Middle School Studio Lesson
Figurative Language
Represented in Art
Michele Wallach
In the test-driven society in which we teach, many art teachers are ncouraged to create interdisci- plinary units that fuse art with to several pages, can be read and
to find acceptance due to her mixed
enjoyed alone, but students are often
cultures. The family moved back and
inspired to read the whole novel after forth between Mexico and the United
getting a taste
States, so she
reading and writing. The following
of the relatable
unit fosters appreciation of Sandra
characters and
Cisneros’ writing and encourages
realistic con-
students to portray her words in their flicts.
own three-dimensional designs.
I usually
begin by tell-
In the test-driven society in
found comfort
which we teach, many art
in books when
she felt alien-
ated in a new teachers are encouraged to create
place. Her love interdisciplinary units that fuse art
with reading and writing.
of literature
The House on Mango Street
ing my middle
later evolved
I have always loved The House on
schoolers a bit about the author.
into a career as a novelist, poet,
Mango Street, the coming-of-age story Sandra Cisneros is the daughter of
teacher, and college professor.
of Esperanza, a poverty-stricken girl
Mexican-American immigrants. Like
growing up in a run-down area of
the main character of The House on
Short Excerpt, Big Meaning
Chicago. Each of the vignettes, which Mango Street, she grew up ashamed
After this brief introduction, I read
range in length from a few paragraphs of her family’s poverty and struggled
