Julia AlvarezJulia Alvarez spent the first 10 years of her life in the Dominican Republic surrounded by extended family. In 1960, her immediate family fled to the US after her father was involved in a failed coup against the dictator Rafael Trujillo. Four months later, the Mirabal sisters were assassinated for being involved in the same revolutionary efforts. As Alvarez grew up, she realized that her family could have been the Mirabals. In the Time of the Butterflies tells the story of these sisters.
Alvarez was teased as a child in the US but found solace in literature. While she did not enjoy reading as a young child and even wrote a note in elementary school that said, "Dear Mrs. Brown, I love you very much but why should I write when I can have fun?", she grew to love reading and writing just a few years later. She credits a wonderful 6th grade teacher with helping her to realize that stories like the ones she loved so much from her family could be found in literature. Growing up in a dictatorship, Alvarez mistakenly believed that all books in America must also be boring, government-approved texts. She often says that if she had not moved to the US, she never would have become a reader or a writer. |
A reader of In the Time of the Butterflies created this logo for Alvarez.
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Patria, Minerva, and Maria Teresa Mirabal
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In the Time of the ButterfliesEssential Questions
Background Information "Dominicans Thrive at Cost of Liberty" Reading Guide Focus Questions Class Discussion Guides
Voice Analysis Rites of Passage Writing Assignments Research Paper Contemporary Concerns November 25th - International Day for Elimination of Violence Against Women Interviews with Julia Alvarez Birth Order Characteristics Test Review |