Talk:Sandra Cisneros

Testing

Hi everyone! I'm just testing out this talk page and getting to know the Wikipedia functions. Our group is currently reviewing this article and discussing what changes need to be made. We'll post our plan of action in a couple of days! --Seto58 (talk) 16:44, 18 September 2008 (UTC)

Excellent. Looking forward to seeing the plan. --jbmurray (talk • contribs) 18:17, 18 September 2008 (UTC)

Our Plan

This is our plan to refurbish the article on Sandra Cisneros. We are aiming to make this a featured article so we must

1. make the layout logical and visually pleasing,
2. have accurate and comprehensive information based on an extensive bibliography, and
3. have a clear and concise writing style.

The article is currently pretty poor and we have done some brainstorming on how to improve it.

We are going to restructure the article content into the following sections and each of us will take responsibility for writing certain ones:

1. Abstract,
2. Early Life and Education,
3. Later Life and Writing Career,
4. Philosophy and Literary Themes,
5. Legacy (involvement in the Chicano literary movement/genre and contributions to the arts including the Esperanza Centre and Macondo Workshop etc.)
6. List of Works (with summaries),
7. Awards

Aside from just adding more information, our goals are to make a more captivating abstract, put more emphasis on how Cisneros fits into Chicano literature, and give a better sense of who Cisneros is as a person, not just a list of her accomplishments. --Seto58 (talk) 06:50, 20 September 2008 (UTC)

Looks like a good plan. You can of course add to it over time. And cross things off when you've done them, including adding a big green checkmark {{done}}  Done. --jbmurray (talk • contribs) 18:17, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

Bibliography

• Cisneros, Sandra. Foreword. The Future is Mestizo. By Virgilio Elizondo. Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2000.

In the foreword to this book about mestizaje in the new millennium, Cisneros offers a personal reflection on what it means to be mestiza/Chicana. She also comments on the role that Chicana/o or mestiza/o artists play in shaping the mestizo identity. Relevant to: Later Life, Philosophy, List of Works, Legacy —Preceding unsigned comment added by Heathermary (talk • contribs) 04:57, 2 October 2008 (UTC)

• Cisneros, Sandra. "Introduction." Borderlands/La Frontera Third Edition. By Gloria Anzaldúa. San Francisco: Aunt Lute Books, 2007.

Cisneros has a short essay in the Introduction to the third edition of Anzaldua's book. She wrote about how Gloria Anzaldua influenced her work as a Chicana writer and about what she and Anzaldua have in common as Chicana artists. Relevant to: Later Life, Philosophy, List of Works, Legacy

• Cisneros, Sandra. "Sandra Cisneros." <http://www.sandracisneros.com/>. September 28, 2008.

This is Cisneros’ own website which is extremely useful. It has a personal message, bibliographic info, list of works, information about her foundations, plus news/magazine articles, interviews and reviews about her work. Relevant to: All.

• Cruz, Felicia J. (2001) “On the "Simplicity" of Sandra Cisneros’s House on Mango Street.” Modern Fiction Studies. 47 (4): 910-946.

Cruz analyzes The House on Mango Street from the perspective that it is deceptively simple and that it is actually much richer in style and meaning than it appears. Relevant to: Philosophy and Literary Themes (philosophy of writing for the people), List of Works with Summaries (The House on Mango Street)

• Díaz Barriga, Miguel (January 2001), "Vergüenza and Changing Chicano and Chicana Narratives", Men and Masculinities, 3 (3): 278–298, doi:10.1177/1097184X01003003004{{citation}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link).

Diaz talks about the role of Chicana artists in reinterpreting the role of traditional Chicana ideologies and symbols. He uses the role of Vergüenza to show how Cisneros and other Chicano writers how recreated traditional gender roles and how they are related to the social and political aspects of their life. This relates to: Literary themes/Philosophy —Preceding unsigned comment added by 142.103.93.115 (talk) 19:51, 4 October 2008 (UTC)

• Doyle, Jacqueline. (1996). “Haunting the Borderlands: La Llorona in Sandra Cisneros's "Woman Hollering Creek".” Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies. 16 (1): 53-70.

