Activity OPTIONS The House on Mango Street Choose THREE!1. Final Chapter

Writing Situation: The ending of this book isn’t final, and leaves the reader with a lot of questions. What happens to Esperanza and all the other characters in the future? Do they manage to follow thei r dreams?

Writing Directions: Write a final chapter that tells the rest of the story. Consider setting it a period of time in the future, writing from the point of view of a different character, following up with characters we didn’t hear about, picking up where the book left off, etc.

Presentation: Write at least two pages. Consider adding a visual element.

2. Mango Street Map- Writing Situation: We learn a lot about this block and the people

who live in the different houses and what happens at each one. The novel builds a map for us by describing the street.

Writing Directions: Draw a map that accurately locates at least 10 of the character’s houses, apartments, stores, etc. on Mango Street. You may also add other significant features of the neighborhood like pets, objects, trees, etc. Select one quotation from the novel for each building or feature of the street and copy it onto your map. Identify and list the characters that live in each house/apartment and the significant events that happen at each location. (i.e. Mama, Papa, Carlos, Kiki, Esperanza and Nenny all

live at 4006 Mango Street. Or, in his backyard, Meme Ortiz wins the First Annual Tarzan Jumping Contest and breaks both arms).

Presentation: Illustrate your map using appropriate colors and images from the novel, and the details above.

3. Quote Poster Writing Situation: Cisnero’s writing is poetic, and many sentences of hers can

stand alone with a lot of power. Writing Directions: Choose three quotes from The House on Mango Street

that you think are important and present them in a poster form – include visuals, information about context and connections/ relevance, and what chapter it is from.

Presentation: Present your final poster with headings and visual impact on one piece of paper.

4. Film Poster/ MOvie trailer Writing Situation: This is a very visual novel, with a strong sense of

setting. What would a movie adaptation look like? How would the film format adapt the vignettes and the story? What would be the main enduring images to

Writing Directions: Create a poster or a movie trailer to advertise a film version of the book. Consider who or what to have as the main image to promote the film, a tagline that advertises the movie, and how to organize the elements in your design.

Presentation: Present your final poster with visual impact on one piece of paper, or use a computer to make a movie trailer.

5. Texting/ Email—non-direct communication Writing Situation: Esperanza make attempts to communicate in this chapter. She tries

to explain about eating lunch, fails to understand what her role at job is, and isn’t able to assert herself against her co-worker. Sometimes, text messages and emails help people communicate more clearly, but of course the setting of this novel is before this technology existed.

Writing Directions: Choose five important points throughout the novel, and write at least two text messages or emails from characters at this point in the story. Think about questions they would ask, what they would say to each other, and coming up with more information than provided in the book. Use text speech and emoticons-- emojis even.

Presentation: Present your final text/ email messages with headings, organization, and visual impact on one piece of paper.

6. Chapter Headings Autobiography Writing Situation: Cisneros’ chapter titles are interesting, concise, and revealing.

They grab the reader’s attention, and they are carefully crafted like all good short writing.

Writing Directions: Brainstorm a list of ten significant events in your life that helped shape your sense of identity, and title them accordingly. Then create a personalized table of contents for your own life. Make your titles interesting and unexpected, inspired by Cisneros’ style.

Presentation: Display your chapter headings like a table of contents. Think about the visual impact and model it on how chapter titles are displayed in books.

7. Synesthesia Poems Poster Activity

Writing Situation: Cisneros describes the sound of an old music box like this: "It's like all of a sudden he let go a million moths all over the dusty furniture and swan-neck shadows in our bones." This technique, in which a sound is described in terms of things seen and felt, is called synesthesia. Remember we learned about this when we talked about how the brain works!

Writing Directions: Write poems that are descriptions of: a) a place, using sounds; b) a piece of music, using smells; c) a meal, using colors; d) a person, using taste and touch.

Presentation: Write about a page, and include drawings to present on a poster for display.

8. Hairs-inspired creative writing Writing Situation : In the vignette “Hairs,” Sandra Cisneros reveals a lot about the

narrator’s family, especially her mother, through a discussion of one physical trait: hair. Her first paragraph describes the hair of the narrator’s father and the hair of her siblings, using those descriptions to give the reader insight into each of their personalities. Cisneros also reveals the narrator’s feelings towards her mother in the passage, using a variety of stylistic devices to achieve this effect. Think about the people in your own family, the characteristics you share with them and those which make them (and you) distinctive. Decide which physical trait you would like to write

about. Is the trait one you share with your family or yours alone? How might you present your piece Cisneros did with metaphors, similes, personification, alliteration, repetition and sensory details?

Writing Directions : Using “Hairs” as a model, write a vignette about your own life that discusses an important physical trait and how it reveals something about the person who possesses it and your relationship to him/her. You may choose to discuss a trait that all of you share, or one that makes a particular family member—or you—stand out from the others because it is different. You must incorporate at least four stylistic devices in your vignette. Presentation: Write about a page!