Blog Post 4 Topic #3

Maxine Hong Kingston and Sandra Cisneros works at first glance and seem like they come from completely different worlds but in reality, they share a similar struggle. Both felt that the American culture did not fit them entirely and that they weren’t 100% American or 100% Chinese/Hispanic. The two writers incorporate a lot of the same movements like feminism and the identity struggle. Hong Kingston and Cisneros have separate cultures and experiences and “A House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros and “The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts” by Maxine Hong Kingston are definitely written in different styles but are essentially sharing beliefs that are very similar. Although it is not expected that two completely different cultures have so much in common, “A House on Mango Street” and “The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts” are evidence that immigrant and first generation communities from any culture have many aspects that are parallel.

“A House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros entails different stories that all contribute to the development of the character “Esperanza”. Unlike “The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts”, Cisneros’ work is structured where it contains several different situations that do not necessarily correlate but all contribute to the movements and creation of Esperanza but as separate events in her life. In Maxine Hong Kingston’s work each topic flowed with the next. Even though the stories are about young girls growing and being shaped by their experiences the structure makes a difference. In Cisneros’ work she keeps the events short and to the point and that way gives more content and room to interpretation because each story is so different from the one before. With Hong Kingston’s style choice, we get a story with as much content but set up in a way where the developments are all connected. The styles differ and give different feels to the content and story.

Both Sandra Cisneros and Maxine Hong Kingston address feminism without too much effort. The everyday experiences they address are not uncommon for women every day and without these authors, the topics will scarcely be addressed. They both addressed things that would normally be pushed aside and ignored. They both talked about simple things that when put onto paper people realized it is crazy to ignore. I think they were both very influential to the feminist movement and made many realize some things that are overlooked should not be.

These women both paved the way for other writers but did it in very different ways. Their styles for “A House on Mango Street” and “The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Amon Ghosts” were completely different and their cultures were in no way the same but the messages they put out there were essentially matching. The two authors focus on immigration experiences but not the same ones which makes them two different insights on the same topic and each gives me a different view of similar subjects.