Background for the House on Mango Street

The House on Mango Street Ch. 1-3

The House on Mango Street

Multiple Choice

The House on Mango Street

How was the house on Mango Street different from the other houses the family had lived in?

• It was the largest house they had ever lived in.

• The government was paying for it.

• It was their own house.

• It was the first two-story house they had lived in.

The House on Mango Street

Multiple Choice

Ch 1: Who is The House on Mango Street

Narrator? How does narrator feel about moving?

• Narrator: Esperanza. Sick of moving, still waiting to find a true home.

• Narrator: Esperanza. Loved moving, she found it exciting.

• Narrator: Esperanza cared less about moving around.

Multiple Choice

The different "chapters" of The House on Mango Street are called

• stanzas
• pages
• vignettes
• memories

The House on Mango Street

Multiple Choice

Why is Esperanza so upset about the House on Mango Street?

• She just doesn't feel proud of it. It isn't her dream house.

• The house is close to her dream house, but she doesn't like the color red.

• She does not have her own room in the house, but she likes most of it. She continues dreaming of her own house one day.

Multiple Choice

Why did Esperanza's family move to Mango Street? (NT)

• it was the real house our family had always been looking for

• the water pipes broke and the landlord wouldn't fix them

• our house on Loomis was too small

• we didn't have enough money to pay the rent

Multiple Choice

What does Esperanza mean? (GC)

• hope
• love
• saddness
• peace

Multiple Choice

Which sentence does NOT describe the house on Mango Street?

• It is large and blue
• Some of the bricks are crumbling.
• There is no front yard.
• There is one bedroom and one bathroom.

Multiple Choice

Vignette: The House on Mango Street

One of the major themes, home, is introduced in vignette one, what does the narrator feel about home?

• Home is awesome.

• Home is the place that she escapes from the outside world.

• Home is her dream.

• Home is a place that makes her feel safe, secure, comfortable and sometimes disappointed.

Multiple Choice

Was the house on Mango Street a place she wanted to call home?

• No. The house on Mango Street reminded her of the homes on Loomis, Keeler, and Paulina.

• Yes. The house on Mango Street was the “house Papa talked about when he held a lottery ticket and this was the house Mama dreamed up in the stories she told us before we went to bed” (pg. 4).

• No. The house on Mango Street was a disappointment because it is not big and fancy at all, and all six family members have to share a bedroom.

• Yes. The house on Mango Street was theirs. They did not have to “pay rent to anybody, or share a yard with the people downstairs, or be careful not to make too much noise…” (pg.3).

Multiple Choice

At what point did the narrator know that she needed to have her a real house?

• One day, while she is playing in front of the apartment on Loomis, a nun from her school passes and asks where she lives. She points to the third floor of the worn, paint-peeled building, and the nun says: "You live there?" ( Cisneros 5)

• When the narrator and her family lived on Loomis, “the water pipes broke and the landlord wouldn’t fix them because the house was too old” (Cisneros 4).

• Because they moved around so much, the narrator’s parents always told them “that one day we would move into a house, a real house that would be ours for always so we wouldn’t have to move each year” (Cisneros 4).

• When the narrator reflects upon the physical features of the house: "It's small and red with tight steps in front and windows so small you'd think they were holding their breath," (Cisneros 4).

Multiple Choice

How was the house on Mango Street different from the other houses the family had lived in?

• It was the largest house they had ever lived in.

• The government was paying for it.

• It was their own house.

• It was the first two-story house they had lived in.

"Hairs"

Everybody in our family has different hair. My Papa's hair is like a broom, all up in the air. And me, my hair is lazy. It never obeys barrettes or bands. Carlos' hair is thick and straight. He doesn't need to comb it. Nenny's hair is slippery- slides out of your hand. And Kiki, who is the youngest, has hair like fur.

Multiple Choice

"His hair is like a broom" is a...

• simile

• metaphor

• imagery

• hyperbole

"Hairs"

But my mother's hair, my mother's hair, like little rosettes, like little candy circles all curly and pretty because she pinned it in pincurls all day, sweet to put your nose into when she is holding you, holding you and you feel safe, is the warm smell of bread before you bake it, is the smell when she makes room for you on her side of the bed still warm with her skin, and you sleep near her, the rain outside falling and Papa snoring. The snoring, the rain, and Mama's hair that smells like bread.

Multiple Choice

The smell of Mama's hair is______________.

• comforting

• like the rain outside

• reminds Esperanza of Papa snoring

• musty

Multiple Choice

Who has the most beautiful hair?

• Papa's hair, like a broom.
• Mother's hair, like little rosettes, like little candy circles all curly.
• Carlos' hair, thick and straight.
• Nenny''s hair, slippery.

Figurative Language

• Simile- compare two things using like or as (e.g., as brave as a lion, crazy like a fox ). USES LIKE OR AS

• Metaphor- when you compare something to another thing WITHOUT using like or as

• Personification- you give human characteristics to something nonhuman, or the representation of an abstract quality in human form.

• Alliteration- a method of linking words for effect, alliteration is also called head rhyme

• hyperbole- an exaggeration

Multiple Choice

Nenny and Esperanza’s laughter is “ like a pile of dishes breaking”(17).

• simile

• metaphor

• onomatopoeia

• hyperbole

Multiple Choice

My hair is lazy

• personfication

• imagery

• sensory language

• 3rd person point of view

Multiple Choice

My name is the Mexican records my father plays on Sunday mornings.

• imagery

• Metaphor

• hyperbole

• pun

Multiple Choice

Windows so small you'd think they were holding their breath.

• Personification

• hyperbole

• simile

• allusion

Multiple Choice

My mother's hair...is the warm smell of bread before you bake it.

• metaphor

• imagery

• simile

• personification

Multiple Choice

Until then I am a red balloon, a balloon tied to an anchor.

• metaphor and imagery

• simile and imagery

• personification and hyperbole

• repetition and simile

Multiple Choice

Two girls raggedy as rats live across the street.

• alliteration and simile

• assonance and metaphor

• hyperbole and imagery

• personification and simile

Boys and Girls

The boys and the girls live in separate worlds. The boys in their universe and we live in ours. My brothers for example. They've got plenty to say to me and Nenny inside the house. But outside they can't be seen talking to girls. Carlos and Kiki are each other's best friend...not ours.

Multiple Choice

Why won't Carlos and Kiki talk to Esperanza outside their house?

• They are too cool and are probably embarrassed to talk to her.

• They do not actually like Esperanza.

• Esperanza must be weird.

• Esperanza is too sensitive.

Boys and Girls 2

Nenny is too young to be my friend. She's just my sister and that was not my fault. You don't get to pick your sisters, you just get them and sometimes they come like Nenny.

She can't play with those Vargas kids or she'll turn out just like them. And since she comes right after me, she is my responsibility.

Multiple Choice

Esperanza does not get along with Nenny.

• False

• True

Multiple Choice

Esperanza feels responsible for Nenny.

• True

• False

Boys and Girls 3

Someday I will have a best friend all my own. One I can tell my secrets to. One who will understand my jokes without my having to explain them. Until then I am a red balloon, a balloon tied to an anchor.

Multiple Choice

Esperanza feels really lonely and trapped or like she can't fly away and be free.

• True

• False