The House on Mango Street Reflection Paper
February 6, 2013 Cynthia Cotto
Cc606738@sju.edu
Response Paper
In the very first vignette Esperanza discusses how her family moved around a lot and even though the house on Mango Street was not the house of their dreams, it was a great achievement to own it. Although Esperanza knew they were not moving anytime soon, she recognized one advantage; her family was free of landlord management. In my community home ownership is a constant battle and for many simply a dream. I learn the value of home ownership in a similar sequence as Esperanza. My little sister and I were moved to and from apartment to family member’s houses until our first small home. A home with no back yard and only four stairs and side walk out front. None the less, a home to call our own; it was then that I knew one day I will own my home painted “white with trees around it, a great big yard and grass growing without a fence.” Setting this goal meant one thing to me, out; out of Philadelphia like out of the House on Mango Street. How to get out and leave my home, my Philadelphia that is so much a part of my maturing process that has molded who I am today is the challenge. Poverty is the drive behind my force on getting out, like Esperanza, poverty is a constant scene that drives my motivation to rise out from my community in Philadelphia. For many families it is not unusual to live in a row home next to an abandoned home or open lot where houses use to be; look around and see no grass only concrete, see no trees only stumps of where trees use to be and garbage carried by the wind collected alongside stoop of houses. The tricky part of growing up with this experience is realizing it molds character and influences a sense of direction. My experience in poverty directed my ambition in education therefore strengthening my chances in attaining my goals. Ultimately what was said to Esperanza by the three sisters, “You can’t erase what you know. You can’t forget who you are” is valid in
Cc606738@sju.edu
Response Paper
In the very first vignette Esperanza discusses how her family moved around a lot and even though the house on Mango Street was not the house of their dreams, it was a great achievement to own it. Although Esperanza knew they were not moving anytime soon, she recognized one advantage; her family was free of landlord management. In my community home ownership is a constant battle and for many simply a dream. I learn the value of home ownership in a similar sequence as Esperanza. My little sister and I were moved to and from apartment to family member’s houses until our first small home. A home with no back yard and only four stairs and side walk out front. None the less, a home to call our own; it was then that I knew one day I will own my home painted “white with trees around it, a great big yard and grass growing without a fence.” Setting this goal meant one thing to me, out; out of Philadelphia like out of the House on Mango Street. How to get out and leave my home, my Philadelphia that is so much a part of my maturing process that has molded who I am today is the challenge. Poverty is the drive behind my force on getting out, like Esperanza, poverty is a constant scene that drives my motivation to rise out from my community in Philadelphia. For many families it is not unusual to live in a row home next to an abandoned home or open lot where houses use to be; look around and see no grass only concrete, see no trees only stumps of where trees use to be and garbage carried by the wind collected alongside stoop of houses. The tricky part of growing up with this experience is realizing it molds character and influences a sense of direction. My experience in poverty directed my ambition in education therefore strengthening my chances in attaining my goals. Ultimately what was said to Esperanza by the three sisters, “You can’t erase what you know. You can’t forget who you are” is valid in