House on Mango Street Vignette Analysis

Name:__________________________________________ Period____________

House on Mango Street

Comprehension and Analysis

Directions: For each vignette assigned, please complete the following.

1) This piece of writing is about ___________________________________. (One sentence)

2) Element analysis: Identify some aspect or element of this piece that is, in your opinion, interesting or well done. Be sure to identify what you will be discussing (metaphor, simile, personification, imager, subject matter, character, tone) give an excerpt, and explain what makes it work. (One paragraph)

3) Personal reaction: give your personal response to this vignette. Explain whether you can relate to its ideas or not. (One paragraph)

Here’s an example of what these three questions look like when answered (same format as the wiki):

“Hips”

1) This piece is about Esperanza and her friends growing up and developing into young ladies who are no longer children, yet not quite in the next stage of their lives.

2) Element Analysis: Simile: “They bloom like roses…The bones just one day open.” This use of simile allows us a couple of different perspectives. First, we can see how simplistic yet accurate children are with their views of the world and growing up. Much like a flower, it is impossible for us to grow up in reverse and once we have “bloomed” we will never be the same; yet, we are ready to take on the roles of those older and more “blossomed” than ourselves.

3) This is a great vignette for me to relate to because I had these same discussions with my friends when I was younger. Growing up was such a big idea that none of us ever thought we would reach; yet, we were not really even aware of the fact that it happened almost over night. We would all talk about puberty like we were all experts; however, most of the time we were just making it all up.