Doyle examines how the figure of La Llorona is relevant to Chicana writers like Cisneros focusing on Woman Hollering Creek. Relevant to: Philosophy and Literary Themes (Llorona/Malinche/Guadalupe, women’s experiences, mestiza identity), List of Works with Summaries (Woman Hollering Creek)

• Doyle, Jacqueline. (1994). “More Room of Her Own: Sandra Cisneros's The House on Mango Street.” MELUS. 19 ( 4): 5-35.

Doyle describes Cisneros’ place in contemporary women’s literature and feminism drawing parallels between Cisneros and Virginia Woolf. Relevant to: Philosophy and Literary Themes (How does Cisneros understand her role as a writer?) Legacy (How does Cisneros fit into women’s/feminist/Chicana literature?)

• Fernandez de Pinedo, Eva. “An overview of Contemporary Chicano Literature.” Literature Compass. 3/4 (2006): 658-675

•Highlights the main themes of chicano literature. How Chicana females came in to power, and placed emphasis on gender, sexuality, and homosexuality that was previously not done by chicano men in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Related to: Philosophy, Legacy

• Ganz, Robin (Spring 1994), "Sandra Cisneros: Border Crossings and Beyond", MELUS, 19 (1): 19–29, retrieved 2008-09-30{{citation}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link).

•This is a nice biography of Cisneros, how she became and author, and the things and people that inspired her to write her works. Related to: Early life and Education, Later life and Career, legacy

• García, Alma. Feminist Thought: The Basic Historical Writings. Routledge: 1997.

  How relevant is this to the article? --jbmurray (talk • contribs) 18:45, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

•This book talks about the rise of the Chicana movements not only as a whole but Chicanas against Chicanos, establishing themselves on their Gender beliefs. There is an interview with Cisneros in this on page 288. Relates to: Legacy, Literary Themes/Philosophy

• González. Christina and Patricia Gándara. (2005). “Why We Like to Call Ourselves Latinas.” Journal of Hispanic Higher Education. 4: 392-398.

This article gives historical background of why people of Spanish-Speaking ancestry in the U.S. prefer to be called “Latinos” rather than “Hispanics” and quotes Cisneros on this topic, revealing her thoughts on race, language, and identity. Relevant to: Philosophy and Literary Themes (philosophy on race, mestiza identity)

• Jussawalla, Feroza; Way Dasenbrock, Reed, eds. (1992), Interviews with Writers of the Post-Colonial World, Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, ISBN 9780878055722.

This book contains a useful interview with Sandra Cisneros about her influences, philosophy and writing style. Relevant to: Philosophy and Literary Themes, Early Life (childhood memories)

• Kafka, Phillipa. (Out)classed women: Contemporary Chicana Writers on Inequitable Gendered Power Relations. Greenwood Publishing Group. 2000

•Book talks about Woman Hollering Creek and also about the feminist and Chicana movements. Relates to: List of Works with Summary, Legacy

• Lohafer, Susan. Reading for Storyness. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press, 2003.

In this book about short stories, Lohafer comments on how Cisneros' short stories should first be read for their "storyness" and second be read for their social relevance. Relevant to: Literary Themes

• Madsen, Deborah L. Understanding Contemporary Chicana Literature. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2000. (Specifically Chapter 1: The Contemporary Chicana Renaissance: An Introduction and Chapter 4: Sandra Cisneros)

Madsen gives a good overview of Chicana literature and of Cisneros and her work. Relevant to: Early Life (basic facts), Later Life and Writing Career (basic facts), Philosophy and Literary Themes (feminine and Chicana subjectivity), List of Works with Summaries (The House on Mango Street, Woman Hollering Creek, My Wicked Wicked Ways)

• Nash, Andrea. “Review [untitled].” TESOL Quarterly. 23(1989): 326-327

•Talks about The House on Mango Street. Related to list of works with summary

• Oliver-Rotger, Maria Antonia. Battlegrounds and Crossroads: Social and Imaginary Space in Writings by Chicanas. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2003.

