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Lesson 4

We will explore the life and work of Julia Alvarez, the author of In the Time of the Butterflies, to understand her experiences and how they have impacted her perspective as an author. We will begin reading Chapter 1, “Dedé, 1994 and Circa 1943,” and use its content as a basis for our discussion of historical fiction.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I analyze how Alvarez’s perspective influences the position, purpose, and ideas of a text?

  • Can I analyze Alvarez’s decision to begin the narrative with a flashback?

Texts

Core

  • Tradebook
    • In the Time of the Butterflies, Julia Alvarez, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2010

Materials

Tools

Reference Guides

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Read – Write

We will discuss our homework reading.

Step 1

With your groups, discuss your homework reading and your responses to the questions below. Be sure to cite evidence from the text and your research to support your answers.

  1. Why does Alvarez’s family end up in New York City? Cite evidence from at least two additional sources in your answer.

  2. What do the words exiles and tyranny mean from this sentence in the postscript: "On August 6, 1960, my family arrived in New York City, exiles from the tyranny of Trujillo"?

  3. Why is it important for the reader to know that the story Alvarez writes about the Mirabal sisters is "the Mirabals of my creation, made up but, I hope, true to the spirit of the real Mirabals"?

  4. "As for the sisters of legend, wrapped in superlatives and ascended into myth, they were finally inaccessible to me. I realized, too, that such deification was dangerous, the same god-making impulse that had created our tyrant." Based on this evidence from the postscript, what does Alvarez think about her creation of the Mirabal sisters’ story?

  5. Based on what you read in these texts, how would you describe Alvarez’s feelings toward the Mirabal sisters? Cite evidence from the text in your answer.

  6. What can you infer about Alvarez’s social standing and family relationships? Cite evidence from the texts to support your response.

Step 2

Choose one idea from your group discussion to share with the class.

Activity 2: Discuss – Write

As a class, we will discuss the meanings of the words historical, fiction, and revolutionary to prepare for reading In the Time of the Butterflies.

Consider the words historical and fiction. Discuss the following question:

  1. How are the two words paradoxical?

From your conversation, define the phrase historical fiction in your Vocabulary Journal. Write down the following definitions and examples, or another example your teacher gives you, for the word revolutionary:

  • revolutionary - adj. causing a dramatic change

    • As an adjective, revolutionary can be used to describe a person, place, thing, or idea.

    • "Ultimately causing the end of cash, the revolutionary computer chip was embedded into my fingertips so I pay with my hands."

  • revolutionary - adj. engaged in or promoting political revolution (an upheaval in the government in which the government is altered or replaced)

    • As an adjective, this word can be used to describe a person, place, thing, or idea.

    • "Revolutionary civil rights leaders ushered in the Civil Rights Act of 1965."

    • "The American Revolutionary War between Great Britain and the thirteen colonies ended in American independence."

  • revolutionary - n. a person who works for or engages in political revolution

    • As a noun, a revolutionary is a person who causes political revolution or change.

    • "Martin Luther King Jr. was a revolutionary because of his work during the Civil Rights movement."

    • "I almost dropped that lamp when I realized what I was looking at—enough guns to start a revolution!" (In the Time of the Butterflies, p. 142).

Activity 3: Read – Write

We will begin reading chapter 1: “Dedé, 1994 And Circa 1943.”

Step 1

Listen to and follow along in your text with Chapter 1 of In the Time of the Butterflies.

Respond to the following questions in your Learning Log, providing evidence from the text to support your answers:

  1. What do we learn about Dedé?

  2. How does Dedé’s voice change between the two time periods, 1943 and 1994?

  3. Dedé’s chapter begins in 1994 and flashes back to 1943. Why does Alvarez begin the novel with a flashback?

Step 2

Write new or interesting words you encounter in your Vocabulary Journal.

Discuss your initial understanding of Chapter 1 with the whole group.

Independently, review the chapter. Write new or interesting words you encounter in your Vocabulary Journal.