(Title) Living and Learning to Be Human
I. Thesis: As a person comes of age, the
(Title) Living and Learning to Be Human
I. Thesis: As a person comes of age, they learn the truth about being human and the world
around them.
a. Opening Hook (Maybe): Getting older is inevitable. We all grow old. Some
people get hung up on their age, worrying about getting older, while others accept
it and enjoy the ride.
b. (Note to self: Discuss background on topic before my thesis is this paragraph.
Maybe, I can talk about the text here too. How does Sandra Cisneros present
growing old in The House on Mango Street?)
II. Topic Sentence 1: While growing older, people also gain more responsibility, learning to
be more self-sufficient and also to care for and look after others.
a. (Transition to evidence: such as texts, experience, or other artifacts that provide
support for argument) In the The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros writes
about Esperanza’s maturation and growth into womanhood.
b. (Evidence) She writes, “You don’t pick your sisters, you get them, and sometimes
they come like Nenny. She can’t play with those Vargas kids or she’ll turn out just
like them. And since she comes right after me, she is my responsibility” (Cisneros
8).
c. (Explanation) As she is older, Esperanza is required to look after her younger
sister and make sure that she does not “turn out” like some of the other kids in her
neighborhood.
d. (Evidence: Another quote here.)
e. (Explanation)
III. Topic Sentence 2: Aging teaches people that they are human, forcing them to become
aware of their own mortality. With time, humans begin to feel the physical effects of age
and experience the pains of bodily illness, as well as those of the mind and heart.
a. (Personal note: Can I find any examples of this in the text? What people get sick
in the book? Maybe some of the women she mentions within her vignettes. Old
Woman on pg. 29?)
b. (Evidence)
c. (Explanation)
IV. Topic Sentence 3: Through their relationships and interactions with friends, family, and
partners, a person’s perspective and experience changes and they begin to see the world
differently.
a. (Transition to evidence) Esperanza gets older and learns about her position in
society. Being that she is becoming a woman, her understanding of the world
around her reflects the female experience and the effects of gender roles.
b. (Evidence) Cisneros writes, “Hips are scientific…They bloom like roses…The
bones just one day open. Just like that. One day you might decide to have kids,
and then where are you going to put them?” (50)
c. (Explanation) Esperanza is becoming a woman and trying to find explanations for
the changes that her body is going through. She turns to science, the woman
around her, and her friends for guidance.
d. (Evidence: Add another quote.)
e. (Explanation.)
V. Conclusion: While growing older can be difficult, our experiences, even the most
difficult of them, are something to be valued as they can teach us to be human.
a. (Note: What else can I say here without being repetitive?)
b. (Expand scope: connect on a global level beyond the paper)
c. Big idea: Texts like Cisneros’s show us the both the value of experience, the pain of aging and existence, but also the inherent beauty in it.