Answer
$= \frac{25}{4}$
Work Step by Step
We plug in $x = - \frac{1}{2}$ and $y= 2$ to obtain:
$= x^{2} -2xy + y^{2}$
$= (-\frac{1}{2})^{2} -2(-\frac{1}{2})(2) + 2^{2}$
$= (\frac{1}{4}) +(\frac{2}{2})(2) + 2^{2}$
$= (\frac{1}{4}) +1(2) + 4$
$= \frac{1}{4} + 6$
$= \frac{25}{4}$
