Show:
Terms of Agreement
I Am What-ever You Say I Am
Theme Music
Don't Shoot the Messenger
The Kitchen Sink
100
“But my mother’s hair…is the warm smell of bread before you bake it.” What literary term is this?
Metaphor
100
I got a lot to say, and and I know about hips. She's bigger than me, and together we ran off Cathy. -- Who are we?
Rachel and Lucy
100
"You can't get them back unless you give us a kiss." Who is the main character in this vignette? What theme is represented?
Sally. Sexuality is represented by Esperanza's frustration that she cannot understand the different expectations for men and women when it comes to sexuality. Sally has to kiss the boys in order to get her keys back while Tito's mom sees no problem with her son "pressuring" a girl to do favors.
100
"I've waited my whole life. You're a a liar. They all lied. All the books and magazine, everything that told it wrong." What happens in this vignette? What is the message?
In "The Red Clowns", a boy forces a kiss on Esperanza. She learns that the romanticized images of sexuality are not always true.
100
"Sire. How did you hold her? Was it? Like this? And when you kissed her? Like this?" What is Esperanza's _________ in this passage. How can you tell?
Tone (the author's attitude). Esperanza's tone is sensual. She is longing for Sire's touch, and wonders how his kiss would feel (not sound, not smell, etc).
200
“Geraldo in his shiny shirts and green pants. Geraldo going to a dance…His name was Geraldo." What literary term is this?
Repetition
200
You may not think much of my place, but I ain't got much to say to you anyway...unless you got cash money. -- Who am I?
Gil
200
Alicia must spend her days and nights taking care of her dad. Why? And how does this relate to the theme of this vignette?
Her mom passed away, and Alicia is left as the woman of the house (to cook and clean and take care of her father). The theme is...grief/death.
200
"...nobody looking up not once the day Angel Vargas learned to fly and dropped from the sky like a sugar donut just like a falling star, and exploded down to earth without even an 'Oh'". "And if the surgeon would've come, maybe if he hadn't lost so much glood, if the surgeon had only come, they would know who to notify and where." What are the names of these two vignettes? What is similar about their messages?
"There Was an Old Woman She Had So Many Children She Didn't Know What To do Do" and "Geraldo No Last Name" both deal with the idea that everyone should matter regardless of color, family history or the amount of money they have.
200
"I couldn't make them go away. I couldn't do anything but cry. I don't remember. It was dark. I don't remember. I don't remember. Please don't make me tell it all." What is Esperanza's tone in the passage above? How can you tell? What literary device does she use?
Esperanza's tone is one of panic, disgust and fear. You can tell by her sense of desperation when she says, "I couldn't make them go away" or "Please don't make me tell it all." She uses repetition to emphasize her point.
300
“And me, my hair is lazy.” What literary term is this?
Personification
300
My mother and your mother were washing clothes. My mother punched your mother right in the nose. What color blood came out? What's wrong with my song? Isn't it hip enough for you? -- Who am I?
Nenny
300
"She looked out the window her whole life, the way so many woman sit their sadness on an elbow." Who is Esperanza talking about? What theme does this best represent?
Her grandmother. Family and Identity.
300
"We pretended with our heads thrown back, our arms limp and useslss, dangling like the dead. We laughed the way she did. We talked the way she talked..." Who is Esperanza describing? Why was this person significant to her? What message does Esperanza learn?
Esperanza is describing the game she played with Lucy and Rachel -- imitating someone in the neighborhood that they know. That day, Esperanza chose her Aunt Lupe. It happened to be the day Lupe died. Lupe was the only person at that time that encouraged Esperanza to continue writing (and escape from Mango St). Esperanza learned not to take anyone for granted because death can happen at anytime.
300
How is Esperanza able to buy friends on Mango Street?
She agrees to join Rachel and Lucy in purchasing a bicycle that they will all share.
400
“It is the smell when she makes room for you on her side of the bed still warm with her skin.” What literary term is this?
Alliteration (What is alliteration?)
400
Don't feel sorry for me 'cause I hurt myself. I am a free-spirit just like Esperanza. -- Who am I?
Meme Ortiz
400
"Real men don't cry." Who am I? What happened? What theme do I represent? Why?
Esperanza's father breaks down in tears following the death of his father. This vignette represents the theme of grief and death. Men grieve differently than women in this community. Women are forced to give up their own grief, and are responsible for comforting the men in their lives.
400
"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." What is Esperanza suggesting about fear and stereotypes?
In "Those Who Don't", Esperanza is saying that she does not understand why outsiders fear her neighbordhood. At the same time, she expresses that same fear when she enters another person's neighborhood. She realizes that everyone has stereotypes about everyone else.
400
Name three people (aside from Esperanza) that are trapped on Mango Street. Then, describe how.
Nenny, Louie's cousin, Gil, Marin, Meme, Rose Vargas, Sally.
500
“And everywhere the sleepy smell of rotting wood, damp earth and dusty hollyhocks thick and perfumy.” What literary term is this?
(Sensory) Imagery
500
"Either y'all are gettin' in or not. And stop touchin' the radio." Who am I?
Louie's cousin.
500
"Is waiting for a car to stop, a star to fall, someone to change her life." Who is this person? What role does he/she play in Esperanza's life? What theme does this vignette represent? What does Esperanza see as this person's major weakness?
Marin is the older girl who lives in Esperanza's neighborhood. She is like a big sister, someone who Esperanza looks up, and sees as a role model. Esperanza IDENTIFIES with Marin, but recognizes that Marin is waiting for life to happen to her much like her grandmother.
500
"This, the old man says shutting the lid, this ain't for sale." Who is the old man? What is he NOT selling? What is the message of this vignette?
Gil. He refuses to sell his record player. The message is some treasures are invaluable.
500
"I would've liked to have known her, a wild ______ of a woman, so wild she wouldn't marry." What animal does Esperanza compare her great-grandmother to?
A horse.