Esperanza
About the Author
Friends
Mango Street
Literary Terms
100

The translation of the protagonist's name, Esperanza.

What is Hope

100

What is the author's name?

Sandra Cisneros

100
Esperanza's best friends
What is Rachel and Lucy
100
What the Vargas kids don't have.
What is a father
100

What is theme?

The repeated ideas in a literary work that teach a lesson

200
What Esperanza wishes for above all else
What is a house
200

Where was the author born?

Mexico

200
What Rachel, Lucy, and Esperanza purchased together
What is a bike
200
The character who does not speak English
What is Mamacita
200

What is symbolism?

Something that on the surface is its literal self but which also has another meaning or even several meanings

300
Esperanza's first job
What is Peter Pan's Photo Finishers
300

What is the author's known style of writing?

Vignette

300
What hand-me-down items Esperanza and her friends receive from a neighbor
What is high-heeled shoes
300
The character who is described as beautiful and too exotic for Mango Street
What is Sally
300

What is juxtaposition?

Actions, phrases, characters, places, colors side-by-side are very different for effect.

400
When she gets a house of her own, who or what Esperanza says she would let sleep in her attic
What is bums
400

To whom is The House on Mango Street dedicated to?

The Women

400
A place that becomes a symbol of magic and freedom for the neighborhood children
What is the Monkey Garden
400
How the girls in Esperanza's neighborhood often try to escape their lives, or escape Mango Street.
What is getting married
400

What is bildunsgroman?

A coming of age story; literally means "novel of formation"

500
What the old ladies at Rachel and Lucy's sibling's funeral tell Esperanza she must do.
What is return to Mango Street to help those who cannot leave
500

Where does the author like to sit where she writes?

The kitchen table

500
Esperanza's friend who writes poetry
What is Minerva
500
Two characters that are imprisoned by the men in their lives.
What is Sally and Rafaela
500

What is social commentary?

The act of expressing an opinion on the nature of society; may be obvious or a hidden message in literature