Before We Were Free

Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key plot points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Chapters 1-3

Reading Check

1. What is the narrator’s nickname?

2. Who shows up to the narrator’s house the day after the Garcias leave?

3. Who are Anita’s new neighbors?

4. Who are “the Butterflies”?

5. What does Anita see when she looks out her window at the end of Chapter 3?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Describe the setting of Chapter 1. What major news does the narrator learn?

2. What information does Anita learn from Lucinda in Chapter 2?

3. Anita’s teacher introduces a game to her class in Chapter 3. What is this game and what is the reaction of the students’ parents?

Paired Resource

"Dominican Republic"

• From Britannica, a general overview of the Dominican Republic's geography, history and culture
• How does the present government of the Dominican Republic differ from the government during Anita's era? 

“How the Mirabal Sisters Helped Topple a Dictator”

• A 2021 History.com article on the events surrounding the assassination of “las mariposas” (“the butterflies”) by the Trujillo dictatorship
• Connects to the themes of Perseverance Amidst Trauma and Loss: Family as Home and Community and The Limits of Faith
• Compare and contrast the forms of resistance used by the Mirabal sisters and those used by characters in Before We Were Free.

Chapters 4-6

Reading Check

1. What does Anita do with her diary entries after writing them?

2. What type of party does Lucinda suggest Susie have?

3. What is the coded message that Anita delivers to Tío Toni and his friends?

4.Who is Mr. Smith?

5. Why does Lucinda call Anita señorita in Chapter 6?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Anita spends the majority of Chapter 4 focused on her new crush. Who is this crush and how does the current political climate affect her feelings?

2. Describe the conversation between Anita and her mother at the end of Chapter 4. How is this conversation a turning point in their relationship?

3. Describe “Operation Maid.” Who devised this plan and why?

4. Why does Anita’s family want to get rid of Lorena? How do they manage to do this?

Paired Resource

"US Relations with the Dominican Republic”

• A brief overview provided on the U.S. Department of State website of the relationship between the United States and the Dominican Republic since the 19th century
• In what ways does the U.S. embassy/consulate support the people of the Dominican Republic in the novel?

Chapters 7-11

Reading Check

1. What is the news regarding the American school in Chapter 7?

2. What is Mr. Washburn delivering for the “picnic”?

3. What significant moment does Anita share with Oscar in Chapter 8?

4. Why does Mami suggest Anita start to write in her diary?

5. Where was El Jefe’s body found?

6. What item do Anita and Oscar use to communicate with each other?

7. What type of weather are the characters waiting for in Chapter 11?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Describe how Anita’s feelings towards Sam have changed.

2. Describe what happens to the Washburn family over the course of this section in the novel.

3. What significant changes happen to the Trujillo regime during Chapters 8 and 9?

4. Where are Anita and her family at the start of Chapter 10?

Paired Resource

 “Interview with Julia Alvarez, 2009 F. Scott Fitzgerald Award Honoree”

• An interview with the novel’s author, Julia Alvarez, on her emigration from the Dominican Republic to the US, her literary inspirations, and her writing
• The interview last 27 minutes, but the first 7-9 minutes might be used in answering the following prompt:
• What topics that Alvarez discusses make a connection to Anita’s story? What might have been this author’s purpose in writing Before We Were Free, based on her experiences with learning and stories?

Recommended Next Reads

In the Time of the Butterflies

• Alvarez’s 1994 novel on the Mirabel sisters (i.e., “the Butterflies”)
• Same setting as Before We Were Free
• In the Time of the Butterflies on SuperSummary

The Diary of a Young Girl

• The diary of Anne Frank, a young Jewish girl hiding during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, published in 1947
• The Diary of a Young Girl on SuperSummary
• What are some similarities and differences between Anne and Anita in terms of why keeping a diary is important to each of them?

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood

• The 2003 graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi about growing up in Iran during the Revolution of 1979 (might include potentially sensitive and mature content and depictions)
• Both coming-of-age stories are told from the first-person perspective of a young girl whose parents are active in anti-regime resistance.
• Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood on SuperSummary