● contain at least one well-chosen and juicy quotation in each body paragraph that supports your thesis statement.

The House on Mango Street: Essay Assignment
Overview of Assignment
Now that we have reached the end of this book, we will now draw some ties between some of the seemingly disconnected vignettes Sandra Cisneros has created. Using your ideas and your class notes, write an essay answering one of the following:
1) What does the book suggest about racism and prejudice?
2) What comment does the book make on issues of gender roles?
3) What does the book say about the process of growing up?
4) How do Esperanza’s dreams evolve throughout the book, and why is this significant?
5) How does the book express the importance of place, culture, and environment?
6) What does the book ultimately seem to value?
Steps for Writing
Step 1: Choose the prompt above that holds the most interest for you. There is a lot to discuss in this book, but you will need to choose a specific focus for this essay.
Step 2: Choose your evidence. Once you have chosen your prompt, look back through your notes on the various vignettes. Make a list of the 3 or 4 vignettes that seem most closely tied to your chosen topic. Reread those vignettes and start a new page of notes about them. For each vignette, you should type out these ideas:
● What part of the vignette seems central to your chosen topic?
● What is the book trying to communicate through this story or observation?
● What quotations stand out in the vignette that you might analyze in your essay?
Step 3: Make connections and write a thesis. Using your new set of notes, decide what overall point (your thesis) you will make in your paper. What strong connections do you see between the evidence you have chosen? Here are some sample thesis statements from other works to get you thinking:
In Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, Walter’s extreme high and low moods illustrate the challenge of feeling disempowered in terms of race and economics.
Piggy’s evolution and ultimate brutal treatment in Lord of the Flies demonstrates William Golding’s belief that humans will tend to abandon logic and intelligence in moments of crisis.
Charles Dickens’ emphasis on Ebenezer Scrooge’s material transformation in A Christmas Carol emphasizes his argument that an emotional epiphany alone is not enough to create social change; people must actually change their actions.
Step 4: Outline your paper. In class, we will discuss how to most effectively outline your essay. You will follow this process and develop a thorough, typed outline for your essay.
Step 5: Turn your outline into your essay. Following the thorough outline you have created, you will turn your notes into a formal essay. Your final essay should
● begin with a brief introductory paragraph that helps us understand the focus of your essay. This paragraph should contain very brief plot summary (1-2 sentences), the major issue/topic you will discuss, and your thesis statement.
● contain a thoughtful thesis statement that holds true throughout the whole essay, and to which all your evidence connects.
● contain at least one well-chosen and juicy quotation in each body paragraph that supports your thesis statement.
● thoroughly analyze your chosen quotes, pointing to specific words and phrases and connecting them to the rest of the book and your thesis statement.
● avoid plot summary, focusing instead on analysis. You can assume your reader has read the book.
● finish with a brief conclusion paragraph to show that you have proved your thesis.
● be written in a formal style, avoiding contractions and use of the first person (“I”).
● be carefully proofread for errors in spelling, punctuation, run-ons and fragments, and other grammatical problems.
● Have a creative title that mentions the title and/or author of the book as well as a hint about your thesis