House on Mango Street

Essential Question• Where does our sense of identity come

from?• You may want to consider the following

questions for your answer:–How does environment shape our identity?–What identities, if any, are permanent and

which do we have the power to change?–What roles do neighborhood and community

play in shaping who we become? Continue

Who are you?• Create a list of what you

consider your identity to be.

Observations

• What do you see on the cover, through flipping the pages, on the back cover?

WordsElderly womanA house – maybe building – outdatedA woman with pillowsPrice of book - barcodeIt’s fictionHispanic author110 pagesIt’s got Spanish wordsAuthor backgroundAn antenna

Initial Reactions

• What are your initial feelings about the text?

DifferentRandomConfusedSpanishA lot of food references

Predictions?

• What do you expect to find in this novel?

It’s based on her life.How she grew up.A house on mango street / a house of my own – mango says goodbye sometimes.Her first job.

Esperanza and her neighborhood

• What was revealed to us in chapter one about Esperanza and her neighborhood?

Has dreams for herself.Her family always wants to improve.The neighborhood might not be nice.The neighborhood might be nice with the exception of her house.Her situation is unstable.She moved around a lot. She’s Hispanic.

Journal Activity

• Pretend you are Esperanza. Go back to the essential question and answer it how you think she would.

Mini Research

• You will research your full name and write a two-three page paper.

• The paper must be turned in via Turnitin by 11:59 Monday 9/26

September 26th 2011

Self Identity

• What did we say, last week, influences our self identity?

• What did we say influenced Esperanza’s identity.– Share your journal entries from last week (written

as Esperanza)

Read pages 3-11

What’s in a Name?

• Last week you started researching the meaning of your full name.– Share with the class what your full name means.– How does your name’s meaning influence your

sense of self?

What’s in a Name?

• Re-visit the “My Name” vignette.• Is there anything here that we have already

noticed about her sense of identity?

Elements of Style

• Style – the distinctive way in which a writer uses language (how he/she puts sentences together, his/her choice of vocabulary, and use of literary devices).

• Metaphor – a comparison between two things that are basically dissimilar in which one thing becomes another.– Ex: “But my mother’s hair…is the warm smell of

bread before you bake it.”

Elements of Style

• Simile – a comparison between two things that are basically dissimilar using “like” or “as” to make the comparison.– Ex: “My papa’s hair is like a broom.”

• Personification – the act of giving human qualities to something that is not human.– Ex: “And me, my hair is lazy.”

Elements of Style

• Alliteration – the repetition of similar consonant sounds within a phrase or sentence.– Ex: “It is the smell when she makes room for you

on her side of the bed still warm with her skin.”• Repetition – the act of repeating words or

phrases for dramatic effect– Ex: In “Hairs,” the words “hair”, “holding you,” and

“rain” are repeated.

Elements of Style

• Sensory details – images and/or details that emphasize our senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, touch) to recreate a scene for the reader.– Ex: “The snoring, the rain, and Mama’s hair that

smells like bread.”

Possible Test Questions

• Elements of style:– Questions in where you will have to:• match, identify and create your examples of simile,

metaphor, personification.• identify sensory detail

“Hairs”

• Re-visit the Hairs vignette.• What lines/images stand out?• How does this vignette feel? (Like a novel,

story, poem) Why?

“Hairs” Modeling AssignmentSample

Everyone in my family has different skin colors. Even though we are family, our skin colors are different because we all come from at least three other places: Africa, the Northern Plains, and Europe. Black. Indian. White. That’s why I think my family and I have different skin colors.My grandmother on my mom’s side is light skinned like a fresh banana, mixed with black, white and Indian. My grandfather on my mom’s side is dark skinned like a dark brown crayon and mixed with black and Indian. Their child, my mom, is also dark like a dark brown crayon. Black, white and Indian.Both of my parents are mixed with black, white and Indian which makes me light, lighter than both of them.Even though we all look different, somehow we are as one. After all the ancestry and the two sides of my family coming together, I was the one. Togetherness.The color of my skin reveals who I am, where I came from, what I am all about. It is what identifies me. My ancestry. Where it all started.

October 3rd 2011

“Hairs” Modeling Assignment

• Questions?– Review sample

• Share your own example.

Journal

• Is living in a house your family owns different from living in a house or apartment your family rents? How? – Are renters, owners and homeless people all

considered equal citizens in America? Why or why not?

Read pages 12-25

THOMS Chapter Titles

• Read the chapter titles.• Make predictions– What do you expect to read in these chapters.– Which do you think you’ll enjoy reading. Why?

Your Chapter Titles

• Brainstorm a list of 10 ACTUAL significant events from your life that helped shape your sense of identity.

• Submit your rough draft• Create your own TABLE OF CONTENTS (give it

a title)

______(Your Name Here)____’sStory

• Write a short story (vignette) for three of your chapter titles.– They need to connect in some way (like THOMS),

but can stand alone (not necessary to read one before/after the other)