The Magdalene Sisters

Before We Were Free, written by Julia Alvarez is a historical fiction book based on a young girl who goes by the name Anita. Anita and her family live in the Dominican Republic on a compound along with her distant relatives. As the months go by, Anita starts to notice that her relatives are leaving the compound one by one except for her family. Papi, Anita's dad, starts attending secret meetings and readers later discover that he was planning to assassinate Rafael Trujillo, the dictator of the…

written by an online user relates to the general plot of the book because of how it relates to a scene, represents the tone and gives an insight of the motives of most of the sisters. It is a clear representation of a lot of the elements found within the novel. One of the most important scenes in the novel is when Patria, one of sisters, overcomes her fears and joins the rebellion. The poem reflects this scene with a line in the poem, “to fight for our children's children for the ones you…

A simile used to describe in figurative language that Mamá took carefully guarded her girls from lustful men who wanted to take advantage of them as a protective mother. The quote illustrates a biblical symbolism and Patria compares herself to Jesus’s resuscitation with her recovery and realization of the harsh circumstances she had suffered from seeing both her son and husband being taken away to prison. A passage that illustrates society and that time. Most Dominican families accustomed to…

moment he saw her he fell in love with her. Love at first sight,was what they called it. From then on he was convinced at seeing her at the ball were he would dance with all the maidens in the land and find his one true love. But, when Ella’s step-sisters & stepmother found out about the ball they forbid her to go. Ella was determined to go to the ball so her and her mice friends Jaq and Gus sew Ella’s mother’s dress for the ball. But when her stepsisters and stepmother saw Ella in her mother’s…

Ever After, directed by Andy Tennant, scrutinizes the expedition of Danielle de Barbarac, a young girl living in 16th-century Europe. Danielle’s lifetime is a fresh, natural retelling of the standard fairy tale of Cinderella. First, a devoted father's princess, she is now obligated to be a servant for her stepmother and stepsisters after the death of her beloved father. She is a lady who has sympathy and compassion for the people of France and desires a world that is consolidated and not divided…

Dominican Republic, during the oppressive regime of Rafael Trujillo ultimately about the story of the Mirabal sisters, who band together to fight for freedom against their oppressive tyrannical ruler. Dede, Minerva, Maria Teresa, and Patria show great determination, strength, faithfulness, and courage in their fight for freedom against their patriarchal government. The four Mirabal sisters value freedom through their fight for common good, but they each contribute different ideas to the novel,…

Alienation and disorientation in a new country, complexities of family relationships, the place of women in Latino culture, and the politics of class and power in the Dominican Republic are dominant themes in Alvarez’s works. Her personal experiences form the core of her creative endeavors in poetry as well as her fiction writing. Her poems “Sometimes the Words Are Too Close,” “Queens,” and “First Muse,” depict portrayals of family relationships and the Hispanic immigrant experience. However,…

Thrashing her commands like paper airplanes and snatching the wand from the fairy godmother to wish the worst for Cinderella, the evil stepmother has the attitude of your stereotypical teenager, but holds the power to control like a mother. Her selfish desires to want her real daughter to marry into the throne and make certain Cinderella’s dreams to find her true love are shattered, ruled over her to make her one of Disney’s most egotistical characters ever created. Likewise, the pig Squealer…

brought forth in this book, because women were not allowed to have certain jobs, or any job at all. Women were needed to be the one to have children and to also be the ones to watch the children along with any other work around the household. The sisters each have different conflicts mentally and physically when it comes to the struggles and the issues with the revolution. Women were meant to abide by their father’s rules, and they were not able to live life the way that they wanted…

Patria who is one of the sisters in the book, In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez. This novel takes place in the 1900’s in the Dominican Republic while it was under the rule of Trujillo. Trujillo ran a dictatorship in the Dominican Republic for over 30 years with strict rules and harsh punishments. The story follows the real lives of the Mirabal sisters and each chapter is through one of their perspectives. Their family is extremely close, but all the sisters have very different…