How would you describe the narrative voices of the two stories? Do you think these narrators have anything in common or are they quite different? Please include examples from both stories.
"The House on Mango Street", and "Diaz Invierno", are both somewhat similar in writing style. For one, both stories are told from the first person, while reflecting on life from within each characters' respective families. They are written in a vignette-like, staccato manner, with short, simple sentences defining the writing style. Although the narrators have a similar nostalgic trait in common, I definitely think that "Diaz INvierno" goes into greater detail involving the personalities of the members of her family. For example, the narrator explains her Papi's thing for shoelaces, while "The House on Mango Street", seems like the rest of the family is there to move the plot along.
The narrative voices of the two short stories are very different from one another. “The House on Mango Street” seems more personal, and feels as if the narrator is directly speaking to you. For instance, the ending of this short story expresses herself with the following… “I knew then I had to have a house. A real house. One I could point to. But this isn’t it. The house on Mango Street isn’t it. For the time being, Mama says. Temporary, says Papa. But I know how those things go.” However, the narrator in “Diaz Invierno”seems more distant and is telling you the story from afar. For example, a passage in “Diaz Invierno” begins like this…“Papi worked a long fifty-hour week and on his days off he expected quiet, but my brother and I had too much energy to be quiet…” Also, in “The House on Mango Street” the narrator explains everything very fast and briefly explains what happens over a long period of time. In the very beginning of “The House on Mango Street”, the narrator begins by telling the audience… “We didn’t always live on Mango Street. Before that we lived on Loomis on the third floor, and before that we lived on Keeler…” The narrator is saying one thing after another, with little descriptions and little time to pause. However, the narrator in “Diaz Invierno” explains to the reader a thought out, deep story with more dialogue and with a descriptive setting. For example, the “Diaz Invierno” opens with lines “From the top of Westminster, our main strip, you could see the thinnest sliver of ocean cresting the horizon to the east.” The narrator seems to be more rebellious in “Diaz Invierno”, for he disobeys his father’s commands by going outside. But, in the “House on Mango Street”, the narrator does not approve of the house she/he lives in, but does not express it to his/her family and keeps it to him/herself. So, even though the narrator’s are quite different in the two stories, they both express sadness and hardship; and both stories relate to their homes.
I've read the House on Mango Street previously in an English class and we noticed how the narrator doesn't use quotation marks. The only other time I have seen this is in Invierno by Junot Diaz, and there are many things the two stories have in common. The flow r feeling that leaving out quotations creates for me is that it's just the main character thinking. It's like writing in a diary or to your best friend about your life except it stays within the narrator's mind, therefore it doesn't need to be punctuated as such. There are commas and periods of course because we think with commas and periods. The plot of the two stories are also very similar. They are both written by a Hispanic author and are narrated by children of Hispanic descent. The kids each experience a change of environment that is, in more ways than one, disappointing. A difference between the two narrators is that only the girl from the House on Mango Street understands her parents and their struggle which is apparent when she says "but I know how those things go" about the next place they'll be living and other promises her parents make. Yunior from Invierno, on the other hand, references his father's many greasy work uniforms and his mother's depression but doesn't (in my opinion) fully understand the toll the last five years and the transition has taken on them.
I think that the two stories are quite different. In Invierno, it seems like there is more character development, the main character goes from a more quiet reserved character to a much more rebellious character who is willing to disobey the father. Somehow I saw Purple Hibiscus in this story, as the father is controlling and violent, the mother is meek and is not as easy to walk over as mama in purple hibiscus, but sort of same idea, and the younger child is more like rebellious Jaja, and the older child Rafa is more like Kambili in the sense he doesn't want to rebel. In the end the mother stands up for herself, in both stories. However I have to say I didn't really understand the end of that story and what happened. And I don't really know what to say about the house on mango street because it was so short, I didn't really get a sense of the character other than that she loved her family, and she was fine with her house until the nun from her school opened her mind per say, just by saying "oh thats where you live?". I can't relate this to the other story in my mind.
While the two stories have different tones the writing styles are similar. For example both authors use similar patterns of punctuation. As Yasmin stated neither authors use quotation marks. The tone of the narrators differ from story to story "Diaz Inveirno" the narrator seem to be looking from out side of the box. As if they are watching from over head. In "House on Mango Street" the story is told as if the narrator is in the room. In "Diaz Inveirno" the author goes a little deeming into the characters and their emotions where as in "House On Mango Street" the characters are more flat.
