Characters
The narrator of the novel who aspires to become a writer and yearns for a house and identity of their own.
Esperanza
What is the topic of the vignette "Hairs"
Esperanza describes her family though their hair.
What is "My papas hair is like a broom"
Simile
Shoes are a symbol of what?
The power of female sexuality and the male gaze
A young woman who defies traditional gender roles by commuting to university. Represents intellectual ambition.
Marin
What does Esperanza not like about her name?
It comes from her great-grandmother, it is hard to pronounce, it doesn't fit her personality.
Until then I am a red balloon, a balloon tied to an anchor
Metaphor
Trees are a symbol of what?
Esperanza's strength and resiliance
A cousin-figure who dreams of meeting a man to rescue her, waiting for life under a streetlight.
Alicia
Why is Cathy moving out?
Because people of color are moving to Mango Street.
"But the house on Mango Street is not the way they told it at all. It's small and red with tight steps in front and windows so small you'd think they were holding their breath."
Personification
Windows are a symbol of what?
The barrier between women who are locked in domestic spaces and observing a world of freedom
A woman locked inside by her husband. She sends her hair down to get juice from the children below.
Rafaela
What happens to Minerva?
She stood up to her husband and got beat up.
"Nenny, I say, but she doesn't hear me. She is too many light-years away. She is in a world we don't belong to anymore."
Hyperbole
What are the 4 themes?
Community vs. Individuality
Racial and economic marginalization
Coming-of-age
Sexuality
A girl whose beauty is both her power and her trap. Escapes her father but ends up in an abusive relationship.
Sally
What does Esperanza fantasize about in "Bums in the Attic"
She dreams of having a big house
Esperanza's name is symbolic because?
It means hope, which is her main driving force in the novel