RR

I read "Para Teresa" by Hernandez-Avila in our English 2 textbooks. Para Teresa was a poem written by a Hispanic woman in her 40's, who was addressing an issue she had when she was a child with another child. In the poem this woman is trying to explain herself to the other woman. She is trying to explain her own feelings, and explain that she understood the other woman's feelings as well. In the poem she recalling an incident that happened on a particular day, but is also adressing the animosity that this woman named Teresa had towards her. She describes her life growing up in a world where Hispanic people were obviously not viewed as equal, and how that shaped her. She speaks of this social taboo, but never really explains it to us.

In the second question, of the questions prompted after the texts, it asks, "What attitudes toward school and the majority culture do Teresa and the speaker represent?". I think the speakers views on education are pretty clear, but what wasn't said and was expected was this idea that her high view on education wasn't shared by everyone around her. The speaker elaborates on how she works hard in school, and how her family who also works hard everyday still helps with school. She talks about how much school matters to her family, "I studied for my parents and for my grandparents who out honor roll lists whenever their nietos names appeared. But she also says, which I thought was so peculiar was "I did nothing for the teachers, I studied for my parents and my grandparents". As if Teresa was accusing her of being on the side of the teacher. There is some form of defiance from Teresa obviously in that she doesn't go along with teachers, or her school work, and attacks other little girls in the bathroom at school. The speaker also has some form of defiance because she is going against what her peers, other Hispanic girls her age think is right. When arguing on both sides of rebellion, its hard to understand Teresa's side, in that I was never taught to go against education, I was always taught it was a valuable tool. Although I believe the poem was not so much about Teresa not wanting education or school, but more of a cultural struggle of the times, that we wouldn't understand.

In this poem the author is obviously using pathos to form her argument towards Teresa, the argument that "she understands". Her first stance in the poem begins with, in Spanish translated "to you, Teresa, I dedicate these words that explode from my heart." She is not trying to hide the fact that this is an emotional letter, and is hoping to use emotion to show Teresa that she is empathic towards her. In this poem though, she is also using ethos to establish her credibility in proving that her in Teresa are one in the same. So that she'll listen to her. She also trys to establish her credibility by in a way excusing her self for working so hard in school, by saying she worked so hard only for her family.