Characters
The woman who is afraid to assimilate, and therefore resists learning English.
Who is Mamacita?
I knew then I had to have a house. A real house. One I could point to.
What is dreams?
Up, up, up the stairs she went with the baby boy...
What is repetition?
Then we didn't need to worry. Until one day Sally's father catches her talking to a boy and the next day she doesn't come to school. And the next.
Sally's father doesn't want Sally to get in a relationship. He also beats her.
When Esperanza has her fortune told by Elenita, she is told that some time in her future, she will have this.
What is "a home in the heart?"
The girl who works hard to get an education, even though her father disapproves of it.
Who is Alicia?
Everybody in our family has different hair. My Papa's hair is like a broom, all up in the air. And me, my hair is lazy. It never obeys barrettes or bands. Carlos' hair is thick and straight. He doesn't need to comb it. Nenny's hair is slippery—slides out of your hand. And Kiki, who is the youngest, has hair like fur.
What is identity?
The most common reason that an author uses the literary technique, "repetition."
What is for emphasis?
She met him at a dance. Geraldo in his shiny shirt and green pants. Geraldo going to a dance. What does it matter? 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?
Geraldo is an immigrant who is working to sustain himself and his family.
The real reason that the Earl of Tennessee's wife looks different to everyone in the neighborhood.
What is because she's actually several different women.
Indecisive young woman who was very talented. She could whistle, sing, and dance and had many job offers when she was younger, but didn't take any. She also gets headaches when she reads books.
What is Ruthie?
I thought I would because he was so old and just as I was about to put my lips on his cheek, he grabs my face with both hands and kisses me hard on the mouth and doesn't let go.
What is innocence?
The five senses that imagery appeals to, and the one that is most often given that distinction.
What are sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste...sight being most common?
My father says when he came to this country he ate hamandeggs for three months. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Hamandeggs. That was the only word he knew. He doesn't eat hamandeggs anymore.
Her father improved his English and is able to say the names of other foods now.
Whose mother did Esperanza run to for help when Sally went to kiss the boys?
What is Tito's mother?
The names of Esperanza's two brothers and one sister.
What are Carlos, Kiki, and Nenny?
Look at that house, I said, it looks like Mexico. Rachel and Lucy look at me like I'm crazy, but before they can let out a laugh, Nenny says: Yes, that's Mexico all right. That's what I was thinking exactly.
What is family?
The man carrying her suitcases, her lavender hatboxes, a dozen boxes of satin high heels.
What is imagery?
Sally says that she got married because she is in love, but Esperanza says she thinks Sally did it for this reason.
What is "to escape?"
Esperanza's mother says she quit school because she didn't have this.
What are nice clothes?
At least three characters who have a window as a symbol within their respective vignettes.
Who are Rafaela, Sally, Minerva, Mamacita, Esperanza, Esperanza's great-grandmother? (any three)
Everything is holding its breath inside me. Everything is waiting to explode like Christmas. I want to be all new and shiny. I want to sit out bad at night, a boy around my neck and the wind under my skirt.
What is love/coming of age/gender?
What do the trees symbolize in House of Mango Street?
What is
Appearance- the trees don't fit in with the neighborhood
Resilience- breaking free of the concrete holding them down
They will not know I have gone away to come back. For the ones I left behind. For the ones who cannot go out.
She no longer is escaping for herself, but as a tribute to those who were trapped.
The one, single quality possessed by ALL of the trapped women on Mango Street that prevents them from leaving their situations or getting help.
What is fear/submissiveness?