10.10 Unit Test: The House on Mango Street
5.
Read the excerpt from the chapter "A House of My Own" from The House on Mango Street.

Not a flat. Not an apartment in back. Not a man’s house. Not a daddy’s. A house all my own. With my porch and my pillow, my pretty purple petunias. My books and my stories. My two shoes waiting beside the bed. Nobody to shake a stick at. Nobody’s garbage to pick up after.

Only a house quiet as snow, a space for myself to go, clean as paper before the poem.

What is the connotative meaning of the phrase “clean as paper before the poem” as it is used in the excerpt?

It means that Esperanza will keep her new house neat and tidy.

It indicates that the house will most likely be white.

It implies that Esperanza’s house will be a fresh start for her.

It suggests that her new house will be something Esperanza will create.
6.
In The House on Mango Street, Cisneros wants readers to recognize that one’s inability to communicate leads to powerlessness and isolation and that those who can communicate effectively have power over their destiny.

Which two excerpts from the novella work together to develop this overall message?


"You must remember to keep writing, Esperanza. You must keep writing. It will keep you free, and I said yes, but at that time I didn’t know what she meant."

"…I believe she doesn’t come out because she is afraid to speak English, and maybe this is so since she only knows eight words."

"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."

"Rafaela who drinks and drinks coconut and papaya juice on Tuesdays and wishes there were sweeter drinks, not bitter like an empty room, but sweet sweet like the island, like the dance hall down the street where women much older than her throw green eyes easily like dice and open homes with keys."
7.
What do the four little trees that grow on the curb symbolize in The House on Mango Street?

They represent the disappointment Esperanza feels about the house on Mango Street.

They demonstrate that Mango Street is an inhospitable place to live.

They represent Esperanza and the hope she has that she will thrive and be successful.

They contrast with the large trees that Esperanza dreamed would surround her house.
8.

















Item 8
Cisneros wrote The House on Mango Street to relate the experiences of the women Esperanza knows in her neighborhood and their relationships with the men in their lives. In her novella, she conveys a critical tone toward the subject.

Which quotations from the text help to convey a critical tone?

Select each correct answer.


"And then Rafaela, who is still young but getting old from leaning out the window so much, gets locked indoors because her husband is afraid Rafaela will run away since she is too beautiful to look at."

"…one day Sally’s father catches her talking to a boy and the next day she doesn’t come to school. And the next. Until the way Sally tells it, he just went crazy, he just forgot he was her father between the buckle and the belt."

"And no one could yell at you if they saw you out in the dark leaning against a car, leaning against somebody without someone thinking you are bad, without somebody saying it is wrong, without the whole world waiting for you to make a mistake…"

"The seats were big and soft like a sofa, and there was a little white cat in the back window whose eyes lit up when the car stopped or turned. The windows didn’t roll up like in ordinary cars. Instead there was a button that did it for you automatically."

"The nose of that yellow Cadillac was all pleated like an alligator’s, and except for a bloody lip and a bruised forehead, Louie’s cousin was okay. They put handcuffs on him and put him in the backseat of the cop car, and we all waved as they drove away."
9.
Read the excerpt from the chapter “Laughter” from The House on Mango Street.

Nenny and I don’t look like sisters…not right away. Not the way you can tell with Rachel and Lucy who have the same fat popsicle lips like everybody else in their family. But me and Nenny, we are more alike than you would know. Our laughter for example. Not the shy ice cream bells’ giggle of Rachel and Lucy’s family, but all of a sudden and surprised like a pile of dishes breaking.

What is the meaning of “surprised like a pile of dishes breaking”?

The girls’ laughter is loud and startling.

It suggests that they laugh continuously.

It implies that their laughter is unappealing.

Their laughter comes in short, interrupted bursts.