The House on Mango Street Sandra Cisneros

Biography Born December 20, 1954 in Chicago, IL Nationality – American Ethnicity – Mexican American Third of seven children; only surviving daughter Currently resides in San Antonio, TX

Education & Occupation Bachelor of Arts degree- Loyola University –Chicago, 1976 Master of Fine Arts degree – University of Iowa Novelist, poet, short story writer

Notable Works The House on Mango Street (1984) Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories (1991)

What is a vignette ? A short, well –written sketch or descriptive scene It does not have a plot It may reveal character, or mood, or tone It may have a theme or idea of its own that it wants to convey It is the description of the scene or character that is important Sandra Cisneros’ novel The House on Mango Street is written in a series of vignettes

The denotative definition is based on the________ definition of a word. The connotative definition is the________________________ meaning of a word. literal figurative or emotional DENOTATION VS. CONNOTATION

STYLE STYLE is the author’s specific use of words which makes his/her writing distinctive We can identify style by examining the author’s 1) personal word choice/vocabulary, 2) types of sentences, 3) point of view from which the text is told, 4) organization of the text.

What to consider when examining STYLE When analyzing an author’s style, we need to consider: point-of-view, formal or informal writing, organization/structure of text, level of complexity in the writing, and overall tone.