Option One:
Esperanza and her siblings are the children of an immigrant father. As the story unfolds, we see evidence of the effect on Esperanza of this perceived difference. Just how “different” is the reality of immigration in the United States? In “Laughter” (chapter 7), Esperanza sees a house that reminds her of Mexico. “Look at that house, I said, it looks like Mexico.” Her friends do not understand at all, but Nenny does. “Yes, that’s Mexico all right. That’s what I was thinking exactly.” Let’s think about the power of this moment of understanding and validation. What might it mean for Esperanza that someone (her sister) doesunderstand her? Now, let us observe the paintings of Alfredo Arreguín. What might we identify as distinctly Mexican about his work? Of course, you should enjoy and examine all of the work exhibit (remembering not to touch the art), but our focus is on Arreguín’s paintings for this exercise. With the effect of Arreguin’s symbols in mind, think of the Cisneros text. How and where does the author incorporate cultural symbols in a way that is comparable to Arreguin’s paintings? Thank you. In The House on Mango Street we are given a glimpse of what the reality of growing up in an immigrant family is like. Through Esperanza’s eyes, a young Chicana girl who is growing up in Chicago, we can begin to see both the subtle affects and larger affects that someone in her shoes might experience. The book follows along chronologically with Esperanza as she grows up, each vignette of the book holding a gem of thought or struggle or growth. There are many qualities that are easy to relate to in this book-- ways that she sees the world when she is young, and emotions that she experiences. There is an overarching theme throughout the whole book however, that captures the cultural struggles that she faces, and for me, this brought a very first-hand and easy to understand perspective to a prominent issue in this culture, but one that I have not personally faced. She rarely states the discomfort she faces in regards to her culture in a straight forward manner, but rather by reading the book with a receptive eye, we can understand some of the deeper meanings of the short stories she tells. There are times when Esperanza feels like she doesn’t quite fit in. The two cultures she lives with sometimes feel as though they don’t get along. In one of the first chapters, “My Name” she describes the way teachers pronounce her name, saying “At school they say my name funny as if the syllables were made out of tin and hurt the roof of your mouth”. In just one sentence we can see how a child would feel in this situation. Her name is beautiful in Spanish, and means “hope” in English, and yet when the name tries to overcome language barriers a part of its beauty gets lost, and she can sense that. Although immigration to the U.S. is a huge thing, close to 2 million immigrate every year, it is still easy for Esperanza to feel alone in it. Loneliness is another theme that circulates through the book. In the chapter, “Four Skinny Trees” she states, “Four skinny trees with skinny necks and pointy elbows like mine. Four who do not belong here but are here. Four raggedy excuses panted by the city.” In this chapter she truly captures what it feels like to not belong and how painful that kind of separation can feel like. This is a feeling that everyone goes through at times, especially during the teenage years. When Esperanza feels alone, it seems as though her heritage only adds to the emotion, creating more barriers that she perceives make her different than others. Although there are actual cultural differences that one might experience if they immigrated here from somewhere else, any perceived cultural difference that is based off some kind of hierarchy between cultures here, is the result of America’s selective view of what characterizes “American Culture”. Esperanza describes how the neighborhood she lives in is becoming
accept as normal and legitimate a male system of values…” . In both of them, there are clear examples of chauvinism, which conditions the lives of Esperanza Cordero, a “Chicana” who lives…
win first place in certain places. These results in many cultures can do anything they want to achieve not just Caucasian people. The main conflict is the racism of Japanese since Pearl Harbor. Schools, parents, and teachers always think Caucasians should win and do everything. The author’s message is to show how each race and person should be treated equal rights. The House on Mango Street Characters: Mama- The mom of Esperanza and Nenny and wife to Papa. An older woman with black curly…
Name: long hoang_____________ Period: __7____ Essay: House on Mango Street Narrative Components 4 Exceptional 3 Effective 2 Adequate 1 Unsatisfactory Attention Grabber Begins with an engaging hook strategy that is clearly related to the topic and effectively captures the reader's interest. Begins with a hook strategy that is related to the topic and attempts to capture the reader's interest. Contains a hook strategy that fails to relate to the topic and/or…
Honor and the American Dream: Culture and Identity in a Chicano Community, and the film, Salt of the Earth, both relay to their audience, the pursuit of happiness within the Chicano community in which they live. These works aim to show how Mexican-American immigrants fight to keep both their honor and value systems alive in the United States of America, a country which is foreign to their traditions. The Mexican-Americans encountered in these works fight for their culture of honor in order to define…
the cook and Chencha the maid. Their relationship has many similarities as to a revolution. Lots of anger, fighting and back in forth emotions. Blindly following a Tradition is a normal routine many of our cultures follow. Esquivel in this case presents us with an image of the Mexican culture and how quickly ones future is chosen before you even come into this world. Mama Elena is following one very important rule to her family tradition. The tradition is that the youngest daughter cannot marry…
society; it has been present since the dawn of man. It has acted as a means for giving a cultural voice to minorities and has also served as a starting point for resistance to culture that is seen as the norm. In this way, music has served as a means of rebellion. Minorities have found a voice for their culture and an outlet for their frustrations through music. For example, the Gypsies have been long persecuted in many countries, but one of the constants that they enjoy is that music…
Karen Dhaliwal Lyceum January-March Notes on my Readings Pedagogy of the Oppressed (For School): * Pedagogy of the Oppressed was written by educator Paulo Freire, proposes a pedagogy with a new relationship between teacher, student, and society. Humanization and Dehumanization * Freire talks about the concept of humanization throughout the majority of chapter one. Humanity includes qualities that make us human such as understanding, freedom, and integrity. * Freire stresses…
American Me American Me The film; American Me is an epic depiction of 30 years of Chicano gang life in Los Angeles, California. The movie focuses on the life of a 1950s teen named Montoya Santana, who forms a gang with his close friends. The gang is arrested for a break-in, and sentenced to time in juvenile hall. Santana finds trouble on his first night in juvenile hall and goes from juvenile hall to prison for 18 years. There he created and led a powerful gang that operated both inside…
that UNESCO declared as a World Heritage Site and marine reserve. Because our country has such rich biodiversity of flora and fauna, we are also considered to be one of the 17 mega diverse countries in the world. This, in addition the diversity of cultures and traditions, makes Ecuador the fascinating and unique country that it is today. In Ecuador, the region known as “el Carmen” in Manabí, one of Ecuador’s provinces, has specific climactic conditions that make the soil extremely rich and perfect…
Family counseling is a method that can be used to target any children that may be inclined to join a gang. Evidence (facts, statistics, quoted authorities, details, reasons, and examples: Gangs 101: Understanding the Culture of Gangs and Violence by the program Esperanza, states that “this type of counseling applies the social control of family members to facilitate individual change in beliefs and behaviors.” Furthermore, by centering the attention on the more susceptible member of the family…