Coming of Age #2: The House On Mango Street

I really enjoyed the book I chose for our Coming Of Age unit, The House On Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. The House On Mango Street is the story of an adolescent girl Esperanza, who lives in a poor neighborhood in Chicago. Throughout the book, Esperanza finds herself, and figures out who she is, what she wants and what she deserves.  It's told in the form of vignettes which gives it a deeper meaning.


The line that struck me most about coming of age, was the very last line "They will not know I have gone away to come back. For the ones I left behind. For the ones who cannot out." This line hit me so much because it showed how much Esperanza had changed throughout the book. In the beginning, it started with her not having much confidence, hating her name, and being afraid of the world out in front of her. For Esperanza to make her own decisions and throw them out into the air like no one can hear, is a big change in her character. It shows how much bravery and courage she's gained. Even though she had many inner and outer struggles, this shows how you can't just get to the top. You have to start down low without an idea of who you are, and gradually build up to a girl who can soar up high. This quote shows how Esperanza is willing to come back to the people who are at their confused point, and help them build up to their strong point too.


I think the Mango Street house helped her figure out who she was. For most of her life on Mango, Esperanza kept saying how she didn't like living there. She said she was ashamed of it and felt like she didn't belong. This is what makes us realize what we take for granted in our lives. Esperanza's role in the family was to look after her siblings. I think doing this made her skip by her youth hood in the blink of an eye. This made Esperanza realize much faster than she should have. She should have enjoyed being a child. She should have loved making new friends and she should have enjoyed having a place to sleep at night. Making her look after the children as if she's the mom, makes her see all the wrong in her life and in the world. Should she have stayed younger for more time, or did she come of age at the right time?


In the end, it's important that Esperanza put the puzzle pieces of her life back together.  Esperanza had gone farther than just learning who she was, but she was also willing to help people who couldn't get past their struggles. Like the quote says, Esperanza is ready to help other people who cannot out. She says one day she will pack up her bags of books and paper. One day she will say goodbye to Mango. But I think Esperanza has already said her goodbyes to Mango...at least the memories of her childhood that she didn't want to remember. Even though Esperanza is still on Mango, she has grown through the hardships of her living in the home. Esperanza has Come of Age, and she's now ready to have a house of her own.

Coming of Age: The House on Mango Street

I'm halfway done with The House on Mango Street. This book is extremely thought-provoking and passionate. As I read the book, I notice the idea of coming of age, the main points and the inner struggles. I notice the main character, Esperanza's childhood and eventually will notice her adulthood as well.

In the beginning of the book, Esperanza is very self conscious and has high dreams, but doesn't have enough support to reach them. In some of the vignettes such as My Name and Born Bad, she has very low confidence in herself, and she also doesn't have much courage. In My Name, she thinks her name doesn't fit who she really is, and it doesn't let anyone know who she really is. She says she wants to baptize herself under a new name, a name more like the real her. She doesn't realize that her name is beautiful in it's own way and she doesn't realize how unique it is. In Born Bad, she says that she deserves to be in hell, and says she will most likely end up there as well. But in this one vignette, there's a sign of adulthood. Esperanza says; "And then she died, my aunt who listened to my poems. And then we began to dream the dreams." This shows coming of age, because it shows how she learns from her mistakes when there's a deep loss in her heart. She feels the wrong in her heart, when something very wrong happens to her personally.

As I said, in the vignette My Name, Esperanza is very uncomfortable with her name. This is one of her outer struggles. One of her inner struggles is her being deprived of the attention she receives from her parents at home. Her friends, mainly Rachel and Lucy are big roles in her life. Instead of just dealing with being the oldest and not getting enough attention at home, Rachel and Lucy give Esperanza somewhat of what she needs. Attention.  Instead of being ignored, she is now noticed. Rachel and Lucy are very important to Esperanza. They are the 2 of the few people who don't judge her for being in poverty. They don't care, and know it would not affect their friendship in anyway.

As I finish the book, I am going to try to find how Esperanza changes, and what makes her change. What makes her come of age. I really want to know if she will reach her high hopes and dreams, living in her own home, a house she deserves. I bet she will.

Breathless

Peer pressure is something that's very common in a teen's life. In Breathless by Jessica Warman, peer pressure is an issue that the main character Katie goes through throughout the book. Katie is sent off to a very fancy boarding school, where she meets two girls, Estella and Lindsey. These girls are very popular which makes Katie, "the new girl" feel very uncomfortable. After a while, Katie gets to really know Estella and Lindsay. This lets Katie get to help out her new, very unsocial room mate Mazzie.

