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The House on Mango Street . Writing your own vignettes. Introduction to “The House on Skirmish Run” .
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The House on Mango Street Writing your own vignettes
Introduction to “The House on Skirmish Run” • I didn't always live on Skirmish Run. Before that I lived on Floyd on the second floor, and before that I lived on Water Lane. Before Water it was Grace, North Colonial, Boulevard, Kensington, and before that I can't remember.But what I remember most is packing. Each time there was a bigger U-Haul. By the time I got to Skirmish Run, it was a 24’ truck stuffed with too many things I never threw away.The house on Skirmish Run was mine, and I didn't have to pay rent to anybody, or be careful not to make too much noise, and there wasn't a landlord to cheat you out of half your security deposit. But even so, it was just a townhouse. • This vignette would continue to describe the house in more detail, using p. 703-704 as a model.
Rough Draft of “My Name” • In Gaelic my name means friend. In Italian it means dear or beloved. In Turkish, it means the color black, like the coffee I drink every morning. • I’m not named after anyone, but I once found the Kara Sea on a map. So I’m a sea in Russia once polluted by radioactive waste. I never met anyone else with my name until I was 12. But she spelled hers with a C, so it didn’t count. • At school they said my name funny: Karen, Carol, Kerry, CARa. It rhymes with Sara, like my friend, but nobody gets her name wrong. In college, people from New Jersey and New York said my name as if the syllables were made out of lead and stuck to your throat when they came out. But in the South my name is made out of a sweeter something, like iced tea on the front porch. Not quite as easy as my sister's name Kathryn--which is more regal than mine. Kathryn who can become Kate. But I am always Kara. In third grade I wanted to be Elizabeth, like the Queen. Wrote it on all my papers, which my teachers ignored. • But I got used to Kara,and my husband gave me Mullins, a Gaelic last name to match my first, so I suppose it's fate for me to be a four letter friend.
On both your rough drafts... • 1. Underline your similes or metaphors • 2. Highlight or circle your sensory details (anything that appeals to sight, smell, taste, touch, or sound) • Final Drafts due Monday: Typed, double-spaced;1-1.5 pages for “House on ____” and ½-1 page for “My Name”