This book explores the relationship between private and public spaces that are exemplified in Chicana literature. It also deals a lot with the theme of the 'borderlands' in Chicana literature. Ananlyses some of Cisneros' writing. Relevant to: Philosophy and Literary Themes, Legacy, List of Works. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Heathermary (talk • contribs) 20:31, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

• O'Reilly Herrera, Andrea. ""Chambers of Consciousness": Sandra Cisneros and the Development of the Self in the BIG House on Mango Street." In Having Our Way: Women Rewriting Tradition in Twentieth-Century America. Ed. Harriet Pollack. London: Associated University Presses, Inc., 1995.

O’Reilly Herrera explores the metaphor of the house as consciousness in The House on Mango Street. Relevant to: Philosophy and Literary Themes (house and consciousness), List of Works with Summaries (The House on Mango Street)

• Payant, Katherine. "Borderland Themes in Sandra Cisneros's Woman Hollering Creek" in The Immigrant Experience in North American Literature: Carving Out a Niche. Ed. Katherine B. Payant and Toby Rose. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1999.

This essay, which was cited in both Lohafer's Reading for Storyness and Sadowski-Smith's Border Fictions, gives a variety of critiques and analyses of Cisneros' writing, while sticking to the theme of the 'borderland'. Relevant to: Literary Themes, Later Life, List of Works, Legacy —Preceding unsigned comment added by Heathermary (talk • contribs) 20:25, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

• Quintana, Alvina E. Home Girls: Chicana Literary Voices. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1996.

An analysis of Cisneros' work, with a detailed analysis of The House on Mango Street. This book which is about Chicana writers describes how Cisneros and her writing have contributed to the Chicano literary movement. Relevant to: Literary Themes, Later Life, List of Works

• Sadowski-Smith, Claudia. Border Fictions. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2008.

Sadowski-Smith calls Cisneros "perhaps the most famous Chicana writer" (Border Fictions, 33) and offers a critical look at some of Cisneros' writing. The book also cites other writers' interpretations of Cisneros' work and how it fits into the category of Chicano literature or border fiction. Relevant to: Philosophy and Literary Themes, Legacy, Later Life and Writing Career

• Saldívar-Hull, Sonia. Feminism on the border: Chicana gender politics and literature. University of California Press: 2000

•This book talks about feminism in the US amongst white and coloured women. It talks about the Chicana movements and the female writers that contributed to defying the boundaries of border and gender. Relates to: Legacy, Literary themes and Philosophy

• Saldívar-Hull, Sonia.”Women Hollering Transfronteriza Feminisms.” The Chicana/o Cultural Studies Reader. Ed. Angie Chabram-Dernersesian. Routledge. 2004

•In this article Saldívar-Hull talks about various article including Women Hollering Creek that Cisneros has written and how it relates to the emergence of feminism on the border. Related to: List of Works with Summary, Literary themes/Philosophy

• Saldívar, Ramón. Chicano Narrative: The Dialectics of Difference. Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1990.

This book presents an examination of Mexican-American/Chicano narratives as a tool in the struggle to retain cultural integrity despite cultural and regional displacement of Mexican-Americans. Cisneros' work fits into this category and this book goes into great detail about The House on Mango Street. Relevant to: Philosophy and Literary Themes, Legacy, Later Life and Writing Career, Awards

• Singley, Carol J., Anxious Power: Readings, Writing, and Ambivalence in Narrative by Women. New York. SUNY Press: 1993

•Talks about and analyzes The house on Mango Street . Related to: literary themes and List of works.

• Tatum, Charles M. Chicano and Chicana Literature: Otra voz del pueblo. Tucson: The University of Arizona Press, 2006.

Tatum's book gives examples of how Cisneros' work uses themes that are common to Chicana literature, such as those of the Virgin of Guadalupe, La Llorona and Atzlan. He also discusses her work as a Chicana poet. Relevant to: Philosophy and Literary Themes, Legacy, Later Life and Writing Career

• Wyatt, Jean. (1995). “On Not Being La Malinche: Border Negotiations of Gender in Sandra Cisneros's "Never Marry a Mexican" and "Woman Hollering Creek".” Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature. 14 (2): 243-271.

