Question

Read the two excerpts below from The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. As you read, look for similarities in theme.


“My Name” by Sandra Cisneros excerpt from The House on Mango Street.

In English my name means hope. In Spanish it means too many letters. It means sadness, it means waiting. It is like the number nine. A muddy color. It is the Mexican records my father plays on Sunday mornings when he is shaving, songs like sobbing. It was my great-grandmother's name and now it is mine. She was a horse woman too, born like me in the Chinese year of the horse--which is supposed to be bad luck if you're born female-but I think this is a Chinese lie because the Chinese, like the Mexicans, don't like their women strong.

My great-grandmother. I would've liked to have known her, a wild, horse of a woman, so wild she wouldn't marry. Until my great-grandfather threw a sack over her head and carried her off. Just like that, as if she were a fancy chandelier. That's the way he did it. And the story goes she never forgave him. She looked out the window her whole life, the way so many women sit their sadness on an elbow. I wonder if she made the best with what she got or was she sorry because she couldn't be all the things she wanted to be. Esperanza. I have inherited her name, but I don't want to inherit her place by the window.

"Boys and Girls" by Sandra Cisneros excerpt from The House on Mango Street.


The boys and the girls live in separate worlds. The boys in their universe and we in ours. My brothers for example. They've got plenty to say to me and Nenny inside the house. But outside they can't be seen talking to girls. Carlos and Kiki are each other's best friend ... not ours. Nenny is too young to be my friend. She's just my sister and that was not my fault. You don't pick your sisters, you just get them and sometimes they come like Nenny. She can't play with those Vargas kids or she'll turn out just like them. And since she comes right after me, she is my responsibility. Someday I will have a best friend all my own. One I can tell my secrets to. One who will understand my jokes without my having to explain them. Until then I am a red balloon, a balloon tied to an anchor.


Write a response explaining how both excerpts demonstrate the universal theme of understanding one's identity leads to personal growth. Use a piece of textual evidence from both excerpts to support your response.

Answer 1

Both excerpts show that Esperanza’s growing understanding of who she is—her name, her heritage, and her place as a girl in her community—sparks her desire to change her future, which is the basis of personal growth.

In “My Name” she learns the weight of her family history and refuses to accept the passive fate of her great‑grandmother: “I have inherited her name, but I don’t want to inherit her place by the window.” Recognizing what her name and story mean gives her the clarity and determination to choose a different life.

In “Boys and Girls” she sees how gender shapes behavior and relationships and learns how those limits affect her: “Until then I am a red balloon, a balloon tied to an anchor.” By naming her restriction, she acknowledges it and imagines a future (“Someday I will have a best friend all my own”)—showing that understanding her identity lets her envision and work toward growth.

Together, these moments show that self‑knowledge—of history, culture, and gender—becomes the first step toward changing one’s life.