Reflective Statements on In the Time of the Butterflies (2010-2011)
(typed as written)
General notes on samples: None of these are “excellent” responses. Many students spend a large portion of time retelling what was said in the seminar rather than choosing 1 or 2 points illuminated in the seminar to then develop student’s knowledge and understanding of the novel (take what was said in the seminar and apply it specifically to what happened in the text with a focus on the cultural and contextual context).
Sample 1 (Word Count: 334)
During the discussion, I started to understand more about the work that I didn’t understand before. Subjects about time and place that was brought to light, were that the novel take place during the rise of dictators. The dictator in this story was Trujillo and he is who the sisters were against. This was also a time when men wanted to be the dominate figure within their home. The holy trinity was a big art of life during this time period too. It means completion (the father, son, and the holy ghost). That allowed the sisters to let their husbands be dominate and also lead them to their revolution.
After the discussion, I realized that Alvarez wrote this book based on history and that she changed some dates in which events occur based on her views. November twenty-fifth is International Day against violence towards women in Latin America and also the day the three Mirabel sisters were murdered. It is understood that some people felt that Alvarez made Minerva’s personality selfish because they felt she forced Mate and Patria to join her. I disagree with that because Minerva’s name mean the goddess of war, so I felt that the revolution was her idea and Mate and Patria followed her. Alvarez also wrote Dede’s parts in the book in third person but then in the Epilogue wrote her part in first person.
In the discussion someone said that some of the problems that happened in the novel come from the Mirabal sisters fighting their government. That makes sense to me now because they were fighting for their freedom. If you look at Hitler and his rule, the Jews didn’t try to overrule him but they did run from him for their freedom, most of them being successful. Someone in the discussion also said how they thought it was interesting that Mate told her side of the story in journal style. I connected that to the diary of Anne Frank because they both wrote diaries to mention their faith in human goodness, their love of family and life in spite of their suffering.
Sample 1 score: 1--superficial
This student wastes a lot of word count on regurgitating what was said in the discussion rather than reflecting on it. There were two good points of reflection: 1) The fact that he connected the journalistic style to that of Anne Frank, 2) the disagreement over Minerva’s role in the book. With that being said, each of these boiled down to one sentence in the reflection, and further analysis would have bumped him up the rubric.
Sample 2 (Word Count: 300)
During the discussion on The Time of the Butterflies, several different ideas and connections were presented to the class. The subjects brought to the light were the gender roles in the Hispanic culture, the development of the personalities of the characters, and the meaning of dictatorship. The interactive oral and the analyzed notes helped us come to a consensus that every aspect of the novel was somehow knitted together to create a well rounded group of characters and ideas.
After the discussion, we came to the conclusion that the author used religion and gender roles to develop the different personalities of the four sisters. The different ways the sisters reacted to religion, dictatorship, and machismo lifestyle gives life to their individuality. The strong personality of Minerva aka the “War God”, and her soft side when it came to her deep machismo roots was an example that was elaborated on during the discussion. The idea of the difference between what is “morally” right and what is a “deep desire” was brought up by a few classmates. The Mirabal sisters throughout the novel never lost their core values whether or not they were distracted by “worldly ways”. Patria’s sexual endeavors were bordered on nymphomania, which was interpreted as her way of holding on to her man in a machismo society.
The Catholic religion was the basis of the whole novel. As we discussed, the book was divided up into three sections and the meaning of three in the bible is completion and oneness. We felt the sisters gained completion over time and their death made their country complete. The author was trying to show that the three sisters death was not in vain, they had left a seed to grow and blossom to make everything around them that was once chaos, complete.
Sample 2 score: 1--superficial
This student’s first paragraph seemed entirely unnecessary because it did not show a development of anything. Overall, I feel as if she just retold what was said during the interactive oral rather than clearly interject her own reflection.
Sample 3 (Word Count: 289)
The ideas presented in the interactive oral, about the family relationships, by individuals helped me better understand the marriages between the girls and their cousins. Patria and Dede’s marriages to Pedrito and Jaimito were okay based on the fact that it’s a different culture and because of the story’s setting. The setting of the Dominican Republic in the mid 1900’s shows the diversity of culture’s beliefs and just because we look at something in a certain way doesn’t mean that other cultures view that in the same way. Also the fact that it’s a different time and during this time women weren’t allowed or didn’t find it necessary to go out into the world, logically married someone close to them and, for most of them, that was usually their cousins.
It would also seem that this decision was based on culture or setting but other student’s inputs brought light to the fact that the decision also had to do with social aspects of the characters. The family of the girls who married their cousins, the Mirabals, was basically poor at first and being poor their family needed them at home and always having to be home, more than likely, was the reason for their decision to marry their cousin. They were farmers and if they had been richer or had more money they would have been higher socially in society and would have been less dependent on family to be around for support.
Julia Alvarez’s techniques are shown through this idea of a culture and how she connects historical, social, and cultural aspects in this work. It also shows how her understanding and utilization of the progression of history in her work helps develop some of the ideas presented.
Sample 3 score: 1--superficial
Would be better if he provided specific examples/connections of the diversity of cultural beliefs he recognized rather than speak in vagaries in first paragraph. The second paragraph’s commentary on social status was good. In regards to the final paragraph, he mentions the “techniques,” but does not go on to analyze them. Again, this one falls into the category of “superficial” or “you are just beginning to scratch the surface of analysis.”
