At her cousins baptism she says, "Everybody laughing except me, because I"m wearing a dress, pink and white with stripes, and new underclothes and socks and the old saddle shoes I wear to school, brown and white, the kind I get every September because they last long and they do" (47). ... When Esperanza wants to eat lunch at school she tells her mother: You would see me less and less and like me better. ... It is obvious by her comment about how much school costs that her parents have suggested she needs a job to help pay for it. ... Esperanza's ugly environment is not one that anyone...

• Word Count: 1635
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School