Most of these readings can be found free of charge on the Internet:
1.    Sandra Cisneros, The House on Mango Street;
2.    Leslie Marmon Silko, “Lullaby”
3.    Maxine Hong Kingston, “No Name Woman”
4.    Thomas Pynchon, “Entropy”

Directions:
1.    These are three short answer essays and not one long essay.  Please separate the answers by using the corresponding question number.

2.    Please read the background information below;
3.    Then answer the three questions at the bottom of this document.

Background information:
This week, we will be reading and discussing a variety of contemporary fiction selections.  The first selection is a well-loved, contemporary novel by Sandra Cisneros, The House on Mango Street.  Cisneros is still writing and exploring Chicana identity, and gives a bit of insight into what first brought her to the subject in this video, if you’d like to view it:

The introduction of the book gives similar insight, but it’s kind of fun to see the author specifically, especially a living author.

The three short stories beyond The House on Mango Street are sort of a mixed bag; I selected them because I wanted to give you a broad perspective on what is being read and published today.  Pyncheon will nicely transition in to next week’s Fight Club readings, and the other two are emblematic of important formal and thematic shifts in literature right now.  I think they coincide well with Cisneros as well.

3 Questions to be answered:
Discussion Questions:  Contemporary Fiction

1.    Kingston writes: “Those of us in the first American generations have had to figure out how the invisible world the emigrants built around our childhoods fits in solid America” . How does this statement relate to the story of Kingston’s aunt? How does the story of her aunt shape her choices? How is this story relevant in the scheme of American literature?

2.    Do you believe that if Sandra Cisneros included language like Zora Neale Hurston did in “Their Eyes Were Watching God” for the characters and their dialogue that it would have enhanced or changed the story at all? How so? And if not, why not?

3.    In the novel, The House on Mango Street, Esperanza meets with Elenita, a Tarot Card Reader, and three sisters who seem to be very intuitive (able to see what is in Esperanza’s mind/heart).  What is the significance of these encounters in the story?