Sample 4 (Word Count: 364)
Throughout the discussion one of the ideas we focused on was the role of women in society. In the mid-early 1900’s it was common for a woman to stay at home and do housework, while the man went out and did “hard” labor to earn they money. This general view of a married man and woman’s relationship is known as Machismo. However, when my group went to view the IB oral presentations, the topic was Machismo vs. Mestizaje. During our oral the other girls and I explained how we all thought all of the girls except Dede, had become Mestizaje; meaning they broke away from that Machismo tradition.
Another widely discussed topic was the fact that having a dictator was common. In reference to that time, there were several; Castro being mentioned in the book and Hitler, Mussolini, and Stalin; all of which were at that time in power or had previously been. We then discussed how we thought it was ironic that in the book they had a dictator, (Trujillo) but they rebelled against him and were inspired by another dictator (Castro). To me looking at this now it strikes me as crazy, because I don’t understand their motive for wanting one dictator over the other, when in my opinion every dictator is the same in some way other than title.
The last most important idea we talked about was how religion was involved during the revolution. I didn’t pay much attention until it was said that the church always wanted what was best for the people. Now I have a better understanding why the church joined the revolution with Minerva and Manolo’s group. If it had not been said yesterday I probably wouldn’t know why they joined “forces”. We also talked about how each of the four girls had gone through some sort of religious “breakdown” or loss of faith. It was said that Minerva and Maria Teresa broke away from the church while the revolution was in full force, but we also said that it was religion that brought Patria to the revolution.
This discussion brought me a greater understanding of the things I saw just by reading, only surface deep.
Sample 4 score: 2--some development; however it does waiver on a 1 at times.
The points she brought up concerning the discussion were great, but again, a one sentence reflection isn’t going to cut it. She talked about the idea of a dictator, and interjected how “crazy” this idea was; however, she could have given more on this reaction. She shouldn’t say “I didn’t pay much attention” as it may be taken in the wrong context! She needs to stop saying “The discussion brought me…” this is a waste of words.
Sample 5 (Word Count: 371)
The novel is full of subtle cultural influences that impact the characters and the plot, especially gender roles and religion. From a modern American perspective, it’s hard to understand why Mama and Dede would stay with their husbands after they’ve cheated on them. In the seminar, some of our classmates explained that in Catholic religion, one of the worst things you can do is get a divorce. Something else I found very interesting was the discussion of machismo, male pride and dominance and how strong it was back in this time period, and in Hispanic culture. It gave me a better apprehension of the conflict between Dede and Jaimito’s relationship. In modern western culture, the women are independent and make decisions for themselves, but Dede refuses to help her own sisters at Jaimito’s disapproval. This concept also gave more insight into Trujillo’s character. It’s as if Trujillo’s masculinity was threatened by Minerva, the way she stood up to him and would not submit to what he wanted, which is why he was always trying to “conquer” her.
Another aspect of the seminar was the kindred relationships between characters. Maria Teresa in the beginning has a fling for two of her cousins, and Dede marries her cousin Jaimito. This is a huge taboo in American culture, a crime even of incest. In this time period and region, however, it was completely acceptable. People stayed close to home, and few had the opportunity to meet other marriage prospects; only by traveling or moving away from home, such as Minerva did by studying in the capital. A different explanation was brought up by Ms. Purvis that got me thinking, which was that they married in the family because family were the only people you could trust. I felt this was incredibly accurate, especially in the Dominican Republic where the gardener, house maid, or anyone you meet could be a spy for the government.
The culture in this book can be interpreted so many different ways, and readers may find familiarity or strangeness depending on their own cultural background. As a modern American reader, some of the significant culture aspects were lost or unknown to me, but I learned a lot from my classmates today.
Sample 5 score: 2--some development
When making a comment about something that was said in the seminar, he says “it gave me better appreciation,” or “it was interesting” and various other comments. If you use these, you must explain why. How is Trujillo’s masculinity threatened by Minerva? Again, last paragraph is unnecessary use of word count.
Sample 6 (Word Count: 382)
During the interactive oral, several key points were discussed. The idea of dictatorship, family ties and gender roles within Hispanic culture and religion were the most significant ideas presented.
This time and place is important to the novel; during this time there was a huge pattern of dictatorship occurrences. Trujillo as president of the Dominican Republic, among other infamous dictators including Hitler, Mussolini, and Fidel, had similar brutal strategies against the inhabitants of their countries. These connections helped me to understand the type of life from around the 1930’s to the 1960’s. The citizens of these countries were ruled by tyrants.
Coming from a Hispanic culture, I was able to understand the ideas that Julia Alvarez tried to convey across about family and gender roles. The Mirabal family tended to stay close together throughout the novel, just as in Latino culture. Unlike Westernized cultures, Hispanics usually don’t travel out far and marry within the family. My classmates and I saw that rather more as a taboo, but after our discussion, I realized that in their specific culture, Dominicans marrying within the family wasn’t out of the norm. Just as in the bible, many important figures marry their relatives.
Another main point brought up with gender role, was male dominance, which is relevant especially to the specific time period that the novel takes place in. As one of my classmates pointed out, machismo is typical of Hispanic culture. Papa, Jaimito, and Monolo specifically tend to show this characteristic. They are the “man” of the house and orders are done as they say. Dede is too scared to go against her husband and for that main reason she doesn’t join the revolution. Papa and Manolo cheat on their wives, but Mama nor Minerva take action against it. Also, the Marianismo of the Hispanic women allow machismo to thrive.