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Julia AlvarezA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
In the Time of the Butterflies is a feminist novel. The novel depicts each sister as an embodiment of an aspect of female strength. Each sister emerges from the experience of the Trujillo regime a strong, independent, and empowered woman. Compare and contrast the four Mirabal sisters, their responses to the regime, their philosophies about social and political activism, and how they balance their activism with traditional commitments to marriage, children, and home. Given the cultural environment represented by Mamá, in which women do not have a place in public matters, how does each sister represent a strategy for expressing a woman’s right to participate in public life?
Teaching Suggestion: You might suggest that students divide a paper into four quadrants, one for each sister, and use it to jot down details from the text that reveal each sister’s character. These notes can be used as preparation for a written response or a discussion.
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