House On Mango Street Research Papers

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros is a coming of age story about a twelve-year-old girl named Esperanza. Through short, interconnected vignettes, Esperanza chronicles one year of her life in a poor neighborhood in Chicago. Despite its heavy themes of sexual assault and ethnic disparity, The House on Mango Street should be retained in the district’s curriculum as reading for ninth to twelve graders. The novel begins with Esperanza and her family moving to a house on Mango Street. The vignettes portray the book as Esperanza’s diary, in which she records her experiences with and observations of the people in her neighborhood. Esperanza matures through these experiences, and ultimately learns that while at first she wanted to leave

For instance, Esperanza confesses that one girl on her street commented on the condition of the neighborhood. Esperanza admits, “Then as if she forgot I just moved in, she says the neighborhood is getting bad” (Cisneros 13). With this scene and others in the book, The House on Mango Street comments about the disparity in living situations between ethnic groups in the United States, and thus it was taught in the Mexican-American studies program in Tuscon, Arizona. However, “in 2010, Arizona House Bill 2281 forced the cancellation of a Mexican American studies program in the Tuscon Unified School District. This included the removal of a number of books from the classroom and curriculum, including The House on Mango Street” (Eclectic Alli). While the novel does highlight some disparities between Mexican-Americans and the upper white class, The House on Mango Street only tries to promote discussion of these issues. One student who fought the bill said, “I’m doing this for future generations to come [so they] can learn about their history and the history of people in their community, to better understand…how Mexican-Americans play a part of society” (Arce). As the student believes, it is important for all students, regardless of ethnicity or race, to learn about their peers and the people in their society. The House on Mango Street should be retained in the classroom because the book is an excellent start in promoting the discussion of different cultures and life styles to