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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What has made Esperanza’s mother sick, or so she thinks?

2. What do the girls find in this vignette?

3. What does Esperanza once buy for a dime?

4. What happens to Angel Vargas?

5. What does Esperanza have to lie about when she shows up on her first day at her new job?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Louie’s cousin get the Cadillac?

2. Why are they “tired of being beautiful”?

3. Why does Esperanza need to get a job?

4. What does Esperanza feel like her name means?

5. How does Esperanza feel when the nun is inquiring where she lives?

6. How does Esperanza describe her mother’s hair? What is her mother’s hair a metaphor for?

7. Why does Esperanza’s mama get sick?

8. Why is Esperanza embarrassed by Nenny wanting to buy the music box?

9. Why does Esperanza feel like a balloon tied to an anchor?

10. What happens to Angel Vargas?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explain the following quote: "When you leave you must remember to come back for the others. A circle, understand? You will always be Esperanza. You will always be Mango Street. You can't erase what you know. You can't forget who you are...Then I didn't know what to say. It was as if she could read my mind, as if she knew what I had wished for, and I felt ashamed for having made such a selfish wish" (Chapter 41, pg. 105). Why does Esperanza feel ashamed, and what for?

Essay Topic 2

What is the effect of the short first-person vignettes, rather than longer chapters? Why do you think Cisneros chose this form over something more traditional? What other forms could it be compared to?

Essay Topic 3

Esperanza feels different than the other girls in the story. From the reader’s perspective, is she different? If so, how?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 661 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample