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Literary Techniques Used In Julia Alvarez's In The Time Of The Butterflies

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Liliana Villa In this section of In the Time of the Butterflies, Julia Alvarez uses various literary elements specifically interior monologue, and figurative language to show how Mate discovers she is willing to sacrifice herself for the movement. Mate was taken by officers in hopes she could be used as persuasion towards Leonardo through torture. When Leonardo tells the officers to leave her out of it, the officers in turn beat Leonardo. Mate, being in shock, began screaming for them to stop, she claims “It felt like my very own stomach was being punched”, which shows at first Mate was only thinking about what was happening to her own life. She was not concerned about the consequences her actions could have carried for the people in the movement. However through the use of interior monologue, Mate realizes something. For example on page 255 the use of interior monologue with the line “I was so tempted to say, Ay ---, save yourself, save us. But I couldn’t. It was if that would have been the real …show more content…

For example the last sentences of the chapter were, “Then Bloody Juan gathered up my clothes, but I wouldn't let him help me. I dressed myself and walked out to the wagon on my own two feet.”, which shows Mate didn’t regret what had happened nor felt sorry for herself. This is because her walking “on my own two feet” shows she will carry the strength it takes to support the movement. Alvarez effectively used interior monologue and figurative language to show how Mate is willing to do what she feels necessary to support the movement such as sacrifice. Mate at first was only concerned about the wellbeing of her husband since they were in a place of complete vulnerability. However towards the end the reader is left with seeing Mate as a person who will do anything to support the movement she is apart of. In the end of the passage, Mate changes from selfish to

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In the novel “In the Times of the Butterflies” by Julia Alvarez, the 4 Mirable sisters tell their stories about how they will destroy Rafael Trujillo. The two sisters that standout the most are Minerva and Mate, which is also known as Maria Teresa. Minerva, thro first person narration and Mate, throw her journal entries are developed to show they are unique personalities, both their feelings and, and how they develop. All 4 sisters fight for theyre rights and against Rafael Trujillo in the Dominican Republic.

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In chapter 11 of In the Time of Butterflies, a positive aspect of prison for Maria Teresa is the strong relationships she built with the other women because it gave her something to depend on while she was going through tough times. On April 8, Maria Teresa wrote about her conversations with the other women in prison. Her and another lady Magdalena started talking about the strong connection that all the women shared in jail. After the conversation began between the two, the other women came over to Maria Teresa and Magdalena and started to share their ideas and opinions. All the women were starting to come together as a group and their relationships were getting stronger.

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336 Words | 2 Pages

In the novel In the Time of the Butterflies, Julia Alvarez uses Minerva and Dede to discuss gender roles because both the characters of Minerva and Dede respond to gender roles in completely different ways. To begin, once the challenges of Trujillo become more intense, Dede finds herself unable to handle it, “She shuts her eyes tight and wished blindly that everything would turn out all right” (pg. 78). This statement is important because it illustrates the gender roles women should take on throughout the novel. Specifically, this quotation shows how Dede hopes for her husband find a solution to the issue at hand, as she closes her eyes instead of facing the problem. Alvarez uses Dede to exemplify the characteristics a woman should acquire,

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1029 Words | 5 Pages

Julia Alvarez’s In the Time of the Butterflies is a work of historical fiction set in the Dominican Republic that focuses on the four Mirabal sisters who bond together to rebel against the corrupt leader of their country, Rafael Trujillo. The four Mirabal sisters, Patria, Dedé, Minerva, and María Teresa form closer relationships with each other as they figure out a way to bring down the tyranny of Rafael Trujillo. Although they have a mutual goal, each of the Mirabal sisters has different feelings and thoughts throughout this time period. The theme of coming-of-age and identify is best exemplified through the character of María Teresa, known as Mate, through the ways she matures throughout the novel and becomes her own person who stands up for what she believes in.

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804 Words | 4 Pages

Marxist Criticism focuses on class struggle and power structure in a literary piece (Davidson). In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez can be analyzed using Marxist Criticism to show how power is maintained in the novel. Trujillo maintains his power by convincing girls to live in his homes, jailing citizens who try to overthrow him, and killing citizens that he has large problems with. Trujillo uses his authority to make all of his citizens obey him so that he can keep his power, or else they must deal with severe consequences. Trujillo acts this way to prove that he is the man in charge and ultimately prove that he is unbeatable.

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In society many find that males hold dominance and make all of the major choices. This is just a stereotype that many people seem to believe. There are many stereotypes for a variety of concepts but that does not mean they are true. There are few females that stand up against sexist stereotypes, but for the few people who have spoken out against them literature has been an effective way of getting their message out. Feminism has impacted literature in several ways; it allows people to share their messages about stereotypes.

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Courage Courage is strength in the face of pain. Julia Alvarez portrays different types of courage in her novel, In the Time of the Butterflies. The novel is set during the time of Trujillo's dictatorship in the Dominican Republic. As a result, some of the Mirabal sisters; Minerva, Maria Teresa, and Patria, to take a step in joining a revolution against him.

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In the “Time of the Butterflies” is a hidden propaganda novel during the cold war when Catholicism and the western world heavily opposed the evils of Communism. In her novel Julia Alvarez convinces us otherwise through depiction of an atrocious dictatorship and exceptional everyday freedom fighters. Through this she develops a truth to our understanding of an enemy, and highlights the faults in our own faith. In pg.53, the Catholic Church is in full support of the dictator and paints him as a holy saint, a Jesus Christ figure.

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In this staged reading of A Desert Fugue, the character I thought was interesting was Jack. Jack is this cowboy who was trying to find his kidnapped fiancé, Alice. He seems like a very violent guy, but he is going after something he holds dear. Jack’s through-line of action in this reading is to get his fiancé back. He had to enter a different world and basically destroy different parts of him to get to his fiancé.

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This passage explains love and emotional significance in the war . Although the small role of women in The things they carried ,it is an importance threw out the book. Females character’s Martha ,Mary Anne and Kathleen have all effects on the men. Different women in the book have different effects on the men and affect them in different ways .For an example “Jimmy cross carried letters from a girl who named , Martha who 's an English major at Mount Sebastian College.

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Deception always has many perspectives; the truth, the fabrication, and how it is interpreted. An individual’s ability to deceive defines their effectiveness as a perpetrator. Within Julia Alvarez’s In the Time of the Butterflies and William Shakespeare’s Othello, the antagonists of each convey themselves as divine, therefore attempting to distract from their misconduct and represent themselves sincerely.

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Throughout history, women have made a name for themselves. By rising up and fighting for something that they believed in, the Mirabal sisters made a name for themselves in the Dominican Republic and in Julia Alvarez’s novel In the Time of the Butterflies. By applying a theory to a novel, readers can relate the book to the world they are living in today (Davidson). Feminism can be defined as a dynamic philosophy and social movement that advocates for human rights and gender equality (“Feminism”). Feminist Theory involves looking at how women in novels are portrayed, how female characters are reinforcing stereotypes or undermining them, and the challenges that female characters face (Davidson).

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In the essay, “The Death of the Moth”, Virginia Woolf uses metaphor to convey that the relationship between life and death is one that is strange and fragile. Woolf tells the story of the life and death of a moth, one that is petite and insignificant. The moth is full of life, and lives life as if merry days and warm summers are the only things the moth knows. However, as the moth enters it’s last moments, it realizes that death is stronger than any other force. As the moth knew life seconds before, it has now deteriorated into death.

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