Show:
Characters
Places
Figurative Language
Plot
About the Book
100

The narrator of The House on Mango Street.

Who is Esperanza?
100
The city and state where the story takes place.
What is Chicago, Illinois?
100
"I am a red balloon, a balloon tied to an anchor."
What is a metaphor?
100
This body part is meant to symbolize Esperanza's developing sexuality. A chapter of the book that includes jump-roping and singing is named for it.
What is "Hips"?
100

The author of The House on Mango Street.

Who is Sandra Cisneros?
200
Esperanza's younger sister.
Who is Nenny?
200
The country where Esperanza and her family are from.
What is Mexico?
200
"...[I]n Spanish, my name is made out of a softer something, like silver..."
What is a simile?
200
Esperanza's first job is for a company that develops these.
What are photographs?
200
The term to describe a work of literature that partly deals with true events from the author's life and is partly fictionalized.
What is semi-autobiographical?
300
He "wakes up and is tired in the dark." He discovers his father has died and must leave the U.S. for the funeral.
Who is Papa? (or Esperanza's father)
300
Where Esperanza was sexually assaulted.
What is the carnival?
300
"Cathy who is queen of cats has cats and cats and cats."
What is repetition?
300
Esperanza, Lucy, and Rachel come to regret mocking this character's condition when she dies that same day.
Who is Esperanza's aunt? (Guadalupe or Aunt Lupe)
300
Sandra Cisneros writes fiction and this type of literature.
What is poetry?
400
Much to her father's disapproval, she shortens her skirts and puts on makeup on her way to school. Her father beats her, as does her eventual husband.
Who is Sally?
400
The part of her dream house Esperanza says she will let bums live.
What is the attic?
400
"[My name] is the Mexican records my father plays on Sunday mornings when he is shaving..."
What is a metaphor?
400
Geraldo doesn't have this, so the family he left behind in another country will never know that he died in a hit and run accident.
What is a last name?
400
The type of point of view the novel is told from.
What is first-person point of view?
500
She has hair "like little rosettes, like little candy circles all curly and pretty because she pinned it in pincurls all day..."
Who is Esperanza's mother?
500
The place where Esperanza meets the three sisters.
What is a wake? (or a funeral)
500
"They are the only ones who understand me. I am the only one who understands them. Four skinny trees with skinny necks and pointy elbows like mine."
What is personification?
500
The three sisters compare Esperanza's life's journey to this shape, saying she will leave Mango Street, but she must come back.
What is a circle?
500

The type of story The House on Mango Street is.

What is Coming of Age?