1. Do some research in Mexican folklore or mythology and find a short story or tale that might be adapted for young children, one with two or more characters. Develop a dramatic skit from this story, write a script, cast the parts, make costumes and any necessary props, and present […]
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1. Write a reflective essay on your own name (first, middle, last, or all of them). Where did it come from? What does it mean? What does it mean to you? Do you like it or dislike it (or both)? Why? Some people have never thought much about their own […]
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Abrazos Hugs. Abuelita Grandma; affectionate diminutive of abuela, grandmother. (Unless otherwise noted, non-English words here are Spanish.) abuelito (Spanish) a familiar diminutive of abuelo (grandfather). Adios y suerte Goodbye and good luck. Alegre Cheerful, happy, lighthearted. Amar es Vivir To Love is to Live. “?Ay, caray!” (Spanish) an expression of […]
Read more Study Help Full GlossaryCritical Essays Form and Language as Characterization in Cisneros’ Fiction
Critics praise Sandra Cisneros’ fiction for, among other things, her use of non-linear form and her colorful, image-rich language. Both are seen as evidence of her departure from traditional (patriarchal, white European-American) conventions of fiction in English in favor of a feminist, specifically Latina mode of discourse. I would argue […]
Read more Critical Essays Form and Language as Characterization in Cisneros’ FictionCritical Essays Themes in Cisneros’ Fiction
Love as Power One way of reading Sandra Cisneros’ fiction is to examine some of the central themes it seems repeatedly to deal with, several of which inform both The House on Mango Street and “Woman Hollering Creek” and Other Stories. Three of the most striking are sexual love as […]
Read more Critical Essays Themes in Cisneros’ FictionSandra Cisneros Biography
Early Years and Education Sandra Cisneros was born December 20, 1954, in Chicago. Although she grew up mainly in Chicago, the family often visited her father’s relatives in Mexico, and Cisneros would later say that she felt “displaced” during her childhood. In 1987, Cisneros would tell an interviewer in Texas […]
Read more Sandra Cisneros BiographyCharacter Analysis Rosario (Chayo) De Leon (“Little Miracles, Kept Promises”)
Chayo appears as the speaker of a monologue/prayer before the last note of the story. In a sense she may also figure in other Cisneros fiction — not as the same character, specifically, but as a character only slightly different from Clemencia in “Never Marry a Mexican,” Lupe in “Bien […]
Read more Character Analysis Rosario (Chayo) De Leon (“Little Miracles, Kept Promises”)Character Analysis Ixchel” (“One Holy Night”)
Most of the narrators of the “Woman Hollering Creek” stories are named in the stories; the exceptions are one who seems to be a middle-aged woman, in “Anguiano Religious Articles,” an elderly man in “Los Boxers,” the child-narrators of “My Lucy Friend Who Smells Like Corn,” “Mexican Movies,” and “Barbie-Q” […]
Read more Character Analysis Ixchel” (“One Holy Night”)Character Analysis Alicia (The House on Mango Street)
The character who has the most positive influence upon Esperanza is her neighbor Alicia, a college student who — by the end of the book — seems to have become Esperanza’s good friend. Perhaps surprisingly, Alicia is less well developed as a character than Sally or even Marin. All we […]
Read more Character Analysis Alicia (The House on Mango Street)Character Analysis Sally (The House on Mango Street)
Sally, perhaps even younger than Marin, is not so innocent, for — although “romance” (that is, falling in love and getting married) is part of the sexual game she plays — she has a more urgent reason to play it. Like Marin, she wishes to be taken away by a […]
Read more Character Analysis Sally (The House on Mango Street)