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.