Katie is one of the best swimmers on the varsity team. In the beginning of the book, when Katie firsts meets Lindsey and Estella, Estella tells Katie that she's going to wax her legs for her. Katie surprisingly hesitates and doesn't know how to respond. Katie gets really embarrassed and tries not to choke on her words when she explains that since she's on the varsity team, she's not aloud to wax her legs. Estella automatically gives Katie a sharp glare. She says "It won't hurt a bit, Katie baby." This leaves Katie very self conscious and finally agrees.

This is a clear example of peer pressure. I think Katie feels so overwhelmed and "threatened" by Estella, that she does whatever she can to stay the popular girl's friend, even if it means breaking the rules. Outside the book, peer pressure is serious. A lot of girls want to be noticed and get attention. When teens feel that they are being forced to do something it causes them to get so worried, self conscious, and scared, that they usually do what others would do. This usually causes them to make the wrong decisions, as Katie did in the book.

But after making these decisions, she learns that they don't really have to be made. After Mazzie moves in with her, she realizes she doesn't have to be the center of attention. She realizes everyone goes through hard times in their lives, whether they have to do with friends or family. Helping Mazzie make friends, helps Katie realize that she doesn't have to make any bad decisions to get the things she wants. (A boyfriend, friends and to be popular.) If teens stop worrying about what others think of them, would they still be affected with peer pressure?

Romeo and Juliet Response

I enjoyed Baz Luhrmann's version of Romeo and Juliet so much. The movie was so touching and got into great detail about love.  I haven't done much study of Shakespeare before this, but I had a lot of background information on Romeo and Juliet. I hadn't been very interested and I thought it was really boring. When I actually started to study Shakespeare I started understanding the language and his ideas.

I think people are very stereotypical about love life. To a lot of people love comes to their minds as pink hearts, kisses, hugs and just as plain perfect. But that's not what love really is. Shakespeare made it so clear that love is fate and fate is real life. Nobody thinks as love as fights, and different types of love. Shakespeare showed the connection between Paris and Juliet and Romeo and Rosaline. He showed that love can be complicated and people can move on. He showed that it's possible for two people in love, to die. He showed that parents can get violent and be prepared to beg for their girl to be with the man they want her to be with. Love can be so hurtful, but no one wants to believe it.

Talking about stereotypes, I think people are stereotypical about Romeo and Juliet as well. In a lot of movies I've seen, the children usually know Romeo and Juliet as standing on a balcony with their hands reaching toward each other. They usually know more about Romeo and Juliet's love life more than they know anything about the fight scene between the Capulet's and the Montague's. There is so much to know about the history of Shakespeare and Romeo and Juliet and it's so important. Shakespeare's messages convey so much that I think it's very confusing why there are so many stereotypes.

Response to Twilight

Twilight is another romance drama in the teen world of books. Even though I'm not very far into the book, I can already sense a feeling of hatred between two of the main characters. In most stories, characters are so unpredictable and a lot of the time change feelings towards each other. So maybe feelings will change.

Edward has been being really weird towards Bella. Bella hasn't talked to him yet, so she doesn't understand why Edward hates her so much. Bella hasn't done anything to hurt him either. Sometimes the feeling of love can come off as such a hard and sharp emotion. Like Shakespeare's messages and questions and ways of showing themes, I also wonder if there is such thing as "young love." Is it possible for young children to fall in love? I think the reason Edward and Bella aren't really getting along right now is because they don't know what love "really is." In order to fall in love, you have to know what love is. I don't think many young people understand what love is.

Why is Edward acting so awkward around Bella? Why are other kids talking to her and comforting her? I think Edward is a really interesting symbol for love, and shows a really weird way of what love can be, and what it can change into.

Peer Mentors!

                                                               Some Inspiring Writing.

This post was one I personally related very much to. (Malik's AMAZING post.)

http://mmpcorparation.blogspot.com/2011/01/perfection.html 

Malik did an excellent job of explaining his ideas. He started off with one big topic, "Perfection." Through out his post, he enclosed on specific parts of his idea and did a really nice job of getting into deep detail. I really like the way he questioned his ideas. He started off with a broad question that made him dig into his deeper detail. Malik described people with his ideas. He said you can observe the way people think about perfection by just looking at their perspectives on the world. He was very direct with his message to the reader and told us what he wanted the readers to observe the way people are with perfection. I also really liked the way he related his idea to his personal life with his family and his religion.

