel, Esperanza begins to develop as she goes through puberty and other experiences through out her life.In conclusion, if you find yourself bored at any point of time feel free to check this book out.

sglover said...
on Nov. 15 2017 at 12:16 pm
sglover,
0 articles 0 photos 2 comments
a defdfdfvfrgfrsfrht

on Oct. 21 2017 at 9:11 pm
ironichipster,
0 articles 0 photos 1 comment
The House On Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros is a great look in the life of an urban kid wich you should read.The House On Mango Street is about a girl by the name of Esperanza who lives on Mango street a street with a lot of of interesting characters like Salley a freind of Esperanza who goes through physical abuse or one of her siblings who are diffrent in good ways.The urban setting give a good sense of the life many ethnic groups lived through during that time and it shows through the character interactions.I think the story was good told through parts with some being small and other bigs showing the important of the part in relation to plot.The use of spanish words within the story gives merit to the characters ethnisity.The story isn't perfect the progression was too fast and wasn't as flushed out.Overall a good read i totaly recomend it.

Rocklazy said...
on Oct. 18 2017 at 7:23 pm
Rocklazy,
0 articles 0 photos 1 comment
The House on the Mango street by Sandra Cisneros. I was given this book as an assignment to read and review this book. I don't really recommend this book for many reasons and I'll mention why and even talk about the plot it has. It felt like someone's ramblings as they act as a girl named Esperanza. The book itself has many grammar issues, but they may have been done on purpose as many of the characters are children and or have never learned proper grammar in their world. The story is very mundane and negative like as if most of the characters who live on mango street will always be there without hope. The basic plot is that Esperanza moves into mango street with her family and dislikes her new home. She meets many new people on this street who all have their own issues, such as domestic abuse and poverty. I find a lot of these short chapters painfully boring as they never really progress into something more. Sure somethings do change like Sally's chapters but it's never well done in my opinion. Often it is confusing to discern who is talking as many of the conversations don't include quotation marks. The repetition just adds to the confusion and makes it downright annoying. And while some of the chapters included characters I was willing to give chances too, they only stay for one chapter as flat static characters who you don't even remember as they had no impact on the "plot". There was also a couple of disturbing moments in some chapters like an old man kissing Esperanza on the lips. But otherwise if you cut out all the unnecessary chapters and the repetition, you'd find a much much shorter book. All in all, this is a story that could have been so much better but it was written in such a confusing way with the lack of quotation marks (and even periods sometimes) and how unimportant a lot of the characters were that could've been more interesting. I don't recommend getting this book for fun as its so pointless and if you're in my school, you may be forced to read this for an assignment.

blakewelch19 said...
on Sep. 25 2017 at 12:05 am
blakewelch19,
0 articles 0 photos 1 comment
The house on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros is a good book to read if you want to learn what really goes on.I think people should read this from high school age and up because it uses realism to the degree that a lot of books do not go to. It makes a good book to read and be informed about the life these people went through The book is about a girl named Esperanza that moved to mango street from an apartment that had broken pipes. She goes through many experiences meeting friends and learning about her body. She wants to live somewhere better but for now has to live in this bad area. I liked the book although it had very explicit parts in the book. It showed what really happened using realism which a lot of books do not do these days. Other than that it is just a interesting book to read and learn about. But I did not like how parts of the book got boring and did not feel like they had much to do with the overall plot. An example is how Esperanza explained how her mom smelled like bread which has nothing to do with what she goes through. Overall the book was good despite the parts that did not make much sense. I would recommend this book to people from high school age and up as it has details that can be disturbing. The story is good if you can handle what you are reading. Reply

Kaylee_Ward said...
on Sep. 19 2017 at 4:23 pm
Kaylee_Ward,
0 articles 0 photos 1 comment
My school made me read this book, I would otherwise not have gotten past the first page, it was so boring. I would call it a circular story but for the fact that it never goes anywhere in the process of getting back to where it started. The book sounds like Cisneros wrote what was published as it came to her, and never looked back to edit; it is filled with little segments that could have made a great background for a story if used as such instead of focused on. The first half sounds like what you would get if you asked a seven year old about there life; there is no unifying theme except for a main character, Esperanza, and there is no plot to speak of. In the second half it becomes evident that Esperanza is more than seven. The second half does, in fact, have many good ideas that could have made the story interesting if they had been more then brushed against for a page or two before she moved on. The carelessness, monotony with which said could have been interesting events were described, did not let me care. If one of these many ideas had been allowed to develop until it was more than an idea, or all of them together, mingled in a way that made them one, then this book could be called a story. If the writer could learn to like the story and care for the character enough to give her character, then it could be called a good story. As it is, I see it only as the diary of a seven year old who says she wants a house all her own more than anything else, but who is not working towards that goal in any way, is discontent with her life, but doesn't try to change it, and thinks herself special because she doesn't like where she's at, knows where she's going, and expects to get there just by wanting. In short, I hated it from beginning to end, and can not for the life of me understand what so many people think is so great about it.

Ginger Diaz said...
on Sep. 13 2017 at 5:30 pm
Ginger Diaz,
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The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. I think people should read this book because it has a background of a latina life. Nobody really focuses on the mexican lifestyle so it's good to learn other things. Also because the author has a great point of view and it is easy to understand. The two main characters are Esperanza and Sally, they were best friends who lived next to each other in a not so good and some what suspicious neighborhood. What i liked about this book was that it was a fun story to read about. If you love stories about adventures and suspense this is the book for you.