Chapter 1 &2 Vocabulary

  1. economize - save money
  2. compound - a group of homes
  3. omen - warning
  4. guillotine - an instrument for cutting off people's heads
  5. askew - turned or twisted to one side
  6. traipse - walk or tramp about
  7. vigorously - forceful strength

Chapter 1 & 2 Journal Entry

Choose one and write 150 words in your journal:
  1. Imagine that people you know keep moving away and disappearing? How would you feel?
  2. How hard is it for you to keep a secret? Write about a time you HAD to keep quiet.

Chapter 1 & 2 Discussion Questions

  1. Explain the significance of the Chapter titles:
    • Chapter 1 - "The Eraser in the Shape of the Dominican Republic"
    • Chapter 2 - "Shhh!"
  2. How would you characterize Anita in these first two chapters?  Why?
  3. How is Anita's environment affecting her and the people around her?
  4. What is the inciting incident?

Chapter 3 &4 Vocabulary

  1. apprehensive - nervous
  2. embargo - a government order banning trade with another country
  3. canasta - card game
  4. censors - a person who is authorized to read or watch publications and suppress in whole or in part anything considered unacceptable
  5. amnesty - being exempt from punishment
  6. immunity - the state of not being affected
  7. cadavers - dead bodies

Chapter 3&4 Journal Entry

Choose one and write 150 words in your journal:
  1. What's worse? Telling a secret or telling a lie?  Explain.
  2. How would you feel if your texts and emails were read by the government before you even got them?  Explain.

Chapter 3 &4 Discussion Questions:

  1. What does "No flies fly into a closed mouth" mean?
  2. How does an embargo work?  How might an embargo impact the political situation in the Dominican Republic?
  3. How do Anita and her family feel toward the United States and Americans in general?  Find evidence.
  4. Describe El Jefe's dictatorship. How might living under his regime affect you?

Chapter 5&6 Vocabulary


  1. superstitious - showing ignorance of the laws of nature and faith in magic and chance
  2. instantaneous - instant
  3. disarray - confusion, messy
  4. consolation - comfort in times of disappointment
  5. sentimental - showing a tender, romantic, or nostalgic feeling
  6. warily - distrustful or cautious
  7. contraption - a useful device 

Chapter 5&6 Journal Entries

Choose one and write 150 words in your journal:
  1. Why is turning 15 or 16 such a big deal?
  2. Have you ever wished you were younger again?  Explain.

Joan of Arc (Saint Joan)
Joan of Arc is a peasant girl born in eastern France who claimed divine guidance. She led the French army to several important victories during the Hundred Years War.

Chapter 5&6 Discussion Questions

  1. How is the political climate affecting Anita? Lucinda? Mundin?
  2. What does Papi mean when he says, "Democracy is only the beginning. Education is the key"?
  3. At the bottom of p. 58, Anita says that she hasn't heard a voice telling her what she can do for her country.  What do you think she can do?
  4. What do "butterflies" symbolize in these chapters?

Chapter 7, 8 & 9 Vocabulary

  1. throng - huge group of people
  2. dissidents - people who disagree with the majority
  3. languid - lacking spirit or liveliness
  4. composure - steadiness of mind under stress
  5. alms - charity, giving to the poor
  6. evacuated-to remove (persons or things) from a dangerous place for reasons of safety or protection
  7.  Magna Carta-any fundamental constitution or law guaranteeing rights andliberties


Chapter  7, 8 & 9 Journal Entries


Choose one and write 150 words in your journal
  1. Describe a time you ALMOST got caught doing something you shouldn't have been doing.
  2. "You can't be brave if you're not scared."  Do you agree or disagree with this statement.  Explain.

Chapter  7, 8 & 9  Discussion Questions 

  1. Why has Anita stopped talking?
  2. What are the "ingredients for the picnic"?
  3. How is Anita transforming physically?  Emotionally?
  4. Why didn't the police officer turn Mr. Washburn in when he discovered guns in his trunk?
  5. What's happened with Anita's and Sam's relationship?  Hers and Oscar's?
  6. What is the meaning of Anita's dream in Chapter 9?
  7. What does it mean when Chucha tells Anita, "It's time. Fly, fly free."

Anita's Diary Vocabulary 

1.    consulate- the premises officially occupied by a consul, an official appointed by the government of one country to look after the welfare of its citizens in another country.
2.    liberation-to free (a nation or area) from control by a foreign or oppressive government.
3.    jalousie window-a blind or shutter made with horizontal slats that can be adjusted to admit light and air but exclude rain and the rays of the sun.
4.    embassy-the residence or place of official business of an ambassador
5.    assassination-to kill suddenly or secretively, especially a politically prominent person
6.    conspirator-a person who takes part in a secret plan or agreement to carry out an illegal or harmful act
7.    refugees-a person who flees for safety

Anita's Diary Journal Entries

Choose one and write 150 words in your journal
  1. Desribe a time when you were waiting on bad news to arrive. How did you feel?
  2. Have you ever kept a diary or journal? How might writing help you deal with what is going on in your life?

Anita's Diary Discussion Questions

1.    Why is it important for Anita to write in her diary while they are hiding?
2.    What does the phrase "they put wings on all of our hearts" mean? (pg.133)
3.    Did Oscar know Anita was hiding in his house? Why is their friendship important to Anita during this time?
4.    Why does Anita refer to her mother as "My Joan-of-Arc-Mother" on pg. 134? 
5.    When the house is ambushed at the end of the chapter, Anita continues writing in her diary saying, "...I want to leave this record just so the world knows." What does that mean, and why is it so important for the world to know?

Chapter 10 & 11 Vocabulary

1. paratroopers-a member of a military unit trained to attack or land in combat areas by parachuting from airplanes.
2. composition-an essay
3. ambush-attacking unexpectedly from a concealed position
4. la juventud- youth
5. lackluster-dull
6. correspondence-letters

Chapter 10 & 11 Journal Entry

Choose one and write 150 words in your journal
  1. Tell about a time when you had to move to a new place (it could be a new school, house, state, or country)?
  2. How does it feel to lose someone you care about? How do the people around you act?

Chapter 10 & 11 Discussion Questions

  1. Who removed Anita and her mother from the house?
  2. When Anita's new teacher asks her to write about her country, Anita says, "Where do I begin telling strangers about a place whose smell is on my skin and whose memory is always in my head?" What does she mean by this statement?
  3. What is the significance of the grocery store to Anita?
  4. How can the family both mourn and celebrate the lives of their lost loved ones on Thanksgiving?
  5. Why does Chucha remind Anita to remember her wings?
  6. Why does Anita see butterflies in the snow?
  7. What is Anita finally able to promise her father at the end of the book?
  8. Was her father and uncle's death worth it in the end? Expain.
  9. What is the climax of this book?
  10. The falling action?
  11. The resolution?


Author's Note

  When Julia Alvarez was ten years old, her and her family moved to the United States from the Dominican Republic. Her country was under the rule of dictator, General Trujillo, and the SIM (secret police). Anyone who resisted his leadership could be arrested, tortured, and killed. Alvarez's father became involved in an underground movement against the dictator and it was this involvement that led to her family fleeing the country. After moving to America, Alvarez found out that her uncle had been taken prisoner and that his family was under house arrest. 
     Alvarez imagined what it must have been like for those that remained behind fighting for freedom. Before We Were Free is a testimony of those who stayed behind during the Dominican dictatorship. She writes it for those who cannot, and for her uncle, Tio Meme, who survived his prison experiences under the dictatorship and wanted his story to be told.