Sandra Cisneros 1954-

"If I were asked what it is I write about, I would have to say I write about those ghosts inside that haunt me, that will not let me sleep, of that which even memory does not like to mention” (Cisneros).

About the Author Grew up in poverty and moved back and forth between Chicago and Mexico City Had six brothers Her loneliness, from not having sisters or friends, drove her to reading and burying herself in books.

In high school she wrote poetry and was the literary magazine editor, but she did not start writing until her first creative writing class in college in It took a while to find her own voice.

Cisneros’s writing has been shaped by her experiences. Her first book, The House on Mango Street, is somewhere between fiction and poetry. Cisneros’s work explores issues that are important to her: feminism, love, oppression, and religion.

Works by the Author Caramelo (2002) Loose Woman: Poems (1994) Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories (1991) My Wicked Wicked Ways (1987) The House on Mango Street (1983

The House on Mango Street

It is a book of short stories …mainly character sketches and vignettes. The slang and breaks from grammatical correctness contribute to the novel’s immediacy. This style is called postmodern. It is narrated in the voice of a young girl and wanders from one subject to the next.

It is a book about culture that resembles the immigrant cultures of our nation. Cisneros uses language as a “recurring metaphor for the gulf between Mexican- Americans and the majority culture.”

Cisneros draws heavily upon her own childhood experiences and ethnic heritage. She addresses poverty, cultural suppression, self-identity and gender roles in her fiction and poetry.

Themes Individual identity vs. communal loyalty Estrangement and loss Escape and return The lure of romance and the dead end of sexual inequality and oppression

Literary Elements to watch for…. Imagery Similes and metaphors Characterization Oxymoron Personification Symbols Irony Repetition and Anaphora