house on mango street reminds me of childhood. it reminds me of the past. the present. and soon to be future.i feel that every time Esperanza is explaining something in her life, she is taking a polaroid picture. -- something to consider with your students while reading this book is to caption moments via polaroids instead of digital cameras. the reason why i say polaroids is because this way they can see that the moment is now and it just happened. and can be held in their hands to caption that moment. they then can express how they feel about that moment by doing a free right. just as pictured to my left, this girl holding the balloons. what is the significance with this picture. how does it fit in your life? i feel that with all the images in house on mango street this would be a great project for students to even hold onto once they get older in life. if i could of had a polaroid camera when i was younger to caption every moment, and save them in a box to go look back on i certainly would have loved it. instead technology has overcame a majority of us and we forget the simple things in life. Esperanza reminds us of those simple things in the text, with the imagery that is in the text.
I just think that this is a project I would like to explore when we have to do the teacher part of this book. I like to be creative. i like visuals to assist my students in writing as well. When I observed on Thursday, the teacher used Krispy Kreame Doughnuts, as a visual prop to help students learn how to write poetry. I can explain more about this if you have any questions, but the poetry that these students came up with, with the help of a visual prop was amazing. I actually have some samples as well!
SO enough from me. what do you guys think of the book, and do you have questions about anything?
5 comments:
As we spoke of in class, I also believe the snapshot frame is an excellent place to view the chapters. But my evolving theme for this semester is something like this: the teacher/ student divide is one only of form. In content we each must be equally involved in the inquiry to hand. Otherwise we have created a dynamic which separates the learned from the 'unlearned.' This is, I believe, a false hierarchy which disables the the atmosphere necessary for true inquiry. I love the snapshots and other texts you posted... but I want more of where you are in the book. If we had time, I wish we could do the sort of writing exercise you suggest, together. This, I think, would be the best preparation for our the next level of our inquiry: creating curriculum. I am not feeling this blog thang... I need real time kibitzing. I had this fantasy we would have a virtual bookgroup. But that is not happening here. And the time is past, right? We are moving on to the next task, without the part I hoped to investigate: how is my reading experience altered by allowing the perspective others to influence it?
ha. i agree. I would personally love for us to no be busy in our real lifes and have to work and other classes to take. I really think discussing the text in person helps us to explore more and flow with ideas. However since this is the age of technology, we must used it to the best we can. I have finished the book. and want to start looking and certain things in the text i just havent had the time to sit down and focus from being sick and then midterms then i was sick again over break. its a never ending cycle.
I think it is also obvious that I am not quite "feeling this blog thing" as Colette suggested, either. I do agree with what you say, though, Beth. We need to keep up with the advancements in technology that our future students will become more and more familiar with. The last thing I want is to be lost like my former teachers who could not make a VCR function. I'm nearly finished with the book now, and really can't wait to discuss it in person with everyone. I think I really like Cisneros' style, but find it somewhat strange the way she ends a chapter right at the peak moments. In particular, I was confused the way she ended the chapter in which she had a new job and the man at work kissed her inappropriately. She made almost no big deal of it, at all. She just mentions that it happens and cuts off, like many other portions of her story. What do you ladies think of this?
Also, I'm having trouble adding my own blog... I did try last week, and failed miserably. I tried again last night and today; same result. Please help this poor child, so he can contribute to our discussions.
"She ends a chapter right at the peak moments. In particular, I was confused the way she ended the chapter in which she had a new job and the man at work kissed her inappropriately. She made almost no big deal of it, at all. She just mentions that it happens and cuts off"
like i've mentioned before. i dont think she wants the reader to know the full story. she wants the reader to be able to use their own mind and explore. Maybe she didnt go into detail about it because its a memory she doesnt like or doesnt want to explore. If someone kissed me inappropriately at my new job i wouldnt want to go into lengthly details to bring back a horrible memory. plus thats now what she wants the reader to remember. key points in the book she might extend on in which she wants the reader to grasps the bigger picture.
does this help?
Definately helps! I see exactly what you mean. Kinda makes it feel more personal now as a reader, too. Like she is telling the story to me, even though I'm a total stranger. Thanks much!
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