Wyatt examines Chicana gender and sexual identity as portrayed in Woman Hollering Creek. Relevant to: Philosophy and Literary Themes (Llorona/Malinche/Guadalupe, female sexuality), List of Works with Summaries (Woman Hollering Creek)

Comments on bibliography This is a decent start, but it could be more comprehensive: there are very few journal articles, for instance. You'll also be wanting to annotate these references as you get hold of them and start working with them to improve the article. Good luck! --jbmurray (talk • contribs) 18:33, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

Thanks Jon. I just added 5 more journal articles. We'll annotate these references ASAP - this will be useful for sharing sources that we've collected individually and to keep track of their contents as we have so many. Seto58 (talk) 06:31, 1 October 2008 (UTC)Seto58

OK, looks good! --jbmurray (talk • contribs) 06:52, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

I added some annotations on the books that I have looked at, with more to come tomorrow. I also added some space between the entries for room for annotations, which can be decreased later. Heathermary (talk) 05:55, 2 October 2008 (UTC)heathermary

Thanks for doing this Heather! I added annotations for all the sources I found. As you can see, I indicated which section each source is relevant to, I think this will help us out a lot when we're working on our respective sections. Seto58 (talk) 09:16, 3 October 2008 (UTC)Seto58

Good job, you guys! Of course, as you use material from these sources in writing the article, you can copy the bibliographic information over here. --jbmurray (talk • contribs) 11:18, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

Hi again, I annotated the rest of my sources, and added their relevance. Heathermary (talk) 19:34, 3 October 2008 (UTC)heathermary

hey guys, i just annotated all my bibligraphy. theres only one missing by Herreira...thats the only one who isn't annotated. i dont know whose it is..anyways Buen trabajo mis chiquitas poderosas y bonitas!!!! seguiremos adelante!!!

Wow! The bibliography looks great and is actually useful now! I'm going to plow through some of these sources this week and start writing my sections. Good work! Seto58 (talk) 08:22, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

What Seto58 said: this is now a very helpful bibliography. Time to write the article! --jbmurray (talk • contribs) 18:32, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

Formatting Question

Jon, after I updated "References" I wanted to update "Notes" but when I clicked "edit" I did not see the existing notes, only code for "reflist." The notes are now incorrect, how do I edit them? Thanks. Seto58 (talk) 08:07, 9 October 2008 (UTC)Seto58

Ah. You have to go to the section that contains the referenced information. In this case, that's this one. When you edit there, you can then see the footnotes enclosed in <ref> and </ref> tags. I think I may already have fixed this, however. --jbmurray (talk • contribs) 20:35, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

Little note

I temorarily altered the page (then reset it a minute later) to demonstrate how the info on Wikipedia isn't always accurate. It's important when working on a report (or just for the health of wikipedia in general) to double check a fact with the cited resource is available. I guess this isn't the proper place for a lesson, but that explains the edit history. --TehZorroness (talk) 18:44, 16 October 2008 (UTC)

Literary Themes

Hi ladies!

Last class we were talking about the content for the themes section... I'm going to post below what themes I'm going to write about so please leave a note if you have any suggestions!

1. Borderland

• setting for her stories, much going back and forth between Mexico and U.S.
• raises themes of dislocation, racism, fitting in, national and cultural identity, hybridism

1. Gender Identity

• development of female subjectivity (influences: childhood, family, culture/pop culture
• women’s experiences (solidarity, prejudice, poverty, family values, oppression, empowerment)

1. Chicana Subjectivity

• mythical mothers (La Malinche, La Llorona, La Virgen)
• double oppression (racism, sexism)
• cultural influences from Mexico and the U.S.

1. Place

• importance of place in either confining a person or setting them free – one’s own house as a physical and psychological necessity for women.

Seto58 (talk) 09:11, 24 October 2008 (UTC)Seto58

Some Notes

Hey everyone, I am unable to edit the article, I guess this is because I have been a poor wikipedia editor and have not edited in 2 weeks or something. So, until this works itself out I will just add some notes to the talk page, these come from the books that I have looked at, please feel free to take any of this and work it into your section.

