Summer Learning | Emma's Portfolio

The house on mango street

Esperanza:

She’s a bit ignorant about different sexes. She thinks boys and girls live in different universes.

Page 75, ” The boys and girls live in separate worlds. the boys in their universe and we in ours.”

Esperanza as a kid always wanted to leave mango street. As she builds connections with the people in the community she begins to feel important and loved. She no longer sees herself as in individual. She sees her self as a member of the community. The final thing Esperanza learns is she likes to write. Esperanza has not yet found a home for herself. but her writing has helped her find privacy.

internal: in the beginning

individual, self dependant

ignorant

a little nervous to grow up

sexually unaware

middle:

beginning to understand sex

a little more self aware

a little less ignorant

end:

still learning

more grown up

found her privacy

Nenny:

Nenny is often a big responsibility for Esperanza. All though she is innocent she still annoys Esperanza like crazy. Esperanza introduces Nenny to her friends but at the same time tries to keep her away from bad influences. Nenny can be a tag-a-long and that bothers Esperanza a lot. Her actions often annoy, embarrass, and make Esperanza uncomfortable.

Nenny and Esperanza seem so different, but there are certain things that are similar about them. Their laugh is exactly the same. page 90, “our laughter for example, not the shy ice cream bells’ giggle of Rachel and Lucy’s family, but all of the sudden and surprised like a pile of dishes breaking.”

Nenny doesn’t listen to Rachel Lucy or Esperanza. she follows her own dreams even if the girls don’t like it.

internal: in the beginning

She’s a responsibility

annoying

innocent

independent

tag-a-long

embarrassing

middle:

dreamer

still most of the qualities from the beginning.

end:

follows her own dreams

isn’t influenced by others

she’s happy at mango street

Sally:When Esperanza starts to like boys she seeks a great friend… Sally. From Esperanzas POV Sally is beautiful and cruel like the women she admires in the movies. All the boys like her. They all think she’s beautiful. Page 218, ” The boys at school think she’s beautiful because her hair is shines black like Raven feathers, and when she laughs she flicks her hair back like a satin shawl over her shoulder.”

Esperanza thinks Sally is spirited. They are very similar because Sally spends her time dreaming about how to escape her neighborhood. Sally has different view of sex then Esperanza. not only does she like to drive boys crazy, she finds safety and comfort in sexual feelings. This ends up with Sally putting Esperanza into danger. Esperanza realizes her friendship with Sally makes her want to grow up to faster than she would like

In the end Sally is a non reliant character in Esperanzas life. She lost Esperanzas trust and friendship.

internal: in the beginning
beautiful and cruel
spirited
similar to Esperanza
dreams of escaping
spirited
happy

middle:
has safe views of sex
not as worried as Esperanza
ends up putting Esperanza in danger

end:
not trust worthy
looses Esperanzas trust
non reliant
doesn’t laugh
goes straight home

Overall I think this was an amazing book. I really really enjoyed it!