A Cup of Water Under My Bed

Why does Hernández describe her experience in kindergarten as “the beginning of the end” (4)? How does this experience shape her attitudes toward Spanish and education?

Hernández notes, “Writing is how I leave my family and how I take them with me” (179). How does she do this throughout the memoir?

How does Hernández’s use of the Spanish language throughout the text foster her argument, “There are many languages, many kinds of Spanish and English, of brown women and borders that do not shift beneath our feet but simply grow with every step we take” (19)?