Figurative Language
This type of figurative language is used when Esperanza says that her house on Mango Street "is small and red with tight steps in front and windows so small you'd think they were holding their breath.”
What is personification? (gives human attributes to a non-human object)
This character’s death is discussed in the chapter Born Bad.
Who is Aunt Lupe?
This was Esperanza’s first job.
What is the print shop?
This theme is shown in the chapters Family of Little Feet, Chanclas and The First Job and in the quote: "I looked at my feet in their white socks and brown shoes. Once, when we were dirty-face little girls, I’d lived in a house full of books... Now I am a tall, awkward woman, the one who is clumsy and awful."
What is the loss of innocence?
This type of car is crashed in the chapter Louie, His Cousin, His Other Cousin.
What is a yellow Cadillac?
This quote is an example of this type of figurative language.
“Until then I am a red balloon, a balloon tied to an anchor (pg 9).”
What is a metaphor? (compares 2 things WITHOUT using ‘like’ or ‘as’)
This character is Esperanza’s younger sister.
Who is Nenny (Magdelana)?
This is the place at school where Esperanza want to eat instead of going home for lunch.
What is the canteen?
Open-ended: What is one cultural identifier discussed in THOMS so far, and how is it shown?
Examples: race, gender, socio-economic status, etc.
Esperanza’s name means this in English.
What is hope?
This quote is an example of this type of figurative language.
“(…) Rachel is skinny enough to get up on the handlebars which makes the bike all wobbly as if the wheels are spaghetti, but after a bit you get used to it (pg 16).”
What is a simile? (compares 2 things using ‘like’ or ‘as’)
Esperanza says this made her feel ashamed of her house in the chapter “The House on Mango Street” by saying: “You live there?”
Who is the nun?
Esperanza feels ashamed for this reason in the chapter Born Bad.
What is the game played by Esperanza and her friends where they mocked Aunt Lupe?
Open-ended: What is one theme in THOMS so far and how is it shown in the book?
Examples: Search for identity/community, loss of innocence/growing up, etc.
In the chapter Meme Ortiz, the kids hold this contest which results in Meme breaking both his arms.
What is the First Annual Tarzan Jumping contest?
This quote is an example of this type of figurative language.
“The dog is big, like a man dressed in a dog suit (…) with the limbs flopping all over the place like untied shoes (pg 21).”
What is a simile? (compares 2 things using ‘like’ or ‘as’)
This is the character Esperanza inherited her name from.
Who is her great-grandmother?
The girls receive a bag of these discarded items from a neighbor in the chapter The Family of Little Feet which instantly make them feel older and draws unwanted attention from adult men on the street.
What are high heels?
This cultural identifier is discussed in the chapters The House on Mango Street, Those Who Don’t, and A Rice Sandwich as well as in the quote: "They always told us that one day we would move into a house, a real house that would be ours for always so we wouldn't have to move each year. And our house would have running water and pipes that worked. And perhaps a basement... But the house on Mango Street is not it."
What is socio-economic background?
Esperanza’s name means this in Spanish.
What is sadness?
This type of figurative language is used when Esperanza describes her great-grandmother as a "wild horse of a woman" who refused to look out her window.
What is a metaphor? (compares 2 things WITHOUT using ‘like’ or ‘as’)
These two characters co-own a bike with Esperanza and her sister.
Who are Lucy and Rachel?
Esperanza doesn’t want to dance for this reason in the chapter Chanclas.
What are her old saddle shoes?
This cultural identifier discussed in the chapters My Name, Alicia Who Sees Mice and Marin, as well as in the quote: "Her power is her own, she writes each night with a pencil and paper. She knows what it is to be a woman, to be alone, to be a woman who has no man to lean on."
What is gender?
Esperanza would like to baptize herself under this new name.
What is Zeze the X?