Sandra Cisneros

A House as Quiet as Snow

Growing Up in Chicago
Born in the Hispanic Quarter of
Chicago in 1954
Mexican-American (Chicana)
She was the only girl in a family of
seven, and grew up in poverty
Her parents emphasized education
Her family moved often; she was shy
and introverted, but connected with her
community privately through writing
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chh/bio/cisneros_s.htm
http://www.sandracisneros.com/html/abou
t/bio.html

Becoming a Writer
Attended Loyola University in Chicago
as an English major
Decided to become a writer
Attended the Iowa Writers Workshop,
a graduate school for young writers
Was afraid her unprivileged
background would put her at a
disadvantage in the literary world
However, her heritage gave her the
unique voice that shaped her career
http://www.galegroup.com/free_resources/chh
/bio/cisneros_s.htm
http://www.sandracisneros.com/html/about/bi
o.html

Books by Sandra Cisneros

Bad Boys, Mango Press: San Jose, California, 1980
The House on Mango Street , (Arte Publico Press: Houston, Texas, l984),
Vintage: New York, 1991.
Woman Hollering Creek, Random House: New York, 1991
My Wicked Wicked Ways, (Third Woman Press: Berkeley, California, l987),
Random House: New York, 1992
La Casa En Mango Street, translated by Elena Poniatowska, Vintage
Espaol, New York, 1994.
Loose Woman, Alfred A. Knopf: New York, 1994.
Hairs/Pelitos, Alfred A. Knopf: New York, 1994. Spanish translation by Liliana
Valenzuela.
Caramelo, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2002. Spanish edition translated by
Liliana Valenzuela.
Vintage Cisneros, Vintage, New York, 2004.
http://www.sandracisneros.com/html/about/publications.html

The House on Mango Street: Narrator

The work is narrated by Esperanza Cordero,
thirteen, a Chicana girl in Chicago.
Although told in the voice of a young girl, it
addresses mature subject matter.
In English, Esperanza means hope, and also,
waiting.
This choice of name is significant in the novel:
the character and her independence represent
a way out of the slums.
As she watches her neighborhood, she decides
that she will not become like the women she
knows, trapped and powerless in a mans
world.

The House on Mango Street: Setting

Mango Street symbolizes both Esperanzas ball and chain and her
inspiration.
In the beginning of the novel, she is disappointed with the house on
Mango Street.
She finds that she is not like the other residents of Mango, that she
can and will find the strength to leave her life there.
She realizes that Mango is a part of her, and where she comes from is
as important as where shes going.
She knows she must come back, to help the others who are trapped
there.
Cisneross writing is very imagistic. She makes unexpected
comparisons between things to give connotations to what she
describes.

The House on Mango Street: Structure

The novel is told as a series of
vignettes, 1-4 pages each
There is no real chronological plot, but
a series of insights into Esperanzas
thoughts and feelings.
The vignettes show the trends in
behavior in the community and
provide a contrast between strength
and weakness, between freedom and
bondage.
The novel is dedicated A Las Mujeres,
To the Women.

The House on Mango Street: Characters

Alicia, the medical student who is still bound to her old fears.
Marin, who waits.
Beautiful Rafaela, the modern-day Rapunzel.
Rosa Vargas, with too many children, crying for the husband who
left.
Mamacita, who dreams of the pink house she left behind and refuses
to speak English.
Sally, the subject of abuse until she marries, to escape, before eighth
grade, and moves from Mango Street into into another sort of trap.
And then there is Esperanza, who is like the skinny trees outside her
tiny window, who longs for a house all her own, who starts her own
quiet war.

The House on Mango Street: Significance

This is Cisneross first novel.
It is a way to relate her cultural
identity to her life and the lives of
others.
Cisneros seeks to break the cycle of
defeats that women suffered due to
social and religious stereotypes.
Esperanza is an outlet for the
authors views on the perceptions
of women in her milieu.
http://www.galegroup.com/free_r
esources/chh/bio/cisneros_s.htm

Further Research
For more biographical information:
http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/a_f/cisneros/bio.htm
For more analysis of The House on Mango Street:
http://www.bookrags.com/notes/hms/BIO.htm
To buy books by Sandra Cisneros:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handleform/102-7635974-7540935
Teaching resources for Cisneross works:
http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/cisneros.htm