The House on Mango Street - Formal Essay
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The link above is for my House On Mango Street formal essay.
We needed to write a four paragraph essay on the themes of this book and the development of the main character, Esperanza. If you redirect to my Literature page you will find a full summary on the book. My thesis explains Esperanza's character at the beginning and end of the book without giving any extra information away.
Thesis:
Growing up is never easy. In the story, House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros tells the story of a young girl, Esperanza, growing up in a ghetto neighborhood. In the beginning of the book Esperanza is insecure but by the end she is confident and strong.
I received a 3/5 on this paper because there were many corrections that I needed to make before this would ever be worthy of a 5. I received the credit for fixing one paragraph but I fixed all of them, if I could turn this in again I would probably get a 4. Some things that I need to work on are putting my concrete details and commentary in the correct places because there is some commentary before the concrete details which is not supposed to happen. I'm very good at putting the proper parenthetical citations on all of my quotes. For my next formal essay I'm definitely going to have more than one person revise it and I am going to have Erin check it first to give me some tips on what I should do differently.
You can read my essay below:
Esperanza's Journey
Growing up is never easy. In the story, House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros tells the story of a young girl, Esperanza, growing up in a ghetto neighborhood. In the beginning of the book Esperanza is insecure but by the end she is confident and strong.
Esperanza is an insecure, young girl growing up in a bad neighborhood. For example, A nun from Esperanza’s school passes by Esperanza and her house one day, and looks horrified at where she lives which makes Esperanza feel ashamed. This makes Esperanza think,“The way she said it made me feel like nothing” (Cisneros 5). Esperanza is heavily affected by what others think of her. She doesn't want to feel ashamed about herself and is afraid of being judged. One day Esperanza and her sister, Nenny go to a junk store and the owner of the store turns on this beautiful music box which they all listen to and Esperanza thinks,“I don't know why, but I have to turn around and pretend I don't care about the box so Nenny won’t see how stupid I am” (Cisneros 20). Esperanza is afraid of looking childish like Nenny. She’s having a tough time with her childhood, trying to lock away real feelings by replacing them with false ones just for the sake of not being judged. Overall, in the beginning of the book, Esperanza’s experiences show the reader that she has a lot of growing up to do.
By the end of the book, Esperanza is confident and strong. “ I have begun my own quiet war. Simple. Sure. I am the one who leaves the table like a man, without putting back the chair or picking up the plate” (Cisneros 89). Esperanza comes out of her shell and realizes that she wants to be treated equal to men, not just a wife to be ordered around or a punching bag. Esperanza learns from her mistakes and the mistakes of others. She doesn’t want to be treated like she is worthless because she knows that she is more than that. “I am too strong for her to keep me here forever” (Cisneros 110). In this point in the book Esperanza has learned that she can steer her life in any direction she chooses because she has worked hard to escape the harsh reality that is Mango Street. She wants to experience the life that she’s seen everybody else have. Through Esperanza’s experiences she has learned that her strength comes from the love of others and the need to take care of them. Esperanza’s independance helps her grow into a strong, confident young woman.
In the beginning of this book, Esperanza is unsure of herself but by the end she is courageous and compassionate towards the people who can't leave Mango Street. Esperanza is insecure about herself and her life in the beginning of The House on Mango Street. But towards the end Esperanza becomes confident in herself and decides to act as an equal to men. Growing up is always difficult. Although growing up can be hard, the struggles one faces as they mature will ultimately make them better.
We needed to write a four paragraph essay on the themes of this book and the development of the main character, Esperanza. If you redirect to my Literature page you will find a full summary on the book. My thesis explains Esperanza's character at the beginning and end of the book without giving any extra information away.
Thesis:
Growing up is never easy. In the story, House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros tells the story of a young girl, Esperanza, growing up in a ghetto neighborhood. In the beginning of the book Esperanza is insecure but by the end she is confident and strong.
I received a 3/5 on this paper because there were many corrections that I needed to make before this would ever be worthy of a 5. I received the credit for fixing one paragraph but I fixed all of them, if I could turn this in again I would probably get a 4. Some things that I need to work on are putting my concrete details and commentary in the correct places because there is some commentary before the concrete details which is not supposed to happen. I'm very good at putting the proper parenthetical citations on all of my quotes. For my next formal essay I'm definitely going to have more than one person revise it and I am going to have Erin check it first to give me some tips on what I should do differently.
You can read my essay below:
Esperanza's Journey
Growing up is never easy. In the story, House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros tells the story of a young girl, Esperanza, growing up in a ghetto neighborhood. In the beginning of the book Esperanza is insecure but by the end she is confident and strong.
Esperanza is an insecure, young girl growing up in a bad neighborhood. For example, A nun from Esperanza’s school passes by Esperanza and her house one day, and looks horrified at where she lives which makes Esperanza feel ashamed. This makes Esperanza think,“The way she said it made me feel like nothing” (Cisneros 5). Esperanza is heavily affected by what others think of her. She doesn't want to feel ashamed about herself and is afraid of being judged. One day Esperanza and her sister, Nenny go to a junk store and the owner of the store turns on this beautiful music box which they all listen to and Esperanza thinks,“I don't know why, but I have to turn around and pretend I don't care about the box so Nenny won’t see how stupid I am” (Cisneros 20). Esperanza is afraid of looking childish like Nenny. She’s having a tough time with her childhood, trying to lock away real feelings by replacing them with false ones just for the sake of not being judged. Overall, in the beginning of the book, Esperanza’s experiences show the reader that she has a lot of growing up to do.
By the end of the book, Esperanza is confident and strong. “ I have begun my own quiet war. Simple. Sure. I am the one who leaves the table like a man, without putting back the chair or picking up the plate” (Cisneros 89). Esperanza comes out of her shell and realizes that she wants to be treated equal to men, not just a wife to be ordered around or a punching bag. Esperanza learns from her mistakes and the mistakes of others. She doesn’t want to be treated like she is worthless because she knows that she is more than that. “I am too strong for her to keep me here forever” (Cisneros 110). In this point in the book Esperanza has learned that she can steer her life in any direction she chooses because she has worked hard to escape the harsh reality that is Mango Street. She wants to experience the life that she’s seen everybody else have. Through Esperanza’s experiences she has learned that her strength comes from the love of others and the need to take care of them. Esperanza’s independance helps her grow into a strong, confident young woman.
In the beginning of this book, Esperanza is unsure of herself but by the end she is courageous and compassionate towards the people who can't leave Mango Street. Esperanza is insecure about herself and her life in the beginning of The House on Mango Street. But towards the end Esperanza becomes confident in herself and decides to act as an equal to men. Growing up is always difficult. Although growing up can be hard, the struggles one faces as they mature will ultimately make them better.