Model Midterm2 answers 2018 Start Research Report Index: Sample Research Report Starts

LITR 4338 American Minority Literature Model Assignments (2018 midterm2 assignment)

Kristin Mizell

Teaching Sandra Cisneros

          I read The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros in middle school. It is the first literary work I can remember reading that was written from a point of view so different than my own. As a young student just beginning to learn about different cultures, The House on Mango Street allowed me to read and learn from the point of view of a young Mexican American girl around my age. This work has stuck with me through the years, and as a future teacher I plan on using it in my future classes when possible. Due to my love of this novel, I sought to research its author, Sandra Cisneros, and why her work is important to teach.

          Before diving into her work, I wanted to research about Sandra Cisneros herself. Cisneros was born in Chicago, Illinois and is one of seven children (“Sandra Cisneros Biography”). Cisneros is considered a Chicana writer, meaning of Mexican origin or descent. Her work draws “heavily upon her childhood experiences and ethnic heritage as the daughter of a Mexican father and Chicana mother” (“Sandra Cisneros”).  I found this quote from Cisneros herself explaining how her background is important to her writing; she says, ‘I am a woman and I am a Latina. Those are the things that make my writing distinctive. Those are the things that give my writing power. They are the things that give it sabor [flavor], the things that give it picante [spice]’ (“Sandra Cisneros”).

          Cisneros’ work draws from a personal place and “addresses poverty, cultural suppression, self-identity, and gender roles in her fiction and poetry” (“Sandra Cisneros”). This statement alone can sum up why it is important to teach her work and work like hers. She tackles important topics from the point of view of a minority culture. Representation matters, and a coming of age book about a young, white girl can be great and important, but not all students are young, white girls. Cisneros “creates characters who are distinctly Latina/o and are often isolated from mainstream American culture” (“Sandra Cisneros”).

           Cisneros’ writing style makes her work unique and interesting. She emphasizes “dialogue and sensory imagery over traditional narrative structures” (“Sandra Cisneros”). This is what I enjoyed about The House on Mango Street, but I have not been able to pinpoint until doing this research. The vignette style allowed me to peek in on big moments in the main character Esparanza’s life. It intrigued me because it was a style I had never read before. In my research I found an essay by Carol Thomas on Cisneros and her writing style. Thomas writes, “Cisneros' narrative style rejects traditional short story forms in favor of collage, often a mosaic of interrelated pieces, blending the sounds of poetry with oral story telling techniques. Her ingenious use of language includes the rhythm, sound, and syntax of Spanish, its sensibilities, emotional relationships to the natural world and inanimate objects, and its use of tender diminutives” (Thomas). Engaging young readers can be a difficult task, and I realize one of the hardest aspects of my job as a teacher will be selecting quality, engaging works for my students to read. Cisneros’ vignette style and use of language are captivating and easy to read making it ideal for young readers.

          Cisneros’ point of view as a Chicana woman is important to her work. Thomas writes that “within her Chicana feminist alternative discourse, she privileges the wondrous and particular lives of those often defined as other, the different, those perceived as marginalized, as less than. She then illuminates these untold lives. When asked if she is Esperanza, she replies, ‘Yes, and no, and then again, perhaps maybe. One thing I know for certain, you, the reader, are Esperanza’ “ (Thomas). When I think about why I want to teach literature I always bring it back to empathy and understanding. I truly believe literature is one of our greatest resources in teaching how to be caring and understanding of other people. As a middle schooler, I had never even heard a name like “Esparanza,” but reading about her life I felt like I understood her even though we were different.

Works Cited

"Sandra Cisneros". Biography.Com, 2016, https://www.biography.com/people/sandra-cisneros-185853. Accessed 29 Mar 2018.

"Sandra Cisneros." In Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2017. Contemporary Authors Online (accessed April 1, 2018). http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/H1000018161/CA?u=txshracd2589&si          d=CA&xid=78c588a8.

Thomas, Carol. "Cisneros, Sandra." Poetry for Students, edited by David A. Galens, vol. 19, Gale, 2004. Literature Resource Center, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/H1420052887/LitRC?u=txshra          cd2589&sid=LitRC&xid=18e85f9f. Accessed 4 Apr. 2018. Originally    published in Contemporary Women Poets, edited by Pamela L. Shelton, St.        James Press, 1998, pp. 63-64.