The House on Mango Street Unit

                                    some teaching ideas
                                    assembled by Peter Neu
                                   

Sandra Cisneros' House on Mango Street is a work that is difficult to put into a genre pigeon hole. Some critics have described it as a "non-fiction/fiction autobiography" in which the reader is invited to search with the narrator as she recounts growing up and establishing identity. In this work, the narrator undercuts the autobiography classification by playing with the limits of this genre. She shatters readers' sense of the narrator as a self-sufficient, self-reliant individual with The American Dream. The "hero" is not a pioneer who conquers nature, achieving identity independent from a cultural past. For Cisneros, identity is achieved, or happens, circularly. It requires engagement with society and culture. So, this autobiography is a storytelling of culture. This book is not a one-way monologue. We are engaged in a dialogue between the narrator and other characters, and ourselves as readers. We can also listen to other readers who discover the possibilities of meaning along with us, guided by the narrator.

In this Unit, the memoirs in House on Mango Street are offered as models of reflection about identity for young people. Cisneros’ narrator quests for young adulthood, and students read of her conflicted struggle to achieve self-worth and integration. Esperanza (Hope) is a Chicago Mexican-American. She recognizes tensions during her growing-up time with family, sex and ethnicity. The memories of these tensions are stark images of growing up in Chicago which can bring students into conversation about their own lives and identities.

• Major Themes

Activities and Strategies:

• Snapshot of Experience
• Image Writing Prompt
• Stories That Must Be Told
• Point Counterpoint Reading / Interpreting
• Interpretation Pairs
• Juxtaposed Image-sketch
• Free Writes
• Anticipation: Before Reading
• Dialogue Journal
• Descriptive Writing Topics
• Mango Street Mural
• Tableau
• Quaker Reading
• Other Ways Through

Students could do at least five of the above activities, saving some artifact for a portfolio to be presented and shown at the end of the unit. For some activities, a sketch or photo will do. For others, a piece of creative writing, probably with drafts and revisions, would be good. It is important to write in response to these vignettes. The House on Mango Street invites readers to share their own stories. A student-written story-telling vignette (French for "portrait") could be the one major assessment piece required of all.