In 1984, Sandra Cisneros published her genre-defying book, The House on Mango Street. Since its debut, Cisneros’s book has captivated diverse audiences and inspired thoughtful, academic scholarship. On February 13, 2019, The Hockaday School invites students and faculty of various schools to discuss the book. We encourage students to submit papers based on one of the prompts listed below. Students whose submissions are accepted will be invited to present their papers/projects in various workshops at the 2019 Interscholastic Colloquium.
Submission guidelines:
Complete all information requested on the online submission form above
Please submit papers in the form of a Word document (.doc or .docx)
Electronic images of art may be submitted in .pdf or .jpg
Follow MLA formatting guidelines, including a standard font (Times New Roman or Garamond), 12pt, 1” margins, and appropriate citation
To encourage blind evaluation, please do not include student name in document header
For 9th and 10th graders: we recommend papers should be 750-1000 words For 11th and 12th graders: we recommend papers should be 1000 to 1500 words
Essay Prompts:
Consider how and why Cisneros shifts the traditional notion of the American Dream from a focus on the individual to a focus on the community.
According to Maria Szadziuk in her article “On Becoming a Woman in Bi-Ethnic Space,” "the conception of space is clearly related to the house, which denotes both the disappointing place where one lives and the place to which one hopes to move some day” (114). How does Cisneros use the image of the house to reveal Esperanza’s developing identity? How does the house work to reinforce Esperanza’s growing awareness of her role in the world?
How do the male and/or female characters in the novel work to reveal gender dynamics in the Chicano culture?
Ultimately, is The House on Mango Street a story about the oppressive struggle of the Chicano community, or is it about the developing identity of one individual girl within that community? What is Cisneros’s focus and purpose?
What role does Esperanza’s narrative voice play within the novel? How does Cisneros craft a narrative voice that allows the reader to open herself up to this world?
A motif is a recurring pattern or image within a text. Analyze one of Cisneros’s motifs, and consider what meaning it adds to the novel. You might consider one or more of the following motifs: feet, high heels, windows, clouds, the sky.
Perform a close analysis of the vignette entitled “The Monkey Garden,” and consider the symbolic images within it. What role do these images play in revealing Esperanza’s growing awareness of her place in the world? For example, you might consider how and why the garden imagery works as an allusion to the biblical Garden of Eden.
Compare/contrast Sandra Cisneros’s treatment of one quality of a woman’s identity in House on Mango Street to the treatment of that quality in another work of literature that you’ve read this year, whether novel, short story, or poem.
Write a creative piece in which you model Cisneros's style to tell a story. This may be personal narrative or fiction.
Submissions in the fields of visual art, film, and poetry also are encouraged. Chosen creative submissions have the opportunity to be shared online through the website's section "Original Student Work."
Works Cited Szadziuk, Maria. “Culture as Transition: Becoming a Woman in Bi-Ethnic Space.” Mosaic: An Interdisciplinary Critical Journal, Vol. 32, No. 3 (September 1999), pp. 109-129. _______________ If there are any questions, please contact Dr. Jennifer Boulanger at the Hockaday School (via the “Contact” tab)