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Lesson 3

We will analyze Chapter 5, “Dedé, 1994 and 1948,” from In the Time of the Butterflies through the historical lens.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I formulate and use questions to establish and deepen my understanding of texts and topics?

  • Can I recognize and interpret important relationships among key details and ideas (characters, setting, tone, point of view, structure, development, etc.) within texts?

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

  • Can I use connections among details, elements, and effects to make logical deductions about Alvarez’s perspective, purpose, and meaning in texts?

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: Discuss

Review what students know about the historical lens from the previous lesson.

Take out your Historical Lens Note-Taking Tool. As a class, share what you have learned about the novel so far while analyzing it through this lens. Use the following questions to guide the discussion:

  1. How did historical events influence the author’s creative choices?

  2. How did the text affect your view of the historical events or circumstances?

Activity 2: Read – Write – Discuss

We will closely read and annotate an excerpt of chapter 5 of the novel through the historical lens.

We will re-examine a section of text that starts with "So when did the problems with the regime start" (p. 65) and ends with "Anyhow, he had family in this area, so we saw a lot of him for those two years before he had to leave again" (p. 66).

Using a colored pen, annotate the text through the historical lens. To guide your reading and notes, consider the following question:

  1. What in the text reflects the time in which it was written?

  2. Based on what you saw in the CBS news clips, how does the political environment contribute to the family’s problems?

Share your responses during a class discussion, and also respond to the following question:

  1. How does the relationship between the Mirabals and the regime impact the plot of the novel?

Activity 3: Read – Write

We will reread an excerpt of chapter 5 of the novel, focusing on understanding vocabulary and analyzing the impact of specific word choices or phrases on meaning.

Step 1

Review the following terms: juxtaposition, metaphor, and simile.

Now, reread Chapter 5 and mark each of the phrases below. Each of these phrases uses literary devices.

  • Juxtaposition: "beautiful, terrible past" and "terrible, beautiful present"

  • Metaphor and sentence fragment: "to be the grande dame of the beautiful, terrible past”

  • Idiom: “like the Yanquis he was trying to butter up"

How does Alverez’s use of each of these literary devices impact your understanding of the chapter?

Step 2

Reread the section of text from "Then one Sunday afternoon, Mate was reading Mama the newspaper out loud (p. 74)" through "What she meant was she didn’t understand until that moment that they were really living—as Minerva liked to say—in a police state" (p. 75).

Find the word subversive in that section of text. There is enough context in the section of text to determine the meaning. Using only the text, work with a partner to define the word subversive and add it to your Vocabulary Journal.

Activity 4: Write

We will analyze a literary device through the historical lens as a class.

Based on our annotations, complete an entry in the Historical Lens Note-Taking Tool that analyzes how juxtaposition works in the phrases "beautiful, terrible past" and "terrible, beautiful present" to create a paradox.

Share your entry with a partner, adding to or revising as needed

Share your responses with the class.