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House on Mango Street (E2H)
The House on Mango Street
by Sandra Cisneros

The House on Mango Street—for honors students???
Yep…

As you can see, this book is not difficult to read.  In fact, if I required it, I am certain you could finish this entire book tonight and be ready to discuss it tomorrow.  I’m not requiring this, though.

In fact, we’re going to read this novel together.  But this is an honors class, you’re screaming inside your head.  I don’t need anyone else to help me read some silly old book that’s barely 100 pages long!  Yes, yes, my dear young genius, I know.  But you know, I could give you any book to read and answer questions for.  I could give you study guides and projects and interdisciplinary activities and so on and so on and so on about any book at all and you would excel.  I know that.

The House on Mango Street—due to its simplicity and poetic style—provides us with an exciting opportunity to read a book together not just to get through it, but to see and hear how others read and respond to the exact same book that we are reading.  One of the greatest things about being a thinking creature is that no two of us think alike all the time.  This book allows us to see how others perceive the same literature that we are reading, to see it through their eyes, and then to respond in our own individual ways.

We will read the first four vignettes together—they’re not short stories, per se, not really—and I will model the process I expect you to go through.  Essentially, that process involved these three steps:

1)    Read the vignette to yourself.  You will be assigned one vignette to read at home and to prepare your presentation.  For our purposes during this instruction, I will read the vignettes aloud.
2)    Decide what events or characters have personal meaning for you.  In a way this is no different than a good reader’s response: consider how the characters and events relate to your personal experiences.  Write about your vignette briefly in your journal.
3)    Consider which personal issues could relate to other members of the class and write a journal prompt for this issue. Everyone in class should be able to relate to the topic.

Once you have done that, you’re ready to rock and roll.  Get it all ready.  Practice reading this chapter out loud.  Be ready to answer questions others might have about the vignette you have been assigned.  When we begin to share our novel, you will be the expert for your vignette, so I expect you to know it upside down and inside out.

When we begin presentations, each student is responsible for the following:
1)    Reading aloud a selected chapter to the class, speaking clearly and loudly and using effective inflection to demonstrate the tone of the piece.
2)    Discussing chapter issues with the class that are personally meaningful to the student presenter
3)    Specifying which of these issues could be considered a universal theme.
4)    Finally, creating a journal prompt with which to end the presentation. A successful prompt will connect the chapter's universal theme to the class members' everyday life.  
Students will then respond to each prompt (writing at least five sentences per vignette) in their journals.  After we have finished with the entire book, each student will select his/her three best personal vignettes to present in publishable form to create a class book.

So what’s it all about?  It’s about relating to others; it’s about learning to see through different eyes; it’s about growing up and learning to survive in the world in which you find yourself.  It’s a book you’ll never forget.
CHAPTER TITLES
1.    "The House on Mango Street"
2.    "Hairs"
3.    "Boys & Girls"
4.    "My Name"
5.    "Cathy Queen of Cats"
6.    "Our Good Day"
7.    "Laughter"
8.    "Gil's Furniture Bought and Sold"
9.    "Meme Ortiz"
10.    "Louie, His Cousin, and His Other Cousin"
11.    "Marin"
12.    "Those Who Don't"
13.    "There Was an Old Woman..."
14.    "Alicia Who Sees Mice"
15.    "Darius & the Clouds"
16.    "And Some More"
17.    "The Family of Little Feet"
18.    "A Rice Sandwich"
19.    "Chanclas"
20.    "Hips"
21.    "The First Job"
22.    "Papa Who Wakes Up Tired in the Dark"
23.    "Born Bad"
24.    "Elenita, Cards, Palm, Water"
25.    "Geraldo No Last Name"
26.    "Edna's Ruthie"
27.    "The Earl of Tennessee"
28.    "Sire"
29.    "Four Skinny Trees"
30.    "No Speak English"
31.    "Rafaela Who Drinks Coconut & Papaya Juice on Tuesdays"
32.    "Sally"
33.    "Minerva Writes Poems"
34.    "Bums in the Attic"
35.    "Beautiful & Cruel"
36.    "A Smart Cookie"
37.    "What Sally Said"
38.    "The Monkey Garden"
39.    "Red Clowns"
40.    "Linoleum Roses"
41.    "The Three Sisters"
42.    "Alicia & I Talking on Edna's Steps"
43.    "A House of My Own"
44.    "Mango Says Goodbye Sometimes"

 

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