Hopes and Fears
The translation of the protagonist's name, Esperanza.
Hope
Esperanza's little sister
Nenny
Hailing from texas, these two "smell like a broom."
Rachel and Lucy
"You live there?"
The nun.
"The boys and girls live in separate worlds..."
Gender & Sexuality
What Esperanza wishes for above all else
A house
The names of each person in Esperanza's family
Papa, Mama, Carlos, Kiki, Esperanza and Nenny
Esperanza and two friends buy a ______ together.
A bike
"We are tired of being beautiful."
Esperanza.
"I would like to baptize myself under a new name, a name more like the real me..."
Language & Names
Why does Cathy's family have to leave the neighborhood?
They don't like that poor, non-white families are moving in.
Esperanza was named after her
Great-Grandmother
What hand-me-down items do Esperanza and her friends receive from a neighbor?
High-heels
"I am the great great grand cousin of the queen of France."
Cathy
"I wonder if she made the best with what she got or was she sorry because she couldn't be all the things she wanted to be."
Individual Identity & Community Loyalty
Marin sells Avon and babysits so she can afford to _____________.
Marry her boyfriend back in Puerto Rico.
What was in Esperanza's sandwich the day she ate in the canteen at school
Rice
The House on Mango Street has windows so small _________________.
It's like they're holding their breath.
"If you don't get [hips] you may turn into a man."
Nenny
"For the time being, Mama says. Temporary, says Papa. But I know how those things go."
Loss of Innocence
Esperanza's older friend who values education because she "doesn't want to spend her whole life in a factory or behind a rolling pin"
Alicia
Kiki has hair like.
Fur
In the chapter entitled "The Family of Little Feet," the girls start to realize
They are becoming women, and soon men will look at them differently.
"Close your eyes and they'll go away. You're just imagining."
Alicia's father.
"...the nun who knows all the canteen kids by heart looks at me and says : You, who sent you here?"