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| Who is the author of In the Time of a Butterfly? | Julia Alverez |
| Who was Rafael Trujillo? | dictator of the Dominican Republic from 1930-1961. He was brutal, greedy and had rigid control over the people. |
| Who were the Las Mariposas, or the butterflies? | These were the code names of Minerva, Maria, and Patria who were three sisters involved in the underground movemen to overthrow Trujillo. |
| What happened to the butterflies on November 25, 1960? | The dictator's men ambushed their car and the sisters were beaten to death. |
| What have the 3 sisters grown to symbolize for their country? | courage, diginity and strength |
| What is the setting? | Dominican Republic between 1938 and 1994 |
| Who are the four Mirabel sisters? | Patria, Dede, Minerva, and Maria (Mate) |
| Who was the only surviving Mirabel sister? | Dede |
| What school does Minerva and Patria go to? | Immaculada Concepcion |
| What happened to Sinita Perozo's male family members? | They were murdered for opposing the Dominican dictator, Rafael Trujillo |
| Who was Lina Lovaton? | The most beautiful girl in Minerva's school who is seduced by Tujillo and becomes pregnant. Trujillo sends her to live in Miami. |
| What does Sinita do during the Independence Day celebration play? | She points a bow and arrow at Trujillo and is stopped by Trujillo's son, Ramfis. Minerva intervenes by having everyone chant "Long Live Trujillo" |
| Who writes diary entries in the third chapter? | Maria Teresa between 1945 and 1946--she describes her childhood pleasures, especially clothes. |
| Who is Hilda and why does she cause Maria Teresa to bury her diary? | Hilda was a revolutionary fighting Trujillo. When Hilda is caught, Maria must bury her diary so the police wil not find it. |
| Who narrates the fourth chapter and what question does she wrestle with? | Patria (1946). She wrestles with the question of whether or not she should become a nun. |
| Who is Pedrito Gonzalez? | The man that Patria marries and has a son and daughter, Nelson and Norris. |
| Why does Patria lose her religious fatih and how does she regain it? | She is grief-stricken when her third child is born dead. She regains her faith, though, when she hears the virgin Mary speak to her through a church congregation gathered for worship. |
| Wo was secretly in love with Lio when he was a young doctor and revolutionary? | Minerva |
| Who does Dede end up marrying? | Her cousin Jaimito |
| What does Dede do with the letter Lio wants her to give Minerva? | she burns it |
| What discovery does Minerva make about her father in chapter 6? | Her father has four illegitimate daughters and has been hiding Lio's letter to her. |
| Why does Minerva slap Trujillo at the party? | He became lewd while they were dancing |
| What does Minerva leave behind at the party? | Her purse which contains Loi's letters |
| How does Minerva and her mother secure her father's (Enrique Mirabel's) release? | They apologize to Trujillo personally |
| Who does Minerva marry and how do they save their marriage? | Minerva marries Manolo Tavarez, has a daughter Minou. They h ave marital problems until they become involved in an underground movement against Trujillo. |
| Why does Trujillo refuse Minerva a license to practice? | Minerva had once slapped him for being lewd while dancing at a party. |
| What is Maria and Minerva's code names? | Minerva is Mariposa or butterfly. Maria becomes Mariposa #2. |
| What motivates Maria to join the underground movement against Trujillo? | Her feelings for Leandra Guzman or Palomino, a man in the movement who Maria marries on Feb. 14, 1958. |
| Why does Patria name her child Raul Ernesto? | after the Cuban revolutionaries Raul Castro and Ernestoo (Che) Guevara. |
| What does Patria risk for the movement? | She offers them her farm but she knows they will lose the farm if they are caught (patria and perdrito). |
| Why does the resistance name itself the fourteenth of June movement? | the retreat is bombed when Trujillo's forces attack rebels hiding in the mountains. Patria watches a boy die and vows to help in the resistance. |
| Why doesn't Dede get involved in the movement? | She is sympathetic to the movement but Jaimito would not get involved. |
| What happens to Dede's sisters in 1960? | Minerva, Maria, and their husbands are arrested along with Patria's husband and son, Nelson. Patria's family loses the farm. |
| Where does Patria live between January and March ,1960? | She lives at her mother's house which is under surveillance. |
| Who is Captain Victor Aliciio Pena? | He is one of Trujillo's top officials who begins to visit the house to keep tabs on the family. |
| Who is Margarita Mirabel? | Patria's illegitimate half-sister who delivers prison messages from Maria because her cousin is a guard in the prison. |
| Why does Trujillo allow Nelson to be released? | to gain favorable publicity |
| What is the worst incident that Maria must endure while she is in prison? | Mary tells an inspector from the Organization of American States about her torture |
