Ch. 41
"The Three Sisters"
"The Three Sisters"
500 points
The three sisters know that even though Esperanza has not left Mango Street physically, she has already left it _____________.
(As in, in what other way has Esperanza "left" Mango Street?)
Esperanza has not yet left Mango Street physically, but she is already gone spiritually/mentally/emotionally, and the sisters sense this.
1000 points
"You have a home, Alicia, and one day you'll go there, to a town you remember, but me I never had a house, not even a photograph...only one I dream of." (Cisneros 106-107)
1. What sound device is being used?
2. What effect does it have on what's being said?
Asyndeton
Definition: the omission or absence of a conjunction between parts of a sentence
Effect: Omitting conjunctions in this case creates a series of blunt fragments. It adds a matter-of-factness or certainty to the tone, which highlights how sure Esperanza is about her feelings towards Mango Street.
1000 points
"With my porch and my pillow, my pretty purple petunias." (Cisneros 108)
1. What sound device is being used?
Think about why, how, and when sound devices are used...
2. Why do you think Esperanza uses this sound device to talk about her future home?
1. Alliteration
2. Alliteration is not only a sound device, but a poetic device. Esperanza uses poetry to escape, and dreaming about a house all her own is another form of escapism. She often uses many sound devices when she goes into this mode of dreaming of a better future. It adds an aesthetically pleasing rhythm as well that causes the reader to feel similarly to Esperanza, meaning it has an emotional influence on the reader.
1500 points
"We didn't always live on Mango Street. Before that we lived on Loomis on the third floor, and before that we lived on Keeler. Before Keeler it was Paulina, but what I remember most is Mango Street, sad red house, the house I belong but do not belong to." (Cisneros 109-110)
In this chapter, Esperanza talks about how and why she tells stories. In this quote, she "breaks the fourth wall" by explaining to the reader her process when she did what specifically? How do you know this?
Writing The House on Mango Street!
That quote is a direct quote from chapter one! She goes on to explain that she puts these stories down on paper "and then the ghost does not ache so much." (Cisneros 110)
1000 points
"The baby died. Lucy and Rachel's sister. One night a dog cried, and the next day a yellow bird flew in through an open window. Before the week was over, the baby's fever was worse. Then Jesus came and took the baby with him far away. That's what their mother said." (Cisneros 103)
1. In the novel, windows repeatedly symbolize longing for a better life. Considering the women are typically looking out of closed windows, what layer does that add to the motif?
2. In the quote above, what does the yellow bird flying in through an open window symbolize? How does that change the meaning behind this window?
1. The windows the women look out of are closed, symbolizing the difficulty they will face getting out of their current situation and into a new one.
2. The yellow bird symbolizes death. The bird breaks through that barrier to release whoever lives inside from their current situation, though it's not ideal. This lets us into Esperanza's state of mind at this point in the novel. She thinks that one of the only things that will bring one out of the clutches of the hardships on Mango Street is death.
500 points
What does Alicia mean when she says,
"Like it or not you are Mango Street, and one day you'll come back too." (Cisneros 107)
The experiences and people on Mango Street have inevitably shaped who Esperanza is. There is no possible way that she can hide from that, even if she runs away. She will always return back.
2000 points
"Only a house quiet as snow, a space for myself to go, clean as paper before the poem." (Cisneros 108)
1. What sound device is being used and what effect does that sound device have on what's being said?
2. What figurative language is being used and what effect does that figurative language have on what's being said?
1. Sound Device: Rhyme "snow...go...poem" (108)
(that last one is actually called a near rhyme!)
EFFECT: Rhyme is a sound device that is also a poetic device! Rhyme has many effects on what's being said, but one example here is the fairytale/sing-song rhythm that the rhyme creates. This makes sense, as Esperanza is talking about her dreams.
2. Figurative Language: Simile
"clean as paper before the poem." (108)
EFFECT: In this simile, Esperanza compares her future, clean home to the "cleanliness" of a blank page. What she means by this is that her future home will be a blank slate or a fresh start and beautiful things, like poems, will happen once she's made that transition.
750 points
"They will not know I have gone away to come back. For the ones I left behind. For the ones who cannot out." (Cisneros 110)
Name 3 people in Esperanza's life that influence her need to "come back" one day and free from Mango Street.
Sally
Minerva
Mamacita
Marin
Alicia
Rafaela
Ruthie
Rachel & Lucy
Mama, Nenny, & Papa
750 points
What do the three sister's mean when they instruct Esperanza to always remember where she came from?
They encourage her to be faithful to the experiences that have shaped her and sympathetic to those who lack her abilities and her will to escape. They want her to accept herself for who she is, including her name.
500 points
Why doesn't Esperanza think the mayor, of all people, could make Mango Street better?
She doesn't believe that the mayor would care enough to hear the marginalized voices on Mango Street. Someone from within has to make change, but Esperanza isn't sure who yet.
750 points
"Not a man's house. Not a daddy's." (Cisneros 108)
Describe one situation in the book that helped to shape this particular sentiment.
Many answers! Anything that has to do with women/girls in an unbalanced power dynamic with men/boys/husbands/fathers.
"I write it down and Mango says goodbye sometimes. She does not hold me with both arms. She sets me free." (Cisneros 110)
1. What literary device is being used in the quote?
2. What does it mean?
Personification!
Esperanza personifies Mango Street as a woman that "holds her with both arms" and traps her. But when she writes about it, the personified Mango Street releases it's grip, offering her momentary relief from it's grasp.