The Monkey Garden

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Descriptive Narrative Essay Sandra Cisneros' excerpt "The Monkey Garden" was influential and described the conventions of puberty & growing up. The growth from childhood to adolescence is a very gritty time, the age of knowing and not knowing what are the right decisions or not. Going from a safe place like a favorite playground with old friends to the unknown and new people is the hardest part of getting older. Esperanza was introduced as loving the Monkey Garden, her safe place as a child, but soon her oasis transformed. As young offspring there are places we all believed as our own "safe zone" and evidently we're taught life lessons from the time spent there. My safe zone was the foothills of North Carolina. Smells of sweet Japanese honeysuckle would be the greeting we'd be introduced to each day and the lessons I learned would never be forgotten. Thinking back to the days I was totally free from stress and worries; I was a lucky child to have grown up on a cul-de-sac. Living in a close proximity with four other families and then seven other homes on either side of the street was convivial beyond any dream. My brother and my existence was carved in the Lane that led to my house. My childhood. Ten years of smiles, ten years of laughter, ten years of lessons. Foothills and trees is where I lived during daylight, and my friends were my caretakers. We looked after one another and never let each other fall, physically or emotionally. There were flowers at every entrance and mailbox, angelic smiles on each neighbor's face, a welcome was on Marvin Lane. Two scents are dominant in my place, the overpowering sour smell of dogwoods surrounding the backyards of each house and the sweet aroma of honeysuckle by the driveways. With that specific mix of odors, it caused a soothing environment that gave us all a calm attitude towards life. That

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