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Lesson 4

We will analyze Chapter 9: “Dedé, 1994 and 1960” through the historical lens. We will identify details in the text that connect to the historical context of the novel.

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?

Texts

Core

  • Tradebook
    • In the Time of the Butterflies, Julia Alvarez, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2010
  • Digital Access
    • “‘El Jefe’ Portrait of a Dictator,” Bill Leonard, CBS News, 1961

Materials

Tools

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Read – Write

We will use the Analyzing Relationships Tool to analyze chapter 9 through the historical lens.

Write down the following guiding question on an Analyzing Relationships Tool:

  1. What do the characters think, say, or do that illustrate the historical context of the novel?

In your analysis, address both the novel and the additional texts you read about the history of the Dominican Republic under the Trujillo regime in previous lessons.

Activity 2: Read – Write

We will follow along as our teacher models analyzing the text through the historical lens.

Step 1

In the first Attend to Details column, write down the following quote from Minerva:

"In his own way, Papa was a trujillista…. His advice was always, don’t annoy the bees." (p. 179)

Then, summarize what Minerva says about Papa in the box below. Respond to the following question in your summary:

  1. What does this description of Papa display about the social and political climate you have learned about?

Step 2

Now, locate similar evidence that addresses the guiding question and respond to the following question:

  1. What do the characters think, say, or do that illustrates the historical context of the novel?