Part+I+questions


 * Chapters 1-4**: Answer these questions with as much detail as you can. The more you know about the following questions the better your understanding of the book and the main characters. Also if you have a question about one of the questions please start a DISCUSSION and one of your classmates or I will try to answer you question.

1. How does EACH sister lose her innocence or faith in the novel's opening chapters? Dede
 * Dede loses her faith when the tragedy occurs in her family and her sisters are killed.
 * Being the lone survivor and having to take care of her sister's kids.

Minerva
 * Minerva Loses her innocence when she is rebellious and sneaks out to secret meetings with Hilda.
 * She is very public with her hatred toward the president, rebellious.
 * When Sinita tells her about her brothers being killed
 * At the play with Trujillo and Sinita
 * Trujillo takes Lina from the school because she becomes pregnant

Patria
 * Partia loses her strong faith when she leaves the school and stops searching for her calling when she meets Peditro.
 * Partia loses her innocende/faith when her child dies and it is very hard for her to believe that she will be ok and turn to her faith.
 * Sees her dead child that was dug up.

Maria Teresa
 * Maria Teresa loses her innocence when she starts to tell Nelson ghost storys and when she uses the board that tells her future- that her mother disaaproves of.
 * Has to get rid of her diary... because she might get into trouble with the information in her diary.
 * has to lie to help Minerva and Hilda get out of trouble.

2. Minerva says she, "got free" after she moved away to go to boarding school. What does she mean by this?

She was free because she thought that she would be the one to stay home and help her dad with the shop. But instead her sister dede who is good at math, stayed home and helped him with the busy season and will start school during january.

3. The Mirabal sisters all learn in adolescence that Trujillo, the dictator who rules the Dominican Republic, is closer to their lives than they initially thought. Give at least three examples of Trujillo's proximity to their lives.

The dictator had a thing with Lina. Who is friends with the Mirabal sisters. Sinita had previous complications with Trujillo and he killed all the men in her family. One of the Maribol sisters was against Trujillo and would attend secret meetings that were against him with her friend and uncle. Hide the diaries...

Dede Minerva Patria Maria Teresa

4. What do the sisters learn about their father in the book's opening chapter?
 * The father is cheating on their mom.
 * He also has "another family"
 * He wanted a son

5. How does Partia's faith shield her from the evils of Trujillo? How does it lead her to understand the nature of her country's dictator?

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