cisneros began to write the house on mango street in 1984.
when did cisneros begin to write the house on mango street?
1984
the house on mango street is a 1984 coming-of-age/bildungsroman novel by mexican-american author sandra cisneros. it is written from the perspective of teenage latina, esperanza cordero, who struggles with her life in a chicano and puerto rican neighborhood of chicago. esperanza wishes to escape her impoverished life in her small red house on mango street to then return one day to rescue her loved ones as well. the novel combines old mexican traditions with modern american customs and explores the plight of marginalized latinos struggling to survive in a dominantly white country.  it is presented in a series of vignettes and is sandra cisneros’ first published novel. the book has earned many awards and accolades, and is considered to be a modern classic of chicana literature. it is a new york times bestseller and has been adapted into a stage play by tanya saracho.
the house on mango street
sandra cisneros' early life was a subject she would later draw on as a writer in books like "the house on mango street". she was the only daughter among seven children in her family. cisneros’ family and father specifically did not initially support her writing. her father never wanted her to be an author. when she was growing up, the only famous latinas were those on tv, and in the seventies they were seen most often on television as weather girls. cisneros and her father envisioned her as a newscaster for that reason. despite a lacking support system, cisneros continued to pursue writing, and used her life to inspire her early works. "the house on mango street" includes information inspired by her life"." the story also is about the subject of migration, and about the struggles of her life during it, which included poverty, as well as misogyny. cisneros first began writing about the protagonist, esperanza, when she had just finished graduate school. cisneros created esperanza from personal feelings of displacement she had while writing. she had recently graduated from the university of iowa and had felt marginalized as a person of color, a woman, and an individual of lower socioeconomic status. "the house on mango street" became a way for her to solidify her identities through reflection in writing. esperanza is one of four children, with a younger sister and two younger brothers. in reality, cisneros was the middle child and only girl with six brothers, two older and four younger. while writing, cisneros explains that because she was new to fiction, she initially craved simplicity, which resulted in esperanza's family being smaller than her actual family had been. she believed it would be easier to write about fewer family members.
the house on mango street