Sandra Cisneros’ ‘The House on Mango Street’ is begun when a young Latina girl named Esperanza, growing up in the city of Chicago in a small red house on Mango Street. This house is an upgrade from where her and her family used to live but is still to small for the family in a not-so-good street in Chicago. This shows the young girl’s childhood innocence starting to disappear the more she learns about people and the real world and its experiences. The young girl is trying to find herself in the world and what she wants and aspires to be.
In regards to style, syntax, and artistic merit the vignette that was most impressive was the chapter titled ‘Edna’s Ruthie’ this chapter focuses on the daughter of a lady that owns a building next door to Esperanza, the daughter’s name is Ruthie. Ruthie is described as a “tall skinny lady with red lipstick and blue babushka, one blue sock and one green because she forgot, and is the only grown-up who likes to play” seen on page 67. Ruthie is married and has a house away, she always says that she’s waiting for her husband to pick her up but never leaves. Cisneros uses simple sentences like “She likes candy” on page 68. Ruthie never really answers Esperanza when she’s telling a story she seems to get distracted very easily. Ruthie seems to never really know what to do and is always asking her mother what to do, but her mother tells her that she is a grown adult and she should make her own choices. However Ruthie does not seem to want to grow up, she likes to play with the children and sleep on her mother’s couch.
The syntax of the vignette is very well structured. Cisneros uses sensory detail such as “tall skinny lady with red lipstick and blue babushka” this was the sensory detail as sight, but she does use other senses too such as “Books are wonderful…She runs her fingers over them as if she could read them in braille”. This vignette adds to many readers’ knowledge that Esperanza is curious, she gives readers a visual insight and description of each character’s features and her experiences with them.
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In many chapters throughout the book, Sandra Cisneros uses a descriptive writing style. Sandra Cisneros focuses on describing an event, the characters, and places in specific detail. In the chapter ‘The Family of Little Feet’ the chapter focuses on when the mother of the family of little feet gives Esperanza and her friends a paper bag with three pairs of high heeled shoes. The three girls have fun by themselves playing dress up and trading off the shoes with one another, saying “And gave us a paper bag with one pair of lemon shoes and one red and one pair of dancing shoes that used to be white but are now pale blue” seen on page 40. During this chapter, Sandra Cisneros is repetitive with this description and repeats this line more than once in this exact order. However, occasionally Cisneros will write her description in a poetic form and gives readers sensory details. In another chapter titled ‘Sally’ this chapter focuses on a young girl who is very pretty and gains the negative attention of the boys and girls of the school, everyone makes
