Before We Were Free

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2002

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Introduction

Before Reading

Reading Context

During Reading

Reading Questions & Paired Texts

Answer Key

After Reading

Discussion/Analysis Prompt

Multiple Choice

1. B (Various Chapters)

2. D (Chapters 1-3)

3. C (Various Chapters)

4. A (Chapter 4)

5. D (Chapter 5)

6. C (Chapter 6)

7. D (Various Chapters)

8. B (Anita’s Diary)

9. A (Anita’s Diary)

10. B (Various Chapters)

11. D (Chapter 10)

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Long Answer

1. Anita in the beginning of the novel is a curious pre-pubescent girl who is described as talkative. By Chapter 7, she has started menstruating and has stopped asking many questions about the political situation in the Dominican Republic. While menstruation is a biological rite of passage, Anita’s change in personality is a reaction to the changing political situation in the Dominican Republic. (Various Chapters)

2. The novel begins in the Dominican Republic during Thanksgiving 1960 and ends in New York during Thanksgiving 1961. Within that year, Anita’s school closed, her cousins moved to the United States, her family was temporarily split, and Papi and Tío Toni were arrested and executed for organizing the assassination of Trujillo. (Various Chapters)