PROBLEMATIC SITUATION

The House on Mango Street

Purpose: Problematic Situations are used to engage students in the text by inviting them to think about specific issues and themes from the novel. This strategy allows students to practice their problem solving skills, modes of deduction, and how to look at life from a new perspective. This activity is for use after reading chapter 19.

Rationale: Sandra Cisneros introduces a variety of controversial topics in her novel. One of these is the reality of poverty among the minority populations in the city. This problematic situation asks the students to first, consider what it would be like not only to live in poverty, but also to have an entire family pedigree that is financially unstable, and second to make difficult and mature decisions concerning money. This activity invites the students to view life and family ties in a new perspective and helps the text to become more personal and ultimately more meaningful by drawing connections to their own lives.

STEP 1 After reading chapter 19, "Gils Furniture Bought & Sold" explain that for this next activity each of them will need to put themselves in the "shoes" of Esperanza, the protagonist in The House on Mango Street. Regardless of their actual financial situation, for now they need to imagine that they have lived their entire life in poverty, just like Esperanza. Reread the first chapter aloud. Ask the students to respond in their novel response journals about how their lives would be different, better, or the same, if they were in the same financial situation as Esperanza. Ask them if they think all of Esperanza's problems would be solved if she had a house, or money. ( 10 minutes)

STEP 2 Briefly discuss what the students wrote in their journals (2-3 min). Then place a transparency of the Problematic Situation on the overhead. Call on 3 students to read one paragraph each. The students have hypothetically won a lottery worth 500,000 dollars. This amount is important, because by today's materialistic standards it is just enough money to be a lot, but in reality not enough to completely solve all financial problems. Each student will receive a list of options for spending their winnings. They will first need to read each line carefully then return and select the items that most deserve their money. Because the students do not have enough money to do every option, they will need to eliminate the choices that are less important. They cannot make amendments to or alter the options in anyway. Then they will rank each of their chosen "purchases" in number of importance, with the number 1 being the most important. Clarify that they need to do this assignment as if they had been born in poverty. (Giving directions - 5 min)

STEP 3 Distribute a copy of the Problematic Situation and a list of the options for spending their money. Borrow calculators from the math class and distribute. Briefly look over the list as a class. Call attention to the fact that these decisions represent much more than just money. As they can see, each of the options is connected to a relative, family member, local and school leaders, and even members of the clergy. There are also several choices allowing them to spend money on themselves. Working alone, students have 15 minutes to make their decisions and assign a rank to each listing. They will need to be prepared to defend their choices to the class.

STEP 4 After the class has completed the assignment, divide into groups of four and have them share their choices and explain how they came to their decisions. Assign a scribe for each group that will write a list of every member's #1 item. (10 minutes) When completed, the scribes will go to the board and write the four #1 items from their group members on butcher paper. (2-3 minutes)

STEP 5 Referring to the butcher paper list of #1 items, discuss the differing choices of people in the class. Begin the discussion by asking the class to comment on the range of choices on the board. Why did it vary so much from person to person? Or, why is it so similar? Is money a private matter? Do spending habits run in the family? Do you think diverse cultures spend money differently? Does money mean more to people who have it, or to people who don't? Why? Ask if anyone changed their mind on their choices and rankings after meeting with the group and seeing what their peers wrote. How would their answers have differed if the situation had said that they all came from wealthy families instead of poor families? Why would this make such a difference? Ask the class to share their number 2 rankings, and explain why. Also, ask them to share their least important ranking and explain why. Use the remainder of the class period for this discussion. Leave the lists of butcher paper on the walls to refer to as the novel progresses. As a follow up assignment to bring the students back to the novel, ask them each to write a one-page paper detailing how they think Esperanza would spend the 500,000 dollars and why. Encourage them to use examples from the text that illustrate Esperanza's values to support their choices. This activity invites the students to connect the problematic situation with the novel, engage in the text, identify with the characters and setting and synthesize their new opinions and ideas with their previous thoughts on the novel and the general theme of poverty. An option to the paper assignment is to distribute a second copy of the list of options and have them fill it out as if they were Esperanza. Discuss the results in groups. Have them analyze how and why this list differs from their original.

Weir, 2000