Although these stories have different tales to tell, both seem to share this feeling of nostalgia or melancholy. In both, "House on Mango Street" and "Diaz Inveirno" the narrators simply hope for better times. In "Diaz Inveirno" the narrator says "By the third week I was worried we weren't going to make it. Mami, who had been our authority on the island, was dwindling." Here the narrator simply hopes that the family will make it out alright. There is the feeling of slight hope and the will to carry on in hard situations. We see the same thing in "House on Mango Street" when the narrator says, "I knew then I had to have a house. A real house. One I could point to. But this isn' it." As you can see the narrator hopes to one day have that house on Mango street and live a better life in that house.
The two author's of "House on Mango Street" and "Invierno" have similarities and differences. As Yasmin and Libby both stated, both author's refrained from using quotation marks. Also, both author's have similar tones in their writing for most of the story. Both tones are a bit down-beat at times, as both author's are generally writing about struggles the family faces in sub-ideal living situations. The author's are a bit different in the sense that the characters in "House on Mango Street" are a bit flat, while the characters in "Invierno" are more developed.
In both stories, the narrators experience a change or transition that they share. In "House on Mango Street", the narrator seemed to summarize her situation. Apparently, she had been moving a lot with her family trying to find the ideal home, but after finally getting out of their run-down apartment complex, they only get a house that provides the bare necessities. Her voice in the story doesn't really explain in detail, but rather "shows" her emotions and ideas. For example, when the woman who walks by says, "You live there?", through the way she talks about it, the reader can tell she is discontent. In "Invernio", Yunior explains their transition from the Dominican Republic to America very vividly. He explains his experiences with his dad changing, new expectations, the gringos, and his perspective on all of it. As everyone has said, It is evident that the stories don't use quotation marks. Does it symbolize something or is it just to be confusing?
Both of the narrators in the short stories experience change, and are adjusting to new lifestyles. They also compare their expectations of this transition to the reality. In 'House on Mango Street', the narrator explains having moved from apartment to apartment before having found the house that they are living in now. They explain how living in a house represents freedom; the family doesn't have to pay a landlord or share a building with anyone. But rather than a dramatic change, the house is just as run down and cramped as their past living arrangements. In 'Invierno' the narrator experiences a move from a slum in the Dominican Republic to a suburb in the US. He describes how this apartment is spacious and clean compared to his past home, which was about the size of his new kitchen. This is a complete culture shock, because the narrator doesn't speak English, and hasn't even seen snow before and is now surrounded by it. Both stories have narrators that summarize their new experiences, so that the reader can understand their transition.
"The House on Mango Street", and "Diaz Invierno", are both somewhat similar in writing style. For one, both stories are told from the first person, while reflecting on life from within each characters' respective families. They are written in a vignette-like, staccato manner, with short, simple sentences defining the writing style. Although the narrators have a similar nostalgic trait in common, I definitely think that "Diaz INvierno" goes into greater detail involving the personalities of the members of her family. For example, the narrator explains her Papi's thing for shoelaces, while "The House on Mango Street", seems like the rest of the family is there to move the plot along.
ReplyDeleteThe narrative voices of the two short stories are very different from one another. “The House on Mango Street” seems more personal, and feels as if the narrator is directly speaking to you. For instance, the ending of this short story expresses herself with the following… “I knew then I had to have a house. A real house. One I could point to. But this isn’t it. The house on Mango Street isn’t it. For the time being, Mama says. Temporary, says Papa. But I know how those things go.” However, the narrator in “Diaz Invierno”seems more distant and is telling you the story from afar. For example, a passage in “Diaz Invierno” begins like this…“Papi worked a long fifty-hour week and on his days off he expected quiet, but my brother and I had too much energy to be quiet…” Also, in “The House on Mango Street” the narrator explains everything very fast and briefly explains what happens over a long period of time. In the very beginning of “The House on Mango Street”, the narrator begins by telling the audience… “We didn’t always live on Mango Street. Before that we lived on Loomis on the third floor, and before that we lived on Keeler…” The narrator is saying one thing after another, with little descriptions and little time to pause. However, the narrator in “Diaz Invierno” explains to the reader a thought out, deep story with more dialogue and with a descriptive setting. For example, the “Diaz Invierno” opens with lines “From the top of Westminster, our main strip, you could see the thinnest sliver of ocean cresting the horizon to the east.” The narrator seems to be more rebellious in “Diaz Invierno”, for he disobeys his father’s commands by going outside. But, in the “House on Mango Street”, the narrator does not approve of the house she/he lives in, but does not express it to his/her family and keeps it to him/herself. So, even though the narrator’s are quite different in the two stories, they both express sadness and hardship; and both stories relate to their homes.
