Journal 7

I think what Sandra Cisneros did best was her ability to use her words so the reader can see what she saw. I thought that some of the ways that she said things were almost poetic. My favorite line passage from the book was when Esperanza was describing her mother’s hair, ‘But my mother’s hair, my mother’s hair, like little rosettes, like little candy circles all curly and pretty because she pinned it in pincurls all day, sweet to put your nose into when she is holding you, holding you and you feel safe, is the warm smell of bread before you bake it, is the smell when she makes room for you on her side of the bed still warm with her skin, and you sleeping near her, the rain outside falling and Papa snoring. The snoring, the rain, and Mama’s hair that smells like bread.’ I liked this passage because it stuck with me, I liked the way that the language seemed to flow and you can visualize and smell the hair of Esperanza’s mother. The theme that stuck out to me at the end of the book was the foil. Towards the end of the book there were a lot of stories that were about other people that were unhappy, especially Sally. I thought Sally most stood out because the reader understands that the neighborhood that the book takes place in isn’t the best, and Sally is what could have happened to Esperanza if she would have made other decisions. It’s important to me also because it shows that not everyone from a bad neighborhood is restricted to only living in that place.

I really believe that poverty is a big influence on children in schools because the lack of money can have many different effects. Children may change schools a lot because they are trying to find a better education or a higher chance at receiving higher education. Some children that live in poverty are stressed about more adult problems and then may find that school isn’t a high priority. A big problem with poverty and schools is that the funding from school comes from taxes, so a poor neighborhood would have less funds for schools than a rich neighborhood. Not having the funds of wealthier schools results in not giving children opportunities like preschool or the ability to take different classes that might catch the students interest and want to make them work to go farther in school.

sitemaker.umich.edu/rosman.356/funding_

These are the demographics for poverty rates of Hispanics, black people, and white people over the years of 1970-2001