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Lesson 6

We will review what we know about the feminist literary criticism lens and read pages 148–163 of Chapter 8: “Patria, 1959.” We will closely read a passage from this chapter.

Lesson Goals

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

Texts

Core

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

Optional

  • Tradebook
    • The Giving Tree, Shel Silverstein, HarperCollins, 2014

Materials

Tools

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Discuss

We will review what we know about the feminist literary criticism lens and how it applies to what we have read in the novel so far.

Step 1

Review your Feminist Lens Note-Taking Tool and your notes from the previous lesson.

Discuss with a partner how the feminist lens might be used to analyze what you have read so far in the novel In the Time of the Butterflies by considering the following guiding questions and using specific evidence from the novel to support your ideas.

  1. How have women and men been portrayed so far in the novel?

  2. What traditional gender roles have emerged in the novel so far?

  3. What ideas about women and men might the author be suggesting about this specific time period in the Dominican Republic?

Step 2

Share your partner discussion with the whole class and take additional notes on the Feminist Lens Note-Taking Tool of any new insights provided by your peers.

Activity 2: Read – Write

We will read and annotate the first part of chapter 8 in the novel.

Read and annotate pages 148-162 of Chapter 8, "Patria, 1959," ending with "I’m not going to sit back and watch my babies die, Lord, even if that’s what You in Your great wisdom decide."

As you read, respond to the following questions from the Section 3 Question Set in your Learning Log:

  1. How do all of the sisters’ marriages differ? Cite evidence from the text to support your answer.

  2. How might becoming mothers affect the sisters’ participation in the revolutionary activities?

  3. What would it be like to watch your child join your cause and risk their life?

Participate in a class discussion to debrief your understanding of the chapter so far.

Activity 3: Read – Write – Discuss

We will closely reread and analyze an excerpt of chapter 8 through the feminist lens.

Step 1

Reread an excerpt from Chapter 8, starting on page 162, from "Coming down the mountain" to "your great wisdom aside."

As you read, use the following text-specific questions to annotate the text through the feminist lens. Use the Feminist Lens Note-Taking Tool to take notes and write down your analysis.

  1. How does Patria exemplify a traditionally female role?

  2. What does Patria mean by, “Coming down that mountain, I was a changed woman.”

  3. How might Patria’s reaction to the events differ if she were a man?

Step 2

With a partner or in a small group, use your Feminist Lens Note-Taking Tool to discuss your responses to the questions.

Activity 4: Discuss – Read – Write

We will examine all of the sisters through the feminist lens.

Working with a partner or in a small group, discuss the following question from the Section 3 Question Set:

  1. How does the portrayal of the Mirabal sisters as troublemakers exemplify the way women are traditionally depicted in literature?

With your partner or in your group, scan the novel for support for your answer. Write down your response on your Feminist Lens Note-Taking Tool, citing evidence for each sister.

Share your responses with the class during the closing debrief discussion.

Activity 5: Read – Write

For homework, we will finish reading chapter 8.

For homework, read the rest of Chapter 8. Annotate the text through the perspective of the feminist lens.

As you finish Chapter 8, pages 163-168, examine how gender and gender stereotypes can be displayed within a text and impact the events. As you read, respond to the following questions from the Section 3 Question Set in your Learning Log:

  1. How does the retreat change Patria? Cite evidence from both Chapter 8 and Chapter 4.

  2. What is the 14th of June Movement?

  3. What is the significance of Patria naming her baby Raul Ernesto?

  4. How do the sisters’ lives begin to change more rapidly during this time?

Finally, respond to the following questions:

  1. How does reading the text through the feminist lens impact my understanding of the text?

  2. How do I understand the text (the characters, plot, setting, and conflicts) differently through the feminist lens than through the historical or biographical lens?

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