ReplyDeleteI've read the House on Mango Street previously in an English class and we noticed how the narrator doesn't use quotation marks. The only other time I have seen this is in Invierno by Junot Diaz, and there are many things the two stories have in common. The flow r feeling that leaving out quotations creates for me is that it's just the main character thinking. It's like writing in a diary or to your best friend about your life except it stays within the narrator's mind, therefore it doesn't need to be punctuated as such. There are commas and periods of course because we think with commas and periods. The plot of the two stories are also very similar. They are both written by a Hispanic author and are narrated by children of Hispanic descent. The kids each experience a change of environment that is, in more ways than one, disappointing. A difference between the two narrators is that only the girl from the House on Mango Street understands her parents and their struggle which is apparent when she says "but I know how those things go" about the next place they'll be living and other promises her parents make. Yunior from Invierno, on the other hand, references his father's many greasy work uniforms and his mother's depression but doesn't (in my opinion) fully understand the toll the last five years and the transition has taken on them.
ReplyDeleteI think that the two stories are quite different. In Invierno, it seems like there is more character development, the main character goes from a more quiet reserved character to a much more rebellious character who is willing to disobey the father. Somehow I saw Purple Hibiscus in this story, as the father is controlling and violent, the mother is meek and is not as easy to walk over as mama in purple hibiscus, but sort of same idea, and the younger child is more like rebellious Jaja, and the older child Rafa is more like Kambili in the sense he doesn't want to rebel. In the end the mother stands up for herself, in both stories. However I have to say I didn't really understand the end of that story and what happened. And I don't really know what to say about the house on mango street because it was so short, I didn't really get a sense of the character other than that she loved her family, and she was fine with her house until the nun from her school opened her mind per say, just by saying "oh thats where you live?". I can't relate this to the other story in my mind.
ReplyDeleteWhile the two stories have different tones the writing styles are similar. For example both authors use similar patterns of punctuation. As Yasmin stated neither authors use quotation marks. The tone of the narrators differ from story to story "Diaz Inveirno" the narrator seem to be looking from out side of the box. As if they are watching from over head. In "House on Mango Street" the story is told as if the narrator is in the room. In "Diaz Inveirno" the author goes a little deeming into the characters and their emotions where as in "House On Mango Street" the characters are more flat.
ReplyDeleteAlthough these stories have different tales to tell, both seem to share this feeling of nostalgia or melancholy. In both, "House on Mango Street" and "Diaz Inveirno" the narrators simply hope for better times. In "Diaz Inveirno" the narrator says "By the third week I was worried we weren't going to make it. Mami, who had been our authority on the island, was dwindling." Here the narrator simply hopes that the family will make it out alright. There is the feeling of slight hope and the will to carry on in hard situations. We see the same thing in "House on Mango Street" when the narrator says, "I knew then I had to have a house. A real house. One I could point to. But this isn' it." As you can see the narrator hopes to one day have that house on Mango street and live a better life in that house.
ReplyDeleteThe two author's of "House on Mango Street" and "Invierno" have similarities and differences. As Yasmin and Libby both stated, both author's refrained from using quotation marks. Also, both author's have similar tones in their writing for most of the story. Both tones are a bit down-beat at times, as both author's are generally writing about struggles the family faces in sub-ideal living situations. The author's are a bit different in the sense that the characters in "House on Mango Street" are a bit flat, while the characters in "Invierno" are more developed.
ReplyDeleteIn both stories, the narrators experience a change or transition that they share. In "House on Mango Street", the narrator seemed to summarize her situation. Apparently, she had been moving a lot with her family trying to find the ideal home, but after finally getting out of their run-down apartment complex, they only get a house that provides the bare necessities. Her voice in the story doesn't really explain in detail, but rather "shows" her emotions and ideas. For example, when the woman who walks by says, "You live there?", through the way she talks about it, the reader can tell she is discontent. In "Invernio", Yunior explains their transition from the Dominican Republic to America very vividly. He explains his experiences with his dad changing, new expectations, the gringos, and his perspective on all of it. As everyone has said, It is evident that the stories don't use quotation marks. Does it symbolize something or is it just to be confusing?
ReplyDeleteBoth of the narrators in the short stories experience change, and are adjusting to new lifestyles. They also compare their expectations of this transition to the reality. In 'House on Mango Street', the narrator explains having moved from apartment to apartment before having found the house that they are living in now. They explain how living in a house represents freedom; the family doesn't have to pay a landlord or share a building with anyone. But rather than a dramatic change, the house is just as run down and cramped as their past living arrangements. In 'Invierno' the narrator experiences a move from a slum in the Dominican Republic to a suburb in the US. He describes how this apartment is spacious and clean compared to his past home, which was about the size of his new kitchen. This is a complete culture shock, because the narrator doesn't speak English, and hasn't even seen snow before and is now surrounded by it. Both stories have narrators that summarize their new experiences, so that the reader can understand their transition.
ReplyDelete