Essay Writing Prompts – Choose one of the following:
- In Woman Hollering Creek, Sandra Cisneros explores the connections between gender, culture and language and its impact on our identity. Choose one or more of the following short stories listed below. What is the theme (lesson/message) or recurring themes of these stories? Explain using textual details.
- How does Sandra Cisneros challenge stereotypes of Latina women in her stories from Woman Hollering Creek? Explain using examples from the texts below.
- Gloria Anzaldúa once wrote in Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza, that “To survive the Borderlands you must live sin fronteras, be a crossroads.” How are the characters in Cisneros’s stories living in the “borderlands” of language, gender and culture? Explain using examples from the texts.
Choose one or more of the following short stories from Woman Hollering Creek:
- “Eleven” (6)
- “Barbie-Q” (14)
- “One Holy Night” (27)
- “My Tocaya” (36)
- “Woman Hollering Creek” (43)
- “Never Marry a Mexican” (68)
- “Bien Pretty” (137)
You may also choose to use the following texts below in your essay:
- “Born Bad” (from House on Mango Street)
- “Smart Cookie” (from House on Mango Street)
- “Selected Poems” from Cool Salsa: Bilingual Poems on Growing Up Latino in the United States (English and Spanish Edition)
- “La Malinche, La Llorona, La Virgen: My Mother’s Ghost Stories” (Teresa Finney, The Hairpin)
- Tackling what it means to be ‘fully American’ (Hailey Branson-Potts, Los Angeles Times, 4/12/17).
- “Guadalupe the Sex Goddess” (Sandra Cisneros)
- Real Women Have Curves (2002, IMDB)
Writing Criteria:
- Well-organized multiple-paragraph essay.
- A clear thesis statement (main argument).
- Textual evidence with analysis (quotes must be cited with page numbers in MLA Format).
- Checked for spelling/grammar/mechanics.
Handouts and Resources:
- Woman Hollering Essay Criteria
- Woman Hollering Creek Tree Map or Persuasion Map
- Woman Hollering Creek Rubric
- Woman Hollering Creek Presentation Handouts
- Woman Hollering Creek Presentation Rubric
- MLA Typing Guidelines
Editing/Revision Resources:
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