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I love the House on Mango Street because of its realistic situations. I love how she dosn't stick to one story, but rather tell multiple different stories that all of which, are real-life situations people go through. With reading her personal background and how she came up with this masterpiece made me love it 10 times more! She took all of these stories from different students of heers, creating one big story that appeals to both

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In the song Friends by J-Cole, he talks about how drugs in the black community can sometimes take over judgement, ruining your identity.  People would rather identify with drugs than to meditate their minds as J-Cole talks about throughout the song.  Having an outlet, as Barack Obama and J-Cole preach, is very important in terms of finding your identity.

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In I Too by Langston Hughes, he hits on the same topic as Claude Mckay did in his poem "America."  "I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.

They send me to eat in the kitchen

When company comes,

But I laugh,

And eat well,

And grow strong."  In this point, Hughes' talks about how even though he is within the oppressed, he still identifies with being apart of America.  It is important to have this kind of energy when living in this time period and even when living in the present.  He identified himself with America even when his oppressors did not.

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In this poem, he talks about his confliction with the love of America.  Despite the negatives of America, he could most identify himself with our Country.  "Yet, as a rebel fronts a king in state,

I stand within her walls with not a shred

Of terror, malice, not a word of jeer." This shows the sense of a hate/love relationship with America. Many Americans, including myself could also identify with this conflicted state. I hate the oppression and violence that has made America into what it is today, but I love my Country for what it has made me into today.

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America by Claude McKay Kinetic Typography

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In this poem, she talks about a young woman's coming of age. In the Latin culture, a girl's fifteenth birthday is a symbol of her becoming a women. In the poem she talks about having to wash her own clothes and sheets, and putting her dolls away. This young girl is identifying with the scary realization of her not being a little girl anymore. Most young girls go through this phase of letting go of things you once loved to become of a beauty you'll forever be.

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Highlight Quinceañeras Yessica y Nagllely

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In Everyday Use, there's a conflict between Dee and her mother and sister Maggie. Dee has went off to college and got a new outlook on what her African heritage means to her. Her mother refuses to accept her new way of thinking and hates the fact she's changed her name. Many parents don't realize that their child is not the same person they were growing up, because all that child knew was what their parents taught them. It's a struggle for a lot of young adults to find themselves because they've been so prone to living life in their parents' shadows. I believe that Dee is in fact being insensitive in some aspects, but she is on the journey of finding peace within herself and that is  most important.

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While reading this, it made me think of all the aspects that fits into identity, making identity the most precious value of our lives. As humans, identity is a natural way of life, and without it, it makes me wonder if one would ever be truly be content with their life.  "Identity involves the internal and the subjective, and the external. It is a socially recognized position, recognized by others, not just by me." This goes into the importance of finding your identity.

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In A Lesson Before Dying, a man, Jefferson is being convicted of murder and sentenced to death.  In the time of racism, Grant finds himself conflicted with the rage of discrimination, yet with the thought of not being able to fix it.  He becomes angry with himself for allowing discrimination towards him and others, making him into a bitter self-absorbed man.  His perspective changes as a result of visits to Jefferson and interactions with Vivian and his aunt.  He learns to love something other than himself and to strive for change without retreating into his shell of cynicism.  Despite the turnarounds he'd made throughout the story, he ends still depressed and angry toward his oppressors when Jefferson is killed.  This is why it's important to stay true to yourself and find peace within yourself.  Grant is a great example of how most people end up without the exploration of their true identity.

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In Fences we see how the impact of violence in your own home could force one to find their own identity.  Both Troy and Cory grew up in a household with abusive male figures.  Although they were abusive, their guardians were responsible, making sure they were supported financially.  To Troy and Cory, becoming a man comes to mean leaving the man that raised you because of a violent conflict. This painful process of coming of age is confusing. For both Troy and Cory, the creation of their own identity when their role model is a creature of duality—part responsible and loyal, the other side, hurtful, selfish and abusive, proves a difficult model with which to mold their own identity as grown men with a more promising future than the father who threatens their livelihood.

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I think Barack Obama, just like a lot of people who write, was trying to find a way out of the difficulties he was going through at the time. He talks about how he never really believed he fit in with the crowd around him. People go through this phase of desperately trying to figure out who they are and where they fit in society as humans. For a lot of writers, writing is their way of finding their true selves, just as music is a way of relieving stress.  The point is that the journey of finding yourself is rough, but doing what works for you and finding something you can identify yourself with is most important, and I believe that's what Barack Obama was hitting at in the time of this statement.

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Reporter:
Was writing partly a way to figure out your identity?
Obama: Yes, I think so. For me, particularly at that time, writing was the way I sorted through a lot of crosscurrents in my life — race, class, family. And I genuinely believe that it was part of the way in which I was able to integrate all these pieces of myself into something relatively whole. People now remark on this notion of me being very cool, or composed. And what is true is that I generally have a pretty good sense of place and who I am, and what’s important to me. And I trace a lot of that back to that process of writing.

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House on Mango Street: How it Relates to The Statement 

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House on Mango Street: How it Relates to The Statement 

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In the House on Mango Street, Esperanza constantly struggled with finding her identity.  She went from struggling t accept her sexuality when it came to the concept of boy and girl interaction, to playing on her sexuality to test her powers over men.  As for many, she quickly realizes that neither of these lifestyles worked for her.  She soon finds a gateway of peace from her problems when she becomes aware of her writing abilities.  This discovered interest brought her to become detached from her home, but we see a mature side of her.  Although she did not find a home of her own, her writing has helped her find privacy within herself.

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The House on Mango Street - A Select Scene (2/3)

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Steppenwolf for Young Adults presents The House on Mango Street, written by Tanya Saracho, based on the novel by Sandra Cisneros, directed by Hallie Gordon, featuring Belinda Cervantes, Gina Cornejo, Sandra Delgado, Liza Fernandez, Ricardo Gutierrez, Christina Nieves, Tony Sancho and Mari Stratton.