Figurative Language In Esperanza Rising

Have you ever read a book, with such a captivating and eye opening message that makes you open up to a world that you’ve never permitted your attention to? “Before we were Free” home to the Pura Belpré Award for Writing by Julia Alvarez has the power to do just that. Anne de la Torre is a 12 year old girl who lives in the Dominican Republic. In the Dominican Republic, everyone struggles to have freedom and the only escape possible is fleeing to the United states which her cousins achieved. Many twists and turns happen when Anita becomes more aware about the problems around her.

Another example of optimism portrayed by Esperanza was that despite her horrible first experiences with the opposite sex, (as in chapter 21, The First Job and chapter 39, The Red Clowns) she still has dreams of sitting outside at night with her

Name: Campbell Bearden Class: 2&3 Embedded Assessment: Literary Analysis Power… how did such a good thing give people such a bad reputation? Power is dangerous. Power attracts the worst and corrupts the best. Those in power, always have the possibility of abusing it.

Esperanza is faced with several major events that forces her to mature at a young age. In these events readers can see how she grows as her emotions change. In the beginning of the book, Esperanza’s father passes away (p. 22) and their family home on the ranch, El Rancho de las Rosas, catches on fire (p.40). This is the beginning of Esperanza's quickly changed young life. As a young girl she realizes life will never be the same. She once was wealthy and lived life with the help of housekeepers. Papa also had field workers to help with his needs on the farm. Raised with a positive perspective on life, her hopes and dreams are soon challenged. Esperanza is forced to leave everything she has ever known to move to the United States. The fire is symbolic because the family is forced start all over, in life, along with her social

In the novel,The House on Mango Street, Cisneros uses a powerful collection of imagery however, one of the strongest examples would be in the chapter My Name, which displays Esperanza’s insecurities in a land who struggles to accept her. “In English my name means hope. In Spanish it means too many letters. It means sadness, it means waiting,” (Cisneros pg.10). Esperanza explains the meaning of hope for Hispanic people in a few simple words: sadness and waiting. For millions, it represents the wait of a new life, a better life for them. It’s sadness, knowing many reject them in a land they were promised opportunity. This motif of repudiation and racial discrimination appears frequently throughout the novel which greatly affects Esperanza’s life.

“ Esperanza felt Alfonso behind her , putting his hands on her shoulders. She felt the blood drain from her face”. This quote showed Esperanza worried and thinking about what was going to happen next. She had already lost her Papa, she couldn’t lose Mama.. This was a major challenge that Esperanza had to face as an

Throughout the book Esperanza, mama, and abuelita work on crocheting a quilt. The crocheting of this quilt has a special process that relates greatly to the journey Esperanza takes. In order to crochet like abuelita you must add “ten stitches up to the top of the mountain. Add one stitch. Nine stitches down to the bottom of the valley. Skip one” (Muñoz Ryan 14). During the novel Esperanza has to climb to the top of mountains and go down to the bottom of valleys in order to complete her journey. The novel begins with Esperanza at the top of a beautiful mountain, but when her papa dies, her house gets burned down, abuelita getting hurt, and they have to migrate to California Esperanza is at the lowest point in the valley. She sees all that is ahead, but in her eyes it is a huge mountain that needs to be climbed. This will be a long strenuous journey with many more obstacles, but Esperanza is stronger than she knows.

The novel My Antonia uses imagery and figurative language to help communicate the theme of the novel to the readers. The character Jim Burden is headed west to Nebraska to his grandparents from Virginia after his parents have died. Jim is playing the role of Manifest Destiny by moving West to Nebraska. On his way Jim sees how raw the earth is, relating that it is not yet a country, but rather the material that countries are made of. Looking at the land this way is very much like Manifest Destiny. The author uses imagery many times throughout her novel to give the readers a better understanding and view to pinpoint the theme.

