NARRATIVE TEXT ANALYSIS PLAN

I. Location

1.1 Location in the literary context. This literary book was written by Sandra Cisneros, who was born in Chicago
(Literary current and in 1954. She is the author of two novels, a collection of short stories and other
characteristics reflected in the poetry books. When she was young, her family achieved a goal that had been
proposed a long time ago, buying a house, which she considered ugly and
work).
disrupted.
1.2 References of the author
Cisneros has turned the lives of so many who have no opportunity to express
(ideology, biases, thematic themselves. For something his work has been well received in Italy, where
frequency, influences). there is an emigration phenomenon similar to that of Mexico. That is a common
topic in the majority of her books.
1.3 Textual references (of other
works of the same genre) and inter-
textual references (with other works
of art: musical pieces, cinema films,
music, theater, opera, etc.)

II. Content

The hard life of a girl living in the United States

2.1. Topic (subtopic)
 The poverty as a way of sadness
2.2. Ideas
 Sexist submission of women for macho ideas
2.3. Feelings
 Latino American culture.
2.4. Argument, plot
The story is about a girl who moves to a poor neighborhood in the United States.
2.5. Characters (identity, conduct Her parents buy a house in Mango Street, where she narrates her life and
relations with her neighbors. Esperanza feels shame for the poverty of her family
and relationships)
and describes several times in which she lies or tries to hide the fact that she is
poor. She goes to work as a photo developer to pay for her school. On the other
hand, she always perseveres the dream of moving to another bigger house and
completely changing her life despite what her neighbors told her. The three
sisters convince Esperanza that when she leaves, she returns to make Mango
Street a better place.

 Esperanza: Protagonist of the story who doesn’t like to live in that

poor neighborhood. She tells the story of all her neighbors and how
they influence in her life.

 Dad: He works in the rich house gardens in the city.

 Mom: She cooks and cares for the children. She also encourages
her daughter to continue in school and to study hard.

 Alicia: Her mother died when she was still a little girl, for that
reason she performs all household chores. Esperanza thinks that
she is very brave, despite the fear she has for the mice that infest
her family's apartment.

 Cathy: She becomes Esperanza's friend when the Cordero family

moves to Mango Street, but tells her that their friendship will last a
short time

 Nenny: younger Esperanza’s sister.

 Aunt Guadalupe: suffers from a mysterious illness left her blind

and prostrate in bed.

 Rachel: Esperanza’s friend.


III. Structure (separate by sections)
3.1. Composition of the text
3.1.1. External: title, dedication or
previous appointment, epigraph,
etc. Extent of the fragment or text
(paragraph and lines) and
bibliographical references of the
fragment or text.
3.1.2. Internal: sections (extension,
topics, ideas and feelings they
express)
IV. Expression
4.1. Storyteller
4.1.1. Diegetic Narrator
4.1.2. Types of discourse: direct,
indirect
4.1.3. Types of narrator:
extradiegetic, intradiegetic,
metadiegetic
4.1.4. Narrative posture:
heterodiegetic, homodiegetic
narrator
4.1.5. Narrative mode (perspective)
zero, internal (intradiegetic) and
external (extradiegetic) focus
4.2. Narrative techniques
4.3. Weather
4.3.1. Order (anachronisms or
ruptures of the linear order):
analepsis and prolepsis
4.3.2. Duration
4.3.3. Frequency
 Lucy: Rachel’s older sister
 Sally: Pretty girl a little older than her friend Esperanza. She is the
girl that all the boys talk about.
 The nuns: they do not show charity or discretion
 Sire: Sire is the first boy to look at Esperanza as the boys look at
Marín.
 Minerva: Minerva is a girl not much older than Esperanza, but she
is already married and has two children. They spend time together
and read the poems they write.
- This is divided into 44 chapters.
-
- The title refers to the house where Esperanza lived with her family.
- It can be divided according to the theme of the story.
 The first section covers from the arrival of Esperanza to the house
in Mango Street until before making her first friend, Cathy. Here the
narrator describes her family and her feelings for being in that
place(Chapter 1 – Chapter 5)
 The second section goes from Esperanza makes her first friend,
Cathy, which was only going to be until Tuesday. Here is evidence
as Esperanza tries not to feel sad making friends (Chapter 6 –
Chapter 20)
 The third section goes from Esperanza begins to work until the end
of the story, where she promises someday to leave that poor
neighborhood. In this section, the development of the protagonist's
mind and her future dreams are shown (Chapter 20- Chapter 40)
 The narrator is Esperanza
 Intradiegetic narrator: She acts, judges and has opinions about the
facts and the characters that appear.
 It´s a mix of direct and indirect style. On the one hand, it
summarizes what was said by the characters, but also makes them
speak through dialogues.
 Intradiegetic, since Esperanza tells all the stories.
 Homodiegetic: Esperanza participates in history as the protagonist.
 Internal perspective
 The author uses the description a lot to emphasize the
characteristics and qualities of the characters.
 Anachronisms: Analepsis
Example: When Esperanza remember her grandmother.
 Months
 Hours
 Presentation: Esperanza feels unhappy when she moves to
Mango Street. Although she has friends, she doesn’t feel as if was
inside.
4.4. Stages of the narration
(presentation, node and outcome)
4.5. Space (closed, open,
symbology, evolution)
4.6. Style
4.6.1. Phonic level (alliteration,
onomatopoeia, etc.)
4.6.2. Morphological level
(pleonasm, epithet, etc.)
4.6.3. Syntactic level (hyperbaton,
polysyndeton, asyndeton, etc.)
4.6.4. Semantic level (metaphor,
comparison, hyperbole, etc.)
4.7. Tone (Reflective, melancholic,
festive, pathetic, solemn,
exhortative, ironic, etc.)
4.8. Use of language Use of
language (colloquial, scientific,
formal)
V. Assessment and critical comment
5.1. Values (Social, human, moral,
philosophical, aesthetic-literary and
recreational)
5.2. Author rating (transcendence)
5.3. Critical judgment (relationship
between the theme and the form,
validity and philosophy of the IBO
 Node: Esperanza grows and gets a job, but still have problems with
their own identity, friends and ideas about children and men.
 Outcome: Toward the end of the book, Esperanza seems to have
found a purpose She knows she wants to become in writer and who
wants a home to call her own
 Open
Streets: Esperanza explains that outsiders (people not from her
neighborhood) are afraid to enter. When their neighbor's cousin
takes them for a walk, it turns out to be a stolen car. Everyone has
fun, but this can be scary for outsiders.
The neighborhood: The local pawn shop is one of the places that
Esperanza and Nenny sometimes go. One of the most descriptive
environments, the book describes the messy store filled with "tables
with feet upside down" and "rows and rows of refrigerators".
Households: Much of Esperanza's time is spent in her own home.
Her mom, dad, two brothers and her younger sister live there with
her. Her mother is often described as being overworked.
Closed
Esperanza’s house: When she lives and spend short times with her
family.
 The context focuses on The House on Mango Street, a city that we
all know is Chicago, the author's hometown. This suggests that
Esperanza's community plays an important role for her, Mango
Street, a place she will finally see as her home.
Rhetorical question: Do you see anything? Pag.
Onomatopoeia: ¨Oh¨. Peg 30.
Anaphora: I want to be
Like the wares on the sea
Like the clouds in the wind.
Enumeration: Wonder woman, the Beatles, Marily momoe.
Simile: the dog is big like a man dressed ion dog suit.(peg. 21)
Reflective, melancholic, festive,