pictures!

necole! pictures like this!

links links links..

http://video.stumbleupon.com/#p=oee87ljmhc

http://photobucket.com/

Disappeared Up A Hill

The powerful phrasing of Dan's "Remember October Nights" does not belong to the colloquial realm. And in Necole's "I'm done reading" post her thoughts move back and forth between what she found accessible, and what remained hidden from her. It is the opportunity to read at my leisure and reflect upon her post that allows my own thoughts about the novel to articulate with hers. Beth's excitement about 'the snap shot view of the world' as a writing prompt has become a lens through which I view our writing, as well as consider the novel. The mystery of Cisneros's power to draw us into her pictures, and elude us with a slight of hand which keeps her free of her narrative... how does she do it? Maybe writing is Esperanza's liberation. Are we to assume this is autobiographical(Cisneros writing her experience of the writer's experience?)? The freedom to muse and struggle to articulate what is still unformed in my own reading of House on Mango Street, is the particular purview of writing, but writing on the blog does create a back and forth which is another influence, another voice in the discovery of the text. I am looking forward to our meeting in real time, when we will play with our ideas together. But perhaps I have been too hasty in reducing the exercise of blogging to its failure in creating conversation... It has succeeded in laying the groundwork for what promises to be an excellent conference. See you all on Saturday at Necole's. (Dan, I know you can't come... but maybe we could have a satellite link?)

NCTE

This is a reminder for all that we plan to meet this Saturday 2:00 pm (food will be served) at my home to discuss/finalize our paired teaching. Meaning be reading the NCTE and also thinking about what you want to discuss/takeaway from the novel. Some of topics we discussed as being great learning lessons are/were:

Eating - the culture of it
Sensory - the smell (Mom's hair smells like bread), taste, feel of the novel
Imagery - the setting, symbolism, compairisons in the movel
Sexuality - the reference and sharp contrast between male & female in the novel
Color - color is used throughout the novel and is associated in many ways, we can connect this to Beach "Naming" for example.

Just a few thoughts and ideas and we can discuss it more on Saturday!
Hope all is well.

Remember October Nights - Dan Peltier

***Having finished the book, I decided to include a little vignette of my own***

She looked like Grandma again, all dressed up, with her nicest dress on, and deep red lipstick on her lips, the shade she loved so much before. The family all waited in the lower house on the Vermont farm on the balmy October night. Everyone was nearly settled in when she and Grandpa walked in to their surprise party. Everyone applauded, announcing celebration of their 50^th wedding anniversary. Aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers, sisters, and a few close friends continued to pile in, but all eyes were on grandma. It was as though her absence had only been temporary; she looked great, just like the grandma everyone remembered. It was just in the past year that she was diagnosed, but so many symptoms had already set in. Daniel couldn’t help but feel awkward amongst the crowd. He went to turn on his ipod, which he stuffed full of their favorite big band songs from their time. The sounds produced a 1940s atmosphere over dinner.

Everyone ate and had their fill, partook in dancing, and shared a memorable evening, but a few of the older cousins knew too much. Dan was one of them. He knew that behind the makeup and the dress, the beautiful face, and bright smile was a hidden confusion over the whole event. He tried his best to keep up spirits by dancing and playing ridiculous games with his younger cousins; those who did not know any different. It was the first time they had all been together at once since the past Thanksgiving. For some it was just too hard to rejoice, but everyone did their part to give them their night, and that made all the difference.

The end of the party was overtaken by a chilling scene, something no pathetic Hallmark movie could do justice. Grandma got up, being escorted by Grandpa, to say their goodbyes for the evening and walk up to their house. Dan and some of the older grandchildren gave their hugs and kisses to the woman that no longer recognized them. But, she kept her joyful face and went along with the hugging. The rest of the cousins followed in line, none of them realizing what the rest had. Tears broke out over the room, like a raging flu epidemic; only more heartbreaking. Some couldn’t handle the emotion and left the room, as Dan and his older brother sat in chairs directly apart from one another. Looking at one another, the two shed tears of their own, being consoled by their aunt. After the grandparents left the closed door behind them, Dan went to the back window where he could carefully watch them walk to their home. They slowly paced past the house, up the driveway, and past the lights. Past the barn and past the silo, the happily married couple disappeared up the hill.

I'm Done Reading!!

I finished the book over the break and wow!! I loved it. I will say that I had a better time with the first 55 pages. Don't know why, but it started getting a little too deep, or maybe I was reading into it too much. A lot of symbolism in the second half. Let me just say, had I not heard professor Cercone mention a "rape", I would not have necessairly known that it took place. I knew something transpired, but not your typicl description of a rape. I had to re-read a lot of the second half. I will say magnificent reading.

Things that I found interesting in the second half are exactly what Dan mentioned, the relationship aspect, the man versus woman struggle, in her describing women, it always seems to be that the woman is unhappy, out of place, like Ruthie "Only thing I can't understand is why Ruthoe living on Mango street is she doesn't have to" (69). Again, men being the saving grace of sweeping the ladies off of their feet and taking them "out of the ghetto".

