The novel's format, which critics typically describe as a compilation of vignettes, contributes to its readability. The name of the literary form stems from the drawings of little vines that nineteenth-century printers used to embellish title pages and the openings of chapters. As a result, a vignette is similar to an illustration. It's a brief, descriptive piece that focuses on conveying meaning through images rather than plot. Cisneros' language is also more readable because of its brevity.
Secondly, her style is poetic. We don't mean that it's ostentatious or flowery – to the contrary, it's natural, clear, and easy to understand. By poetic, we mean Cisneros's sentences are full of imagery, metaphors, and word games. For example, when Esperanza wants to describe what it's like having to tote her annoying baby sister around, she hits us with a snapshot image that sums up her feelings of loneliness: "Until then I am a red balloon, a balloon tied to an anchor"