Introduction
She looked out the window her whole life, the way so many women sit their sadness on an elbow. I wonder if she made the best with what she got or was she sorry because she couldn't be all the things she wanted to be. Esperanza. I have inherited her name, but I don't want to inherit her place by the window. 1
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros paints a vivid picture of Latino culture in the United States. Cisneros tells the story of her experience growing up and coming of age in the impoverished immigrant communities of Chicago during the 1960's and 70's through the eyes of Esperanza, a young child. The book was written nearly thirty years ago when Cisneros was emerging as a professional author and expresses the cultural barriers she struggled with that many in her community could not overcome in pursuing the American Dream. The House on Mango Street describes immigrant communities that have preserved their Chicano and Boricua roots. While there is great beauty to continuing unique traditions, Cisneros highlights how many of the customs and conflicts that arise from them are limiting, with especially harsh consequences to women.
The father decided too much college and too many gringo friends had ruined her. In a way he was right. When she thinks to herself in her father's language, she knows sons and daughters don't leave their parents' house until they marry. When she thinks in English, she knows she should've been on her own since eighteen... What does her mother say about all this? She puts her hands on her hips and boasts, "She gets it from me." When the father is in the room, the mother just shrugs and says, "What can I do?" The mother doesn't object. She knows what it is to live a life filled with regrets, and she doesn't want her daughter to live that life too. i
In this unit students will read the book The House on Mango Street. The book will be read in a thematic manner that looks at the author's own life and how her book tells of her protagonist's journey to personal success, overcoming barriers along the way. This unit asks students to examine the barriers they face to leading a successful life. It seeks for students to define their identities in a way that prohibits these barriers from getting in the way of their goals. The clandestine conflict in The House on Mango Street is how Esperanza, or 'Hope' in English, breaks out of that impoverished community which entraps so many others. By reading this book, I am taking a new approach to support my school's push to keep freshmen on track for graduation and following a plan for college readiness, as well as contributing to our "character counts" curriculum. Aside from developing literacy, the main goal of my unit is to promote essential decision making skills.
We will be examining the themes of family, storytelling, stereotypes and developing identity, the machismo attitude, and the Latina Voice. There will be three summative projects associated with this unit. The first explores changes in the Latino community from the setting of the book to today. The second asks students to set their own goals and identify barriers to achieving them. The last assessment is an interview with a woman in their community.
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