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Esperanza envies the students who get to stay and eat lunch at school in the canteen instead of having to walk home at lunch time.

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Cisneros uses the location the “canteen” as a motif. Throughout the vignette, canteen is repeated to signify it as an important place to Esperanza. Her admiration for the kids who eat there draws her repeatedly to the canteen like a moth to a flame. For Esperanza, the act of staying in the canteen could be a symbol of uniqueness to her and give her the ability to form a possible union with the people she considers “special,” the ones who eat at the canteen.

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Cisneros uses motifs, and indirect characterization within the vignette "A Rice Sandwich" in order to emphasize the theme of wanting to be included.

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The Speaker is Esperanza

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“The special kids, the ones who wear keys around their necks, get to eat in the canteen. The canteen! Even the name sounds important. And these kids at lunch time go there because their mothers aren’t home or home is too far away to get to.“ (Cisneros 43)

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“The special kids, the ones who wear keys around their necks, get to eat in the canteen. The canteen! Even the name sounds important. And these kids at lunch time go there because their mothers aren’t home or home is too far away to get to.“ (Cisneros 43)

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Esperanza yearns to be a part of the group that goes to the canteen, the group she calls the “special kids.” The canteen group are kids who can’t go home because it is too far or their mothers can't pick them up, so they have to stay at school for lunch. This excerpt shows her desire to be a part of something significant, something that makes her feel important. It is as if Esperanza feels like she is unwanted or unappreciated, and that being in the canteen group makes her more valuable and cared for. She puts the “canteen group” up on a pedestal, and talks as if they are superior to the other students.This text is describing Esperanza wanting to join the canteen group because she wants to be special and included.

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Esperanza strives to separate herself from the normal group and be seen as extraordinary. This can be tied back to her personal identity and how she wants to be perceived. Just like in one of the previous vignettes “My Name,” in which Esperanza pursues a suitable name for herself that she feels accurately represents her character, Esperanza once again tries to define herself and ultimately her identity.

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Dialectical Journals By: Ben Spence, Evan Graf, Daniella Luciani, Ciara O'Reilly