Potomac's eighth grade English students read and discuss The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. The book is a series of short vignettes that together capture the characters, setting, and stories of a particular neighborhood in Chicago. The vignettes are written from the perspective of a fictional narrator and are based loosely on Cisneros's own experiences as well as those of her students. Some of the vignettes are humorous or action-packed; some are heart-wrenching or shocking. All are deliberate in their use of figurative language, poetic elements, grammar conventions, and pacing.

Each eighth grader composed at least one vignette for inclusion in this digital collection. They wrote in the style of Sandra Cisneros, as they interpreted it based on their notes and our class discussions, yet they set it in a time and place of their own choosing. While some of these vignettes are based on the author's personal experience, many of them are purely fiction, an imagining of characters and circumstances that seemed ripe for this assignment. Students also used this assignment to experiment with new vocabulary words and techniques involving punctuation and sentence structure.

We encourage you to leave comments below vignettes that strike you in some way. Please keep your comments positive and specific; this is not the place for critiques or suggestions. Enjoy the creativity and vibrancy of these students' literary efforts.

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

June Seventh

What’s the best birthday present you have ever received? I get asked this question a lot around the time of my birthday. My answer: my sister. 

I share a birthday with my sister. No, we’re not twins. She is exactly three years younger than me. People always call us lucky. Partial twins, some like to call us. 

June seventh, two thousand and four at twelve forty five a.m, my younger sister, Christina, was born. I went to the hospital that day to visit her and my mom. I don’t think my mind had registered the fact that she was born on my birthday. I was there to make sure my new baby sister and my mom were okay. 

I stayed in the hospital all day with my mom. We ate the horrible food they served there. We laid together in bed watching whatever was on the small television screen that was hung up. Christina came in and out of the room, too little to know what was happening around her. I wanted to ask to hold her, but afraid of being told no, I kept my mouth closed. After about the third time of her coming in the room my mom asked if I wanted to hold her. I looked like a bobble head nodding my head up and down. 

“Gentle” and “Watch her head” and “Are your arms tired yet?” were the three phrases that the nurses and my parents kept repeating to me. I just wanted to snatch Christina out of their hands and show them that I was capable of holding a baby on my own. Of course, I refrained from doing so. 

In my tiny arms, Christina felt like a cement block was just dropped onto me. I had never seen a baby so close before. She was the most beautiful thing I had seen in my three years of existence. As I looked down at the unfamiliar face I wanted to comment how beautiful she was, but I was too in awe to say a word. Three year old me had no idea that the new baby I was holding in my little arms would be coming home with me and we would become friends. 

So when asked what the best birthday present I have ever received my answer is my little sister, Christina. From the moment I first held her in my arms, to the present where we argue most of the time, I will love her forever and always. 

~ Nathalie R.

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