On page 259 the author wrote, “Esperanza smiled and reached over and gently pulled the yarn, unraveling the uneven stitches. Then she looked into Isabel's trusting eyes and said, ‘Do not ever be afraid to start over.” Esperanza taught Isabel what she learned from Abuelita (her grandma), passing it onto somebody else. Abuelita is very wise in the story, she gives the right advice, and make the right choices. This shows that you should not be afraid to try again, making the harder choice may the better choice in the long run. Even though you have to start over, if you try, try, again then you have a bigger chance of creating something even better and more beautiful each

Esperanza was a girl that believed her life would be a good life forever and ever . She lived on her family ranch in Mexico she wore fancy dresses and had a nice home . But a big tragedy happened to her and her own little world one day Esperanza mother got sick . she knows if she can bring Abuelita to the United States , but she don't have any money to do that . At only thirteen years old Esperanza started working in the farm sheds packing produce for pitiful wages . Her mother became sicker and had to taken to the hospital but the medical bills had to be payed . Esperanza was a good girl that wanted to make sure her family was doing good and living a great life so she had to get another job so she can pay her mom hospital bill . Her mom was

Mexican immigrants in the United States faced difficult challenges daily such as discrimination, lower wages, and hatred. The book Esperanza Rising is by American writer Pam Munoz Ryan. Esperanza is a Mexican girl at the age of thirteen, and she had to leave her home in Mexico to come to the United States as an immigrant. She had to leave because of her greedy uncles. Even though Esperanza's life was full of challenges, as an immigrant the harshest challenges were not knowing how to do daily chores, having to go work in the sheds to pay mama´s medical bill, and facing discrimination due to her skin tone.

The first issue that many Latino author’s address is the problems in many Latin American countries. In Esperanza Rising Esperanza’s family faces the backlash of the Mexican revolution. Esperanza’s family has land in Mexico which makes them a target for many unhappy citizens in Mexico. Esperanza’s mother has to explain to her that, "the wealthy still own most of the land while some of the poor have not even a garden plot. There are cattle grazing on the big ranches, yet some peasants are forced to eat cats" (Ryan, 25). Eventually Esperanza’s father is murdered by bandit’s and they are forced to leave the dangerous country. Mexico is not the only place with major issues. Young Adult literature often reaches into the historical hardships of other Latin countries, such as the dictators of the Dominican Republican in Julia Alvarez’s novel Before We Were Free. Alvarez talks about the distrust of the police, stating “Back home, [her father] had been tailed by the secret police for months and the family had only narrowly escaped capture their last day on the Island” (Alvarez 233). Young Adult literature reflects this often as a background story, forcing the protagonists into the environment they are in. As well, it frames the families’ mindset and the hardships many have faced before

As stated previously, Cisneros' style in The House on Mango Street suggests to us that liberation can be achieved through an art form, rather than physically picking up and moving your residence. Esperanza overcomes her condition by creating the realm of literature, rather than the physical reality of another house in another time and place. In this way, she is able to distance herself from her community and family. But all the while, still holding on to her heritage and ethnicity. By affirming her own artistic ability, Esperanza is able to blend all of her dreams. Because of this we come to understand that one can achieve self-discovery and even independence through something so remote as literature. This is where I find Cisneros' influence the most powerful. I believe she is stressing a theme here, not just for Hispanics, but for all minorities as well. She lets them know that liberation can be achieved within several realms of the human experience.

To foreshadow events in books or to tell the meaning of a story, authors often use symbolism. Symbolism uses people, places, or things that have their own meaning, to express something different. The author of Esperanza Rising, Pam Muñoz Ryan, uses a certain fruit or vegetable to symbolize events of emotions that occur in the chapter. Three chapters in Esperanza Rising that represent an important part of the book are Los Higos, Las Cebollas, and Los Aquacates. In Esperanza Rising, figs, onions, and avocados symbolize a new beginning, the acceptance of starting anew, and the rewards followed after hardship.

Thesis statement: Esperanza has a variety of female role models in her life. Many are trapped in abusive relationships, waiting for others to change their lives. Some are actively trying to change things on their own. Through these women and Esperanza’s reactions to them, Cisneros’ shows not only the hardships women face, but also explores their power to overcome them.