I love the colors & imagery- I mentioned this before, but she creates a scene with her "painting" of the words. The cockroach with the spot of green paint! I'll save some of my blogging, I'm getting carried away and sleepy!

I Owe You All, BIG

Perhaps a round or two of drinks are in order, on my part. Thanks all for keeping up with the posts while I continued to prove my lack of blogging experience. Back to business...

I've just been wondering what everyone thinks Esperanza's feelings towards her father are. I've noticed that she has seen a lot of men who have not treated women well; the man who kissed her at work, Mamacita's husband, etc. She also seems to think about her "duties" as a woman. The expectations that are held for her, just because she is a woman (i.e. when she talked about her hips as being there because she will have to have a baby someday). I have been thinking about this, why she might have these feelings about being held up to expectations of being a woman in society and I'm starting to think her father might be the basis of this. He sees her as the oldest child, yes, but also as the one who must take care of all her siblings, the one who must get a job if she wants to continue through school. Does anyone else see this? Or, is there some other thing I'm not necessarily seeing?

when is everyone free?

hi. group.

maybe we could all meet sometime next week to have an in person group discussion. 

please list what times work best for you here. and we can figure something out.

I have been thinking about Necole's experience of Esperanza as isolated... and my reading is sooo different, maybe not: she keeps company with her imagination, and learning. One of the arcs in the novel is the progression of language and the inclusion of literary terms. As I read "leap and somersault like an apostrophe and comma" (p.71) I remembered the time when I discovered books as companions. They were reliable, and interesting, and available when you needed them. I imagine Esperanza making the same discovery. When she speaks of finally arriving at the house on a hill with a yard and a garden and bums in the attic, I love her for wanting to go somewhere else, but not wanting to leave anyone behind. But I suppose we each read the book in an autobiographical way. Necole, you probably like people more than I do... so, you wonder where her posse is. I'm busy noticing how she is growing towards her goal of expanded possibilities, and can't imagine she has time to be lonely. There is so much about shoes. People talk about finding one's voice, but for Esperanza it seems to be about finding her feet.

Beth, I am going to think about music for your visuals... The balloon photo reminds me of a Truffaut film, but I don't hear the music yet...

author information and links!!!!

Take off on your own "bike" and explore the links below!!!

http://www.sandracisneros.com/

http://www.teachervision.fen.com/resource/reading/5952.html

http://www.masconomet.org/teachers/trevenen/mango.html

http://www.webenglishteacher.com/cisneros.html

http://teachereducation.wlu.edu/courses/practicum/practicum%20fall%202004/LP/Mango%20St.%20Unit.htm



this was written on 8.28.07 and taken from http://www.sandracisneros.com/bio.php

I was born in Chicago in l954, the third child and only daughter in a family of seven children. I studied at Loyola University of Chicago (B.A. English 1976) and the University of Iowa (M.F.A. Creative Writing 1978).

I've worked as a teacher and counselor to high-school dropouts, as an artist-in-the schools where I taught creative writing at every level except first grade and pre-school, a college recruiter, an arts administrator, and as a visiting writer at a number of universities including the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

My books include a chapbook of poetry, Bad Boys (Mango Press 1980); two full-length poetry books, My Wicked Wicked Ways (Third Woman 1987, Random House 1992) and Loose Woman (Alfred A. Knopf 1994); a collection of stories, Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories (Random House l991); a children's book, Hairs/Pelitos (Alfred A. Knopf 1994); and two novels, The House on Mango Street (Vintage 1991) and Caramelo (Knopf 2002). Vintage Cisneros, published in 2003, is a compilation of selections from my works.

The House on Mango Street, first published in 1983, won the Before Columbus Foundation's American Book Award in 1985, and is required reading in middle schools, high schools, and universities across the country. It has sold over two million copies since its initial publication and is still selling strongly.

Caramelo was selected as notable book of the year by several journals including The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Chicago Tribune, and the Seattle Times. In 2005 Caramelo was awarded the Premio Napoli and was short listed for the Dublin International IMPAC Award. It was also nominated for the Orange Prize in England.

Caramelo and The House on Mango Street have been selected for many One-City/One-Read projects in numerous communities including Los Angeles, Miami, Fort Worth, El Paso, and Milwaukee.

Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories was awarded the PEN Center West Award for Best Fiction of l99l, the Quality Paperback Book Club New Voices Award, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, the Lannan Foundation Literary Award, and was selected as a noteworthy book of the year by The New York Times and The American Library Journal, and nominated Best Book of Fiction for l99l by The Los Angeles Times.

Loose Woman won the Mountains & Plains Booksellers' Award.

In 1995, I was awarded the prestigious MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, and I subsequently organized the Latino MacArthur Fellows — Los MacArturos — into a reunion focusing on community outreach. In 2003 I was awarded the Texas Medal of the Arts. I've received many other honors, including an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Loyola University, Chicago, 2002; an honorary Doctor of Letters from the State University of New York at Purchase, l993; two National Endowment of the Arts Fellowships for fiction and poetry, l988, l982; the Roberta Holloway Lectureship at the University of California, Berkeley, l988; the Chicano Short Story Award from the University of Arizona, l986; the Texas Institute of Letters Dobie-Paisano Fellowship, l984; and an Illinois Artists Grant, l984.

