III.

Note the Method

Description: The House on Mango Street covers a year in the life of Esperanza Cordero, a young
Chicana girl living in an impoverished Chicago neighborhood with her parents and three siblings. The
book opens with Esperanza, the narrator, explaining how her family first arrived on Mango Street.
Narration: POV is a young girl named Esperanza Cordero. For the most part, we see things from her point
of view. Esperanza explains what her new house on Mango Street looks like, for example, and shares
her personal feelings of loneliness and shame with us.
Exposition: Esperanza shares her personal information with us- her house, family, difference between the
boys and girls, and what her name means, and her desire to leave.
Argument: The House on Mango Street, Esperanza's struggle to define herself underscores her every
action and encounter.