How I Would Teach The House On Mango Street Essay example -- Teaching

The House on Mango Street is a very interesting book about a young Latino girl and her daily life. It is a look through a child’s eyes of the world around her. The story is written in short chapters, explaining different aspects of life from a child’s point of view. The story confronts poverty, physical abuse, discrimination and other issues that we’d never want our children to deal with. The House on Mango Street is truly a worthwhile book for children to read. It helps the reader understand what it’s like growing up in a rundown and harsh neighborhood, such as Mango Street. The House on Mango Street is the story about the life of Esperanza Cordero. She tells, in her own words, what the neighborhood is like around her and talks about the people she is close to. The first people she talks about are her family. You meet her family by the description of their hair. You learn a little about each family member by her description. For example, her mother’s hair smells like bread and makes her feel safe. The main characters you learn about are the two sisters, Lucy and Rachel. Lucy and Rachel ask Esperanza to chip in to buy a bike. The girls become friends and after meeting them, most of Esperanza’s experiences in the neighborhood are with the two sisters. Then, you meet characters with a smaller influence, such as Marin, Louie, Darius, and many more. The story starts out with the narrator, Esperanza Cordero, talking about her house and how she got there. Esperanza explains that she hasn’t always lived on Mango Street. She lived in many apartments before getting her house, although she is not happy with her house. It wasn’t what she imagined at all. Her parents say the house is only temporary, but Esperanza knows the truth. She knows she will be there a long time and she doesn’t want to be there. Esperanza feels out of place in her neighborhood and this theme continues throughout the book. She is ashamed of where she lives, but she’ll ride it out until she is old enough to get out. It is very obvious in the end of the book when Alicia tells Esperanza that the house of Mango Street is always her house. "No this isn’t my house," Esperanza says and shake my head as if shaking could undo the year I’ve lived here. "I don’t belong. I don’t ever want to come from here." At the end o f the story, you hear about the house of her dreams and her promise to get out of ... ...ed to their culture. Then, I’d have the children read the story. After they were done with the story, I’d have the class paint a mural of Esperanza’s neighborhood. Each child would then pick a character, draw a picture of them, and write a short description of the person under the picture. Then, when the mural and character drawings were finished, I would place the pictures of the characters on the mural of Mango Street. I would put each picture near the spot on the mural where the character lived. I think this would be a fun project for the class that will show to me that they know the material in the book. In conclusion, The House on Mango Street is both an educational and fun book to read. It helps the reader see into a different culture and perspective, while adding humor to keep the reader entertained. The story confronts disturbing issues, but through the eyes of an innocent child. Overall, this book is about growing up. This book does a great job of making the reader see what it’s like to grow up in a place like Mango Street. The House on Mango Street really makes the reader aware of the world around them and that their experience growing up was not like everyone else’s.