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Lesson 7

We will reread a section of Chapter 8, “Patria, 1959,” and examine the text for gender, gender roles, and gender stereotypes.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension?

  • 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

Materials

Tools

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Discuss

We will review what we know about the feminist literary criticism lens and how gender roles have been portrayed in In the Time of the Butterflies.

With a partner, review your Feminist Lens Note-Taking Tool.

Discuss with a partner how the feminist lens can be applied to In the Time of the Butterflies. Consider how each of the sisters displays traditional and nontraditional roles for a female and how their culture embodies stereotypical male and female roles.

Share any new insights with the class.

Activity 2: Read – Write

We will now reread and analyze an excerpt of the text, focusing on the connection between literary devices and the feminist lens.

Step 1

As you reread this section of the text from page 162 from "Coming down the mountain" to "our great wisdom aside," annotate for the following devices: alliteration, similes, and italics.

Step 2

Once you have marked these devices, consider how they connect to your understanding of gender roles in the text by answering the following questions from the Section 3 Question Set:

  1. What do we learn about character development and gender role-playing through Patria’s internal dialogue when she thinks about being a changed woman? Cite evidence from the text to support your answer.

  2. What is the connotation of the words worn and carrying through a feminist lens?

  3. How would you characterize the female relationship to a male God in the simile, "But my prayers sounded more like I was trying to pick a fight"?

  4. What does the use of italics for Patria’s prayer imply about traditional female roles?

Step 3

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

Activity 3: Read – Write

We will apply our understanding of the feminist literary criticism lens to our reading.

In your Feminist LensNote-Taking Tool, using what you have read in Chapter 8, find four details (narrative, rhetorical, or stylistic) that illustrate the roles of men and women.

When selecting these details, ask yourself the following questions:

  1. How is gender impacting what this person thinks, says, or does?

  2. How does gender impact what other characters think, say, or do to this person?"

Meet with a partner to share and discuss your ideas.

Activity 4: Read – Discuss

We will synthesize what we have learned about all four sisters.

Review your notes from Part 2 of the novel.

Discuss the following question as a whole group:

  1. How does the word revolutionary apply to each sister in Part 2 of the novel?

Your teacher will add to the posted charts about each of the women, using the ideas shared during discussion.