Webercise Activity

Directions: Visit the links to answer the questions below each resource.

Authors Background
Resource: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandra_Cisneros
When and where was Sandra
Cisneros born?
What two factors does Cisneros 1.
say influenced her unique stories? 2.
Click on cultural hybridity and
give a one word definition for
hybridity.
Name the workshop created by
Cisneros and describe its purpose.
Name the foundation created by
Cisneros and describe its purpose.
Early Life
How many children were in
Cisneross family, including
Sandra?
Why did Cisneros have to keep
moving throughout her
childhood?
Compare and contrast Cisneross
father and mother.
What was the inspiration for The
House on Mango Street?
Predict how elements of
Cisneross childhood will be
reflected in the main female
characters life.
Why did Cisneros decide to write
about her race, gender, and class?
Bibliography
Click on either Woman Hollering
Creek and Other Stories or
Caramelo. Analyze how you think
Cisneross life inspired that work.

Setting Background
Resource: http://interactive.wttw.com/remembering-chicago/timeline

Starting with the year 1980, 1.

choose 4 events taking place in
Chicago that might have
2.
influenced the story. Give the year
and the event. Relate each event
to issues of race or gender. 3.

4.

Use of Languages
Resource: https://www.google.com/#q=google+translate

Use Google Translate to look up Ex.: Spanish Casa

home in 3 different languages 1.
(other than English and Spanish).
2.
3.
Discuss two possible reasons why 1.
an author would choose to use
some words or phrases from
2.
another language in an English
novel.

Spanish in The House on Mango Street

Resource: https://quizlet.com/10527214/house-on-mango-street-spanish-words-flash-cards/
What is the meaning of
mamasota?
Give one nickname we have in
English (or another language) that
characterizes a woman by her
looks.

Which Spanish word from the

novel matches this picture?

Examining the Vignette Form

Resource: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/examples-of-vignettes-in-literature.html

What is a literary vignette?

What is another definition for
vignette?
What is the usual length of a
vignette?
Differentiate between a vignette
and a short story. What does one
do that the other does not?
Read the vignette snippet from
The House on Mango Street. What
impression does this snippet give
about the narrator?
Read the vignette snippet from
Murder in the Dark. What
impression does this snippet give
about the place and situation?
(Can you identify what is being
described?)
Read the poem Coquette. What
do you notice about the way the
story is told?
Of the three vignettes you read,
evaluate which one most
successfully uses the vignette
format to its advantage.
According to this resource, what 1.
are the four main keys to writing a
vignette?
2.

3.

4.