House on Mango Street

1
House on Mango Street

• By Sandra Cisneros

2
Coming of Age

• Short Stories
• The Scarlet Ibis
• Poetry
• Hanging Fire
• Oranges
• Drama
• Romeo and Juliet (Tragic Flaw)
• Novel
• House on Mango Street
• Focus on Coming of Age theme, Multicultural Lit,
  and Personal Reflection

3
Cisneros Background

• Sandra Cisneros
• Chicana writer
• Born in Chicago, 1954 (lived in one of the
  poorest neighborhoods)
• Third child out of seven
• College Degrees from Loyola University and
  University of Iowa
• Worked as a teacher and counselor to high school
  drop-outs, and taught creative writing

4
Cisneros Background (con.)

• Cisneros was quoted by as saying that she is
  grateful to have "twice as many words to pick
  from...two ways of looking at the world.
  Cisneros's ability to speak two languages and to
  write about her two cultures gives her a unique
  position from where she is able to tell not just
  her story, but also the stories of those around
  her.
• Robin Ganz

5
Latino Population in Chicago

• The growth and expansion of Chicagos Latino
  population over the last three decades is
  astonishing. As early as 1960 Chicago emerged as
  the third-largest Mexican city in the United
  States, ranking only behind Los Angeles and San
  Antonio in the number of Mexican-origin persons.
  By 1970 the Mexican-origin population in Chicago
  exceeded that of the every state except
  California and Texas.

6
House on Mango Street

• Published in 1984 (celebrating its 25th
  anniversary this year!)
• Required reading for middle schools, high school,
  and universities across the country
• Sold over 2 million copies
• Translated into a dozen languages including
  Spanish, French, German, Dutch, Italian,
  Norwegian, Japanese, Chinese, Turkish, etc .

7
House on Mango Street (con.)

• NOT autobiographical
• While many of the instances written about in the
  novel seem like they could have been taken from
  her own experiences, Cisneros is adamant that
  this is a fictional piece.
• Though, one of Cisneros's neighborhoods is the
  inspiration for the novella

8
House on Mango Street (con.)

• Written in a series of short vignettes.
• Vignette any small, pleasing picture or view.
• Point of view
• 1st Person
• Young Girl named Esperanza

9
House on Mango Street (con.)

• Can be read in a few ways
• As a Novel
• As Poetry
• Deceptively easy to read (Sisters experience)

10
House on Mango Street (con.)

• Will be both a window and a mirror text for
  everyone!

11
Journals topics- these should look familiar!

• Reader
• Text
• World
• Gender
• Poverty
• Race/Ethnicity

12
Unit Final Project

• Multigenre Paper
• Use what youve learned about different genres of
  literature and write your own story.
• May be Creative Non-fiction or Creative Fiction
  (No Research or analysis papers!)
• Must include 1 personal narrative, 1 poem, one
  multimedia element (i.e.,comic strip,
  photography, art), and 1 of your choice.
• Final day of class will be a sharing of your
  creative writing!

13
Coming of Age Identity

• Putting the I in Identity

14
Big Picture

• Identity is grounded in the purpose of
  authorship in that it presents perspectives of
  who you are, who youre not, who you could be,
  and who you wont be, in an attempt to further
  individual, cultural, and social understandings
  of human action that often produce levels of
  cooperation or rebellion in todays world.

15
Key Questions

• What is Identity?

16
Key Questions

• What factors contribute to the development of
  identity?

17
Key Questions

• What is my personal identity, and what factors
  have influenced this identity?

18
Key Questions

• How is authorship influenced by identity?

19
Key Questions

• How can an author present identity using multiple
  text forms?

20
What is Identity?

• Student Definitions go on the chalk board

21
Dictionary Definition(s)

• 1. the state or fact of remaining the same one
  or ones, as under varying aspects or conditions
  The identity of the fingerprints on the gun with
  those on file provided evidence that he was the
  killer.
• 2. the condition of being oneself or itself, and
  not another He doubted his own identity.
• 3. condition or character as to who a person or
  what a thing is a case of mistaken identity.
• 4. the state or fact of being the same one as
  described.
• 5. the sense of self, providing sameness and
  continuity in personality over time and sometimes
  disturbed in mental illnesses, as schizophrenia.

22
Dictionary Definition(s)

• 6. exact likeness in nature or qualities an
  identity of interests.
• 7. an instance or point of sameness or likeness
  to mistake resemblances for identities.
• 8. Logic. an assertion that two terms refer to
  the same thing.

23
Notebook Activity

• Open your notebook to a blank page
• Entirely fill 1/2 of the page with a visual
  definition of identity
• On the other 1/2, write about your own identity
  Who are you? What makes you who you are?