| What happened to the hoped-for invasion of the island? | It has been called off and most of the movement disbanded. |
| What does Trujillo declare are his two remaining problems? | the church and the Mirabel sisters |
| Where are Manolo and Leandro? | They have been transferred to Puerto Plata prison. |
| Who travels to Puerto Plato prison on Nov. 25, 1960? What happened on the road home? | Minerva, Maria, Patria, and Rufino de la Cruz. On the road home, they were stopped by soldiers who beat them to death and pushed them over a cliff in their car. |
| What has the Dominican Republic become to Dede? | the playground of the Carribean rather than its killing fields. The materialistic young people have forgotten their past. Dede wonders if this is why the butterflies have made their sacrifices. |
| What is the atmosphere of the Dominican Republic at the time? | Trujillos ruthless regime dominates this time period. His rule has disastrous consequences for the nation and its citizens. The country undergoes changes after he dies. We need to remember and learn from the butterflies. |
| What is the impact of an authoritarian government under Trujillo? | Anyone who criticizes the government is subject to imprisonment, torture, and death. Dominicans live in fear. They censor what they say to one another and their own thoughts. They display his portrait in their homes and think of him as a nation's hero. He impacts the minds of the children who are taught to hold him on par with religious icons. |
| What transformation occurs for the Mirabel sisters? | The Mirabel sisters change as they progress toward their revolutionary activities. Although change may be painful for them, it frequently allows individuals or even a nation to discover stronger, richer, and more courageous versions of themselves. |
| How is Trujillo and his men cowards? | They strut, wear makeup and absurd medals, and constantly must hear about their own superiority. They hold power but handle it unjustly and brutally. Even when Trujillo is wrong, his men carry out his orders to gain favor and prevent his own punishment. |
| What are the gender roles in the Dominican Republic during this era? | Men hold positions of authority, women largely maintain domestic roles, the father Enrique Mirabel attempts to force his daughters to abide by their gender limitations, he will not allow Minerva to attend law school despite her obvious ability. In Dede and Jaimito's marriage, Dede is very intelligent with a strong business sense but Jaimito keeps her from exercising these abilities because he wants to wear the pants in the family. He tries to maintain his masculinity, authority and honor by running their business affairs usually creating a disaster. Her business success after her divorce testifies to the falseness of these gender differences. Her female characters depict changes in attitudes towards gender. The Mirabel sisters step outside the boundaries of traditional feminine behavior in the country. Minerva and friends go on to have successful business careers. Patria, who is wife and mother, becomes involved in revolutionary politics. Minerva's mother advises her granddaughter, Minou, to have a career before marrying even though she opposed this desire in Minerva previously. |
| Where does this story take place? | It takes place in the Dominican Republis between 1938 and 1994. It is largely a Catholic country with a very influential church. |
| How long had Trujillo ruled the Dominican Republic? | from 1930 until his assassination in 1961 |
| How did Trujillo ensure his election as president? | His men brutalized political opponents and terrorized voters. |
| How did Trujillo secure his power? | He created a secret police force that violently suppressed opposition to his rule, maintaining a network of spies, and taking control of the press and national education. He took over industries in the country and amassed a fortune. He supported American interest and was anti-communist. |
| What was the most infamous episode of his dictatorship? | massacre of 1,000's of Haitian citizens in 1937. Haitian men, women, and children working as sugar cane cutters or living in Dominican territory were murdered by Trujillo's soldiers. The death toll ranged from 13,000 to 20,000. |
| Why should a prosperous modern generation need to recognize the traits of a free society? | They need to recognize the traits of a free society which enable pathways of success and traits of a society that restrict their opportunities, censor freedom of thought, and degrade others. That mindset would not come under a dictator. Minerva had been denied the right to practice law but her children can. |
| Why is censorship of the past an inevitable companion to a totalitarian regime? | censorship prevens knowledge of evil deeds. Thinking men will not tolerate him with exposure to his atrocities therefor he creates an atmosphere that suffocates both thought and exposure. |