My books have been translated into over a dozen languages, including Spanish, Galician, French, German, Dutch, Italian, Norwegian, Japanese, Chinese, Turkish, and, most recently, into Greek, Thai, and Serbo-Croatian.

I am the president and founder of the Macondo Foundation, an association of socially engaged writers working to advance creativity, foster generosity, and honor our communities; and the Alfredo Cisneros Del Moral Foundation, a grant-giving institution serving Texas writers.

My house is no longer violet because the sun faded it from violet to blue after a few years. We painted it Mexican-pink so it can fade into pink, then built my office in the backyard and painted it Mexican-marigold. The colors make me happy.

I live with many creatures little and large — six dogs (Beto, Dante, Lolita, Chamaco, Valentina P-nut Butter, and Barney Fife), four cats (Gato Perón, Pánfilo, Apolonia, and Lulu), and a parrot named Agustina. I am nobody's mother, nobody's wife, am happily single and live in San Antonio, Texas, with the love of my life.

I'm currently at work on several projects, including a collection of fiction titled Infinito.

visual visual visual!

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?

hi ya'll!

ill be posting about the book tomorrow as i do not have internet at work! 

and it takes too much time to do it from my phone!

 so be out on the look out my post!

hope everyone is enjoying their break! mine is filled with working and school work!

no break here!

Read First 55 Pages

I love this book thus far. I read the first 55 pages (1/2 the book). I love the symbolism and I love the fact that I can relate to so many things (the house not being owned for a long time, the "latch key" kid stuff). The author does a magnificent job taking you "into" the story. The main character Esperanza, has no connectivity to anyone; she doesn't have a best friend, sure there's Rachel and Lily, but that's not the same, she doesn't connect with her sister "she's too young for me" and hardly mentions her brothers (Carlos & Kiki) "They are best friends". I assume Kiki is a boy, she never metions otherwise..... She has noone in school that she connects with and seems lonely. This can be related to her friends that are friens with her until Tuesday and the fact that her family moved so much. She doesn't even like the house she's in, eventhough it's purchased, it's not the "one". She even hates her name, her one connection to another person (her great-grandmother)

I did not understand - Davey's baby sister & Davey's baby brother (I am sure someone can explain)

I like "And some more" and assume that as the kids are jumping rope, the names being called out are names of the kids on the block (the families?).

Again, great read, so much symbolism (sexual and racial) that I want to unveil as I continue to read and be able to connect certain phases.....

~Necole

an update from beth.

hi group.

currently. requested by the dr. i have to have bed rest all week because bronchitis and a 103 temp requires that.

however, i am going to attempt to come to class thursday for a hour so i dont miss out and even attempt to stay the whole class depending on how i feel.

but i did read the whole book already and i will post more this weekend about the pages we were suppose to read for this class 1-27.  

hope all is well.

cheers.

beth

The Narrative Thread

Cisneros's ability to weave a narrative through snapshots is delicate and powerful.  The essential sensuality of experience transforms her depictions of Mango Street, moving that neighborhood from the margins to the center of life.  Waving good-bye to Louie's cousin, after he treated them to the novelty of leather upholstery and push-button windows, it seems the small sacrifice of taking a ride in the patrol car is nothing compared to the thrill he gave those young women.  

Or, a line like "The snoring, the rain, and mama's hair that smells like bread" reminds us how to find heaven.  Esperanza's capacity to savor the beauty and excitement of life describes a recipe for living.  She makes the most of each text she is given; and she shows us the challenges of finding redemption in them; like Marin.  Marin is telling about her hopes for the future, and Esperanza understands she is "waiting for a car to stop, a star to fall, someone to change her life."  I cannot imagine such a wise child; but I wish young women were trained to recognize these symptoms as a disease, instead of being encouraged to evaluate their success based on how may times they've been rescued....

But my favorite scene (so far, in these first 27 pages) is when Rachel, Lucy, and Esperanza form their friendship in a joint business endeavor.  The purchase of the bicycle and the negotiations for sharing it, and the final determination to ride it all together are too familiar to me.  Although I had my own bicycle, it was often the case that someone amongst our gang would be without wheels, and would pile on each other s bikes, and travel!  It was fun, and dangerous.  It is wonderful to remember a time when adults could celebrate the fun children were having without worrying about being accused of neglect.  Today, helmets and caution are the law.  I can't imagine my childhood without its wildness.  I share that pleasure with Esperanza.

More later, CG

NCTE!!!!!!

http://www.ncte.org/store/books/social/106303.htm

Welcome!

Hi everyone!

This is the blog I created!

Feel free to post away! and change anything with the page. Hope you enjoy what I did with the page thus far.

hope all is well!

cheers.

beth