From Sadowski-Smith:

-Cisneros is "perhaps the most famous Chicana writer" (Sadowski-Smith, 33)

-border literature - “the conflation of the border space with issues of Chicana/o identity…divorces symbolic concepts from the literal territory of the national boundary” (Sadowski-Smith, 33).

-while she often writes about border issues, “none of her work is explicitly located along the Mexico-U.S. boundary” (Sadowski-Smith, 33).

-Although Cisneros' work rarely explicitly mentions the border, it can be classified as border literature by the symbolic way that she uses "the border" to bring up questions of Chicano/a identity and aesthetics (Sadowski-Smith, 34).

From Tatum:

-"In the first novel, Cisneros draws extensively on her own background of being reared in a Chicago barrio as the only daughter in a family of six brothers" (Tatum 121). - Cisneros draws on her own experiences and her childhood in her fiction

-"begins to associate this religious figure with her own gradual escape from patriarchal strictures. Cisneros has given to the Mexican Virgin some of the attributes of the Aztec/Nahuatl goddesses..." (Tatum 125-6).

-woman hollering creek - "The yell of triumph replaces the lament of the traditional La Llorona figure, and in this way Cisneros reinterprets the mythological figure, giving her assertiveness and other positive traits" (Tatum 127).

-Cisneros’ use of the idea of aztlan on pages 143-145

-Tatum discusses her poetry on page 177

From Quintana:

-notions of oppression/power in relation to writing and liberation in House on Mango Street, "You must remember to keep writing, Esperanza. You must keep writing. It will keep you free, and I said yes, but at that time I didn't know what she meant" (Quintana 51).

-The House on Mango Street "defied the poetic form previously privileged by many Chicana writers...defined a distinctive Chicana literary space...challenging, at the least, accepted literary form, gender inequities, and the cultural and economic subordination of minorities...text subverts traditional form and content in a way that demonstrates how conventional application of literary genre and the social construction of gender undermine a "feminist aesthetic"" (Quintana 55).

From Cisneros’ Introduction to Anzaldua:

-"It's why I moved from Illinois to Texas. So that the relatives and family would allow me the liberty to disappear into myself. To reinvent myself if I had to. As Latinas, we have to."

-"Because writing is like putting your head underwater."

Heathermary (talk) 22:49, 27 October 2008 (UTC)heathermary

I can now edit the main article, hurray! Heathermary (talk) 22:57, 27 October 2008 (UTC)heathermary

Yes, it was actually because you had fewer than ten edits... This page is "protected," which means that anonymous editors and brand-new editors weren't allowed to edit it. (These are the people who most often vandalize, though of course they often add useful content, too, so mostly articles aren't protected in this way unless there has been a history of vandalism.) And as an editor with fewer than ten edits, you were considered to be still "brand new."

Now, however, you are confirmed editor in good standing... So keep it up! --jbmurray (talk • contribs) 23:18, 27 October 2008 (UTC)

More from Quintana:

“Sandra Cisneros uses fiction as a form of social commentary” (Quintana, 75) like other Chicana writers, “her work contributes to an emergent literary tradition that emphasizes cultural traditions and in this respect resembles the writing produced by contemporary cultural anthropologists” (Quintana, 75). “a desire for authenticity motivates the writers of both ethnographic and Chicana creative-writing projects, they share the narrative problems that arise with attempts to “accurately” portray culture.” (Quintana, 75)

“Cisneros’s portrayal of the social predicaments contributing to her protagonist’s confusion is a symbolic act of resistance on the author’s part” (Quintana, 58)

“Through Esperanza’s characterization, Cisneros depicts some of the inner conflicts that develop as marginalized individuals attempt to resolve the apparent disjunction between their desires for cultural integrity and for individual liberation” (Quintana, 65)

“Cisneros’s poetic text defies prosaic convention; syncopated fragments punctuated as complete thoughts make us aware of the writer’s experimentation with form” (Quintana, 66).

