Question

What effect does the use of Spanish in “When I was Puerto Rican” play in relation to the author’s purpose?

“Te preguntó el Mr. Barone, you know, lo que querías hacer when you grow up?” I asked. “Sí, pero, I didn’t know. ¿Y tú?” “Yo tampoco. He said, que I like to help people. Pero, you know, a mí no me gusta mucho la gente.” When she heard me say I didn’t like people much, Yolanda looked at me from the corner of her eye, waiting to become the exception.

Question 1 options:

It shows how hard it is to make friends in America


The mix of Spanish and English foreshadows the author’s inner struggle with her identity


It shows that people are more comfortable when they can speak their own language


The author didn’t know English well and couldn’t translate the conversation

Answer 1

The mix of Spanish and English foreshadows the author’s inner struggle with her identity.

Esmeralda Santiago writes about finding her true identity as she had to move around a lot and live both in Puerto Rico and the USA.

Answer 2

The answer is the mix of Spanish and English foreshadows the author’s inner struggle with her identity.

Step-by-step explanation:

Esmeralda Santiago was a Spanish author who lived in America. However she did not much enjoy it over there as the Spanish people were often looked down upon and treated badly. Her first book “When I was in Puerto Rica” talks about the experiences she had in USA and how she strives towards becoming successful and finding her true self, her real identity.

She was struggling to find her calling and that is why she uses the mixed English and Spanish to search her own identity and find out from where she belongs to.