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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who does Esperanza compare Rafaela to?

2. Who comes to visit Rachel and Lucy’s family?

3. Why will Esperanza come back to Mango Street?

4. Who helps her disguise her wounds?

5. Before Aunt Lupe’s illness, she used to enjoy what activity?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who is Ruthie?

2. What is Sally’s relationship like with her parents?

3. What does it mean that both Esperanza is getting noticed by boys, and that she notices them watching her?

4. One of the aunts tells Esperanza that she will always be Mango Street. What did she mean by this?

5. Why can’t Esperanza, her mother, and other neighbors and kids agree on what Earl’s “wife” looks like?

6. How does Sally defy her parents?

7. Why is Esperanza’s Aunt Lupe an important person to her?

8. Is Sally any happier than she was living at home with her father?

9. What is Esperanza hoping to hear when she has her fortune told?

10. Why does Esperanza believe Mamacita is sad?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Esperanza feels different than the other girls in the story. From the reader’s perspective, is she different? If so, how?

Essay Topic 2

Toward the end of the book, Esperanza says this: "I have begun my own quiet war. Simple. Sure. I am one who leaves the table like a man, without putting back the chair or picking up the plate" (Chapter 35, pg. 89). How is this quote indicative of who Esperanza is currently, and who she will become?

Essay Topic 3

Education

a. How does Esperanza view education as a way out of poverty?

b. Are there any characters that have pursued education before Esperanza?

(see the answer keys)

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