“By taking her writing one step past the conventional, Cisneros has moved into a terrain explored by few Chicana writers” (Quintana, 66)

House “redefines literary form in its mediation between the romantic and the harsh” (Quintana, 67)

“Cisneros defies tradition by writing about censored topics” (Quintana, 67) “revises history by honestly confronting her past” (Quintana, 67)

“she has embraced an assertive role, sculpting cultural impressions that have helped refine Chicana feminist aesthetics” (Quintana, 67)

“bring women from the margins to the center, recognizing them as active participants in history rather than pawns struggling for self-expression and escape” (Quintana, 68)

House – “its tone, free of anger or accusation, on the surface innocent and dispassionate, allows Anglo American male and female readers to approach the text with relative ease; in this sense it differs from contemporary literature written by women of color” (Quintana, 73)

“The narrative thus functions as the ultimate strategy for escape from confining traditions. Cisneros enables her readers to look critically at the assumptions that engulf them” (Quintana, 74).

Heathermary (talk) 23:54, 3 November 2008 (UTC)heathermary

progress?

Guys, I'm a touch worried... As is verified in our progress reports, the rate of advance of this article is slowing down... from 69 edits in the first period, to 30 and now 20. C'mon, don't give up... --jbmurray (talk • contribs) 00:27, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

Citing

hey jon, im not really sure about citing. im writing the part on early life and education and as im writing the story of her childhood and her history, using a source thats on the web (its a scholarly article) im coming to the realization that i have no idea what to cite...like...am i supposed to be citing her history or is that more of a general fact. im also writing about her family history. is that something i have to cite? im posting the first paragraph. check it out. and let me know what you think ok. thanks

also i have no idea how to cite so i just put () where i think it should be cited. can you tell me how to cite as well.— Preceding unsigned comment added by Valerie voikin (talk • contribs)

Hi. You do need to put the full details of the article in the references section. (Just like any other piece of academic writing, you need to have the full reference.)

Is the article in question this one:

Ganz, Robin (Spring 1994), "Sandra Cisneros: Border Crossings and Beyond", MELUS 19(1): 19-29.

If so, you should note that it does indeed have page numbers, and these should be indicated every time you cite the article. (Again, just like a term paper or whatever.)

Beyond that, don't worry about the formatting.

And as for when to cite... Have a look here. --jbmurray (talk • contribs) 22:29, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

Lead

This is coming along. Well done! One thing that will have to be improved fairly soon is the "lead" or introduction. For hints on to what is expected in this section, take a look at WP:LEAD. Once you've done this, I'll drop a note (or you can, of course) with someone from the FA-Team, for them to undertake a review of the article so far. --jbmurray (talk • contribs) 12:15, 3 November 2008 (UTC)

Awards section

hello!! i need help.under my awards part i havent cited anything. if i got the info from the net how do i cite it???? i dont think that theres an author to the site. help! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Valerie voikin (talk • contribs) 05:07, 6 November 2008 (UTC)

If you can copy/paste the URL (the address that appears in the bar at the top of the browser that starts with http://...) either here or by the text you want cited in the article, I'll see what I can do ;) EyeSerene^talk 08:38, 6 November 2008 (UTC

http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/747 - thats it! thanks for you help. let me know if i can do anything.

also theres another address that i need to cite. i post it on the early life and education part. you'll find it. if you could do something about that too that would be great.

and another question. how would i go about posting a photo of sandra cisneros in that little box on the top right hand side of the page. actually how would i go about editing the box???? thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by Valerie voikin (talk • contribs) 21:32, 6 November 2008 (UTC)

ok so now i added another fifty million websites. its on the list of works and summaries part. can you please see what you can do about those too? thanks!1

Hello all

Hi WP:NRG editors! I'm one of those FA-Team editors that jbmurray mentioned above, and I've 'adopted' your article - which means I'll be keeping an eye on it with you and offering assistance as you go through the various stages of article writing and assessment. You've already produced some really good work, and the article is shaping up well. There's still some way to go though, so if you don't mind I'll have a read through and post a 'to-do' list in the near future to help point you in the right direction. I assume we're aiming for Good article status as a first goal (?), so I'll comment with that in mind. I'm also more than happy to answer any Wikipedia-related questions you might have or help with formatting and copyediting. My talk page is linked in my signature, or you can post stuff here; I'll see it either way. Best regards, EyeSerene^talk 19:52, 3 November 2008 (UTC)