Now this, was one very thought-provoking post. (Kayla's AMAZING post.)

http://kaylaceelovesbooks.blogspot.com/2010/12/living-on-impulse-by-cara-haycak.html

Kayla is the kind of writer who deserves to be in an All-Star Mentor post. Kayla always pushes herself over the minimum 3 paragraph post. The second paragraph in Kayla's post really has a lot of thought put into it. She questions her idea, she answers it, explains it, and puts a nice rhythm into it. One of characteristics that a great post needs, is going inside and outside of the book. Kayla related her issue of stealing to the inside of her book, and then brought it back into her person life and the things she observers around her. Another thing Kayla did really well in this post, was end it with a question. All posts get your mind working when they end with a question. Good job, Kayla!

Another powerful post (Ashley's AMAZING post.)

http://peaceloveandpages.blogspot.com/2011/01/identical-readind-response.html

Ashley did a really nice job with her post. In her first paragraph, she did a short but filling retell of her book. Ashley and my other mentor Malik, both had similar posts. Their main issue was "Perfection." They both had different perspectives on this idea. Malik related his to the general world, and Ashley related hers to her family. I really like the way Ashley said she didn't need a perfect family. As long as they were there for her, she was happy. I totally agree with Ashley. A perfect family is a scary family. There's no reason you have to be perfect. As long as your there for each other, you should be happy. Ashley also did a nice job of questioning her ideas.

Thank you to all of my mentors who made me become a better reader, writer, and listener. 

Good job to everyone!

Poem on a Painting

I hear smacks and screams

I hear shouts of pain

I can hear the silent cries 

Deep in her throat

Everything in her mind is calm

At ease

Except the congested part 

Of memories from millenniums ago

I can feel the knot in her stomach

She feels twisted 

And alone

I know she can read my mind

That's why I have to keep my thoughts to myself 

And not share what I can see

Through those dark, shadowy eyes

Of that girl who haunts those who enter 

and torture

Blogpost: Poetry Response, "Forgotten Planet"

Driving to Town Late to Mail a Letter

Robert Bly

It is a cold and snowy night. The main street is deserted.
The only things moving are swirls of snow.
As I lift the mailbox door, I feel its cold iron.
There is a privacy I love in this snowy night.
Driving around, I will waste more time.

Reading this poem always make me think about winter. I can always imagine myself, walking home from my dance class on a snowy night with no one around me. I like this poem because there is such beautiful imagery shown. I've noticed this poem doesn't have a rhyme scheme. Every line is different and unique, and it's written in a way that the writer is telling a story. This poem also seems to be a memoir. I've also realized from reading other poetry, that shorter poems can be more meaningful and more powerful compared to longer ones. I feel like the writer can explain their message better in shorter poems.

I feel like this poem is kind of hard to interpret. Although, after reading it a couple of times, I'm receiving a message of freedom. I think the writer is telling us to be free, and be who we want to be. The line, "Driving around, I will waste more time" makes me think that the narrator doesn't care what people think of him, do what YOU want. ''

Going into something bigger, I think of the issue of peer pressure. I can see that the poem is not talking about this issue, but wanting to be who you want to be, and not caring what people think of you is related to peer pressure. The writer is talking about wasting time and desertion on the streets. I feel as though the writer is saying, snow is where you can do whatever you want to do. I also think that snow might be a symbol for another idea. Something in your heart that wants you to do what's right for you. The overall message the writer is displaying, is be yourself, no matter who's watching or who's talking.

Hurricane Song

I'm reading the book Hurricane Song by Paul Volponi for the second time. Hurricane Song is about a boy and his father who get stuck in Hurricane Katrina, and have to fight the hard times they go through, such as       maintaining a healthy relationship,  and fighting for their lives. They witness some horrible things between themselves and others as they live in the Superdome.

A part that's really sticking out to me, is when Miles' dad runs away. He says to Miles, "I need to go see what happened to the Jazz Club", and as he walks away, Miles is just staring. This shocked me so much, yet it seems so real to me. In a huge world crisis such as a deathly hurricane, I can see all the stress out on everybody, especially for one who is having problems with his son. Although it does make me upset. Miles and his father just had started to get along with each other and then as soon as it happens, the dad walks away. They had accomplished so much but at the same time they accomplished nothing.

When someone walks away like that, it usually means their not happy. Looking at his dad's personality, I can see why he would do something like that. He's the type that doesn't care. But it makes me wonder...does he care about his jazz life more than he does to his own son?