The House on Mango Street Cisneros' style Sandra Cisneros' writing style in the novel The House on Mango Street transcends two genres, poetry and short stories. The novel is written in a series of poetic vignettes that make it easy to read. These distinctive attributes are combined to create the backbone of Cisneros' unique style and structure. The novel has confused many critics and readers because it seems like a poem, but it is actually a narrative. Cisneros admits that many of the cartoons are "lazy poetry". This means that they could be poems if she had taken the time to finish them (Olivares 145). At many points in the novel the words rhyme and can almost be set to a catchy melody. For example, the chapter “Geraldo No Last Name” reads like a poem with an end rhyme and a structured outline. "Nice and young too. He said he worked at a restaurant, but he doesn't remember which one" (Cisneros 65). At the other end of the spectrum, the novel is a series of vignettes. "I would say that, although some of the Mango Street stories are 'short stories,' most are vignettes, that is, literary sketches, still similar to small illustrations..." says critic Julian Olivares (145). Cisneros has stated that he wants a reader to be able to pick up the novel and understand its meaning from any point within; therefore, the novel is told in a series of vignettes, each making its own point. The vignettes are combined to create a larger story (Olivares 145). "Chanclas" is an example of Cisneros' sound prose vignettes. “Meanwhile that boy who is my cousin… asks me to dance and I can't” (Cisneros 47). This chapter is a literary sketch that illustrates Esperanza's insecurity about being poor. Mango Street is not necessarily structured in chronological order. There are no drastic or specific changes over time. The reader understands that the character is growing, but the existing structure can be rearranged without compromising the reader's understanding. The chapters "Hips" ("The hips bloom like roses, I continue because it's obvious that I'm the only one who can speak with some authority...") and "The first job" ("So the next morning I wear the dress dark blue which made me look older.