Lesson 2

Lesson Goals

Texts

Core

• • “‘El Jefe’ Portrait of a Dictator,” Bill Leonard, CBS News, 1961

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

Materials

Tools

• In the Time of the Butterflies: Historical Lens Note-Taking Tool

Question Sets

• In the Time of the Butterflies: Section 1 Question Set

• In the Time of the Butterflies: Section 2 Question Set

Editable Google Docs

• In the Time of the Butterflies: Historical Lens Note-Taking Tool

• In the Time of the Butterflies: Section 1 Question Set

• In the Time of the Butterflies: Section 2 Question Set

Activity 1: Listen – Discuss

We will use literary lenses to analyze texts.

Literary lenses provide the context for conducting a literary criticism, focusing the criticism on one area of study. If you conduct a literary criticism of a novel through the feminist lens, for example, you might focus on the role of women relative to men. You might also focus on the absence of women altogether. The ultimate goal of the criticism could be unpacking how the novel exhibits biased or stereotypical portrayals of women’s role in society or how the novel represents women.

Discuss the following questions with a partner:

1. How might reading a text through a different lens impact, alter, or otherwise change how a reader understands a text?

In this unit, you will examine the text through several different literary lenses. The first of these will be the historical lens.

Activity 2: Read – Discuss

We will review what we learned about the dominican republic from “‘EL Jefe’ Portrait Of A Dictator” in section 1 of this unit.

To prepare for our application of the historical lens, retrieve your Section 1 Question Set. With a partner or in a small group, discuss what you already know based on your answers to the questions on the question set.

With a partner or in a small group, use the following questions to discuss.what you already know about the Dominican Republic during the Trujillo regime. If you have access to the Internet, you can look online for additional information about the Dominican Republic.

1. Who was Rafael Trujillo?

2. What do you know about the Dominican Republic in the 1950s and 1960s?

3. What was the political climate like?

4. What internal conflicts existed in the country?

5. What international conflicts were the Dominican Republic involved in?

6. Which countries did the Dominican Republic align or connect with?

7. What major events occurred around the world?

8. What were the economic conditions of this period?

9. Which people were oppressed or struggling during this time?

Activity 3: Read – Write

We will be introduced to key features of the historical literary criticism lens.

Listen as your teacher explains the historical lens, and take notes on your Historical LensNote-Taking Tool:

• The historical lens asks readers to use their knowledge of history to interpret a text and analyze how the historical context influenced the writer’s process.

• This lens asks you to apply your knowledge of the historical period covered by the author.

• The historical lens can include the political, cultural, social, and economic climate of the period.

• Ask yourself, How did historical events influence the author’s creative choices? and How did the text affect my view of the historical events or circumstances?

Activity 4: Read – Write

We will read chapter 5 of In the Time of the Butterflies.

Step 1

Read and annotate Chapter 5. As you read, annotate the text for the historical time in which the novel is set and for how Dedé matures.

Step 2

Discuss the following questions from the Section 2 Question Set with a partner:

1. What is the impact of Dedé’s split perspective between 1948 and 1994?

2. How do you understand the characters, setting, or conflict better by having a perspective from 1948 and 1994?