Cisneros finished her first poem at ten, and she recalled writing poems until the sophomore year of her high school。 At the junior year of Loyola University, she was accepted into the University of Iowa’s Writers Workshop。 However, the isolation she felt in the workshop made her understand the differences between her and other students。 At that time, she realized that she must write something that was different from her classmates and was never understood by them, which was the reason why The House on Mango Street was born。 Cisneros taught writing at Chicago Latino Youth Alternative High School for high school drop-outs the next three years after gaining her MFA from the University of Iowa’s Writers Workshop in 1978。 Witnessing the unhappy life of her married friends, she decided not to let “husband” come between her and her writing。 Cisneros treated her writing as her child, and she had devoted all her life to it。 As a result, readers can see the real life of Chicana through her work。 As Ganz once evaluated:论文网

Yet, as the clearest water, beneath the surface, Cisneros’s work is alive with complexity and depth of meaning。 Cisneros’s voice is the sound of many voices

speaking -- over the kitchen table, out on the street, across the borderlands, and through the years。 (1994: 29)

As one of the famous Chicana writers, Cisneros revealed the real life of Chicana women。 Her works include Bad Boy (1980), The House on Mango Street (1984), My Wicked Wicked Ways (1987), Women Hollering Creek (1991), Loose Woman (1994), Hairs/Pelitos (1994), Caramelo (2002), Vintage Cisneros (2004), Bravo Bruno! (2011), Have You Seen Marie? (2012) and A House of My Own: Stories from My Life (2015)。

1。2 The Novel -- The House on Mango Street

The House on Mango Street was finished in 1984 as a coming-of-age novel。 It was first published by Arte Público Press, a small press。 Later, it was reissued by Vintage Books, which means that Cisneros was the first Chicana to enter the mainstream of literary culture。 After the first release, the responses to the book were various among the public and academics。 Praised by critics, The House on Mango Street has been translated into different languages and been taught in schools in the United States and Canada。 And the book has been re-issued in a 25th Anniversary Edition。 Especially, the novel has gained high praise from the Latino/Latina community。 The book is also controversial。 Much of the critical reception about the novel roots in the sexual content present throughout multiple scenes。 Some critics thought that the suspected readers of the book were perceived to be too young for some content。 What’s more, some mature content and descriptions of cultural differences and feelings of displacement resulted in the book's banning in Tucson, Arizona。 Much of the critical reception surrounding the book today recants this theme due to its suspected negative effects on inpiduals challenging superior powers such as the government and educational institutions (Matchie, 1995: 67-79)。

Based on her own experiences, people around her and things that she witnessed, Cisneros created the vivid roles in the novel。 All the stories are narrated from the perspective of the protagonist, Esperanza。 The story starts as Esperanza describes how her family moves to the house on Mango Street。 As Esperanza grows up, the story of the Mango Street unfolds。 In the novel, we can know the family life of Esperanza。 And the novel also includes the stories of Esperanza’s neighbors, which shows us a clear picture of the neighborhood and the factors that influence the whole life of Esperanza。 As she grows up, Esperanza needs to face with discriminations on gender, race, class and culture。 The people she meets and the events happens around her gradually confirm her dream of possessing a house of her own。 She desires to leave the Mango Street forever, but several people ask her to come back and not to forget the people who cannot leave there。 At the end of the novel, she understands that “I has gone away to come back。 For the ones I left behind。 For ones who cannot out” (Cisneros, 2009: 110)。