CliffsNotes on

The House on Mango Street & Woman Hollering Creek & Other Stories

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Book Summary

Sandra Cisneros Biography

Early Years and Education
Career and Writing
Recognition and Awards

About Cisneros' Work

Introduction
The House on Mango Street
"Woman Hollering Creek" and Other Stories
Cisneros' Writing Style

Summary and Analysis of The House on Mango Street

Part 1: The House on Mango Street; Hairs; Boys & Girls; My Name
Part 2: Cathy Queen of Cats; Our Good Day; Laughter; Gil's Furniture Bought & Sold; Meme Ortiz; Louie, His Cousin & His Other Cousin
Part 3: Marin; Those Who Don't; There Was an Old Woman She Had So Many Children She Didn't Know What to Do; Alicia Who Sees Mice
Part 4: Darius and the Clouds; And Some More; The Family of Little Feet; A Rice Sandwich; Chanclas
Part 5: Hips; The First Job; Papa Who Wakes Up Tired in the Dark; Born Bad; Elenita, Cards, Palm, Water
Part 6: Geraldo No Last Name; Edna's Ruthie; The Earl of Tennessee; Sire; Four Skinny Trees
Part 7: No Speak English; Rafaela Who Drinks Coconut & Papaya Juice on Tuesdays; Sally; Minerva Writes Poems; Bums in the Attic
Part 8: Beautiful & Cruel; A Smart Cookie; What Sally Said; The Monkey Garden; Red Clowns
Part 9: Linoleum Roses; The Three Sisters; Alicia & I Talking on Edna's Steps; A House of My Own; Mango Street Says Goodbye Sometimes

Summary and Analysis of "Woman Hollering Creek" and Other Stories

My Friend Lucy Who Smells Like Corn
One Holy Night
There Was A Man, There Was A Woman — Part One
There Was A Man, There Was A Woman, Part Two
There Was A Man, There Was A Woman, Part Three
There Was A Man, There Was A Woman, Part Four

Character List

Character Map: The House on Mango Street

Character Analysis

Esperanza Cordero (The House on Mango Street)
Marin (The House on Mango Street)
Sally (The House on Mango Street)
Alicia (The House on Mango Street)
"Ixchel" ("One Holy Night")
Cleófilas ("Woman Hollering Creek")
Rosario (Chayo) De Leon ("Little Miracles, Kept Promises")

Critical Essays

Themes in Cisneros' Fiction
Form and Language as Characterization in Cisneros' Fiction

Study and Homework Help

Full Glossary for The House on Mango Street & "Woman Hollering Creek" & Other Stories
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Essay Questions
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Character List

Lucy Anguiano A little girl in Texas (in "My Lucy Friend . . . ").

Rachel The girl who narrates "Eleven," on her eleventh birthday.

Salvador A small boy (in "Salvador Late or Early") who cares for his younger brothers.

Micaela The narrator of "'Mericans," and possibly also of "Tepeyac"; she is a girl of about 11 in the first of these two stories and shifts between approximately that age and adulthood in the second.

"Chaq Uxmal Paloquín" (a.k.a. Boy Baby, a.k.a. Chato) The man beloved of the narrator in "One Holy Night."

"Ixchel" The narrator of "One Holy Night," who is given this name by her beloved; she is not called by any other name in the story. Both "Chaq" and "Ixchel" are the names of figures in Maya myth.

Patricia Bernadette Benavídez A San Antonio teenager who disappears and then reappears, the tocaya of Patricia Chávez, who is the narrator of "My Tocaya."

Cleófilas A young Mexican woman who marries a tejano, Juan Pedro, and then begins to regret her choice (in "Woman Hollering Creek").

Graciela and Felice Two Texas women who help Cleófilas.

Tristán (a.k.a. Rudy Cantú) A dancer (in "Remember the Alamo").

Clemencia An artist in Texas, whose mother told her "Never Marry a Mexican."

Inés Wife of Emiliano Zapata, the Mexican patriot and revolutionary leader; she narrates "Eyes of Zapata." (Inés is a fictional character based on a historical woman.)

Rosario (Chayo) De Leon A university student who leaves the cut-off braid of her hair as an offering of thanks to the Virgin of Guadalupe (in "Little Miracles, Kept Promises").

Flavio Munguía (a.k.a. "Rogelio Velasco") The lover of Lupe, who narrates "Bien Pretty"; he is the "writer" of "Tin Tan Tan."

Lupe The narrator of "Bien Pretty"; she is an artist who has moved from San Francisco to San Antonio.

Note: Other characters in "Woman Hollering Creek" and Other Stories are important but unnamed; these include the children who narrate "My Lucy Friend Who Smells Like Corn," "Mexican Movies," and "Barbie-Q"; the female narrator of "Anguiano Religious Articles" and the male speaker in "Los Boxers"; and the two women whose conversation forms the story "The Marlboro Man."


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