Para Teresa

      I can think of several reasons that "Para Teresa" is written both in English and Spanish. First of al it proves that the narrator has a lot of education now that she can fluently write in both English and Spanish and that just because she is smart and educated now, she hasn't lost touch of her culture. In this poem the narrator says "I did nothing for the teachers. I studied for my parents and grandparents."(208) The narrator explains her how she was not doing well in school to impress her teachers, but to make her family proud. This concept also relates to her writing the poem in both English and Spanish. First off because it shows that her family is Hispanic and not all of them can all necessarily read English or Spanish, so she wants all of them to be able to read the poem. Secondly, she is proud of her culture, so she is incorporating it into a poem that means a lot to her and where she is now because or her family pushing her to do good in school. Furthermore, another reason I can see that this poem is written both in English and Spanish is to show Teresa, the person who tried to knock her down, that she succeed and that all the bullshit she didn't give into got her a lot further in life than if she ha stooped down to Teresa's level. The narrator says, "I who-did-not-know-how-to-fight was no to engage with you-who-grew-up-fighting."(209) The narrator could have not stood up for herself and been too scared of Teresa, and never would have accomplished her dreams and goals. Or she could have fought back and got suspended because Teresa obviously had more witnesses then the narrator would have had. The final reason that i can think of that this poem is written in both English and Spanish is to teach more people this message. The narrator wants to teach everyone that she can that it is better  to be educated than not to and not to follow others footsteps because you are scared of them or are trying to fit in with them. If this happened to you don't you want to rise above that person and succeed in life? I know that i would.
        I believe that the narrator writes this poem as an adult rather than when she was in school because now she is more educated and knows what she is talking about. She can look back on that day and really know exactly what happened. I believe that she reflected and wrote about this experience because she was terrified back at her elementary school, but this moment really has defined who she is today. The narrator says "But now in 1975, when I am twenty-eight Teresa I remember you."(209) This memory scared in the narrators brain, which is evident because she can re call every detail of the experience that many years later. The narrator understands Teresa now because she has been educated and she knows that Teresa wasn't learning because she didn't want to and she probably isn't where the narrator is today. She forgives Teresa though because Teresa didn't hold the narrator back from her goals.