Ruiz 1

Michelle Ruiz Ms. Gardner English 10 Honors, 1 18 November 201

The Revolutionary-leading Transitions Damsen, Silver. "gender." Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. e!. 1" #ov. $%1&.

Damsen's article a!out the study o( genders as a !ehavior and (unction in society and ho) it is *ortrayed in literature, gives the audience a sense o( )hat it is. +e gives various e,*lanations o( )hat gender is, through the *ers*ectives o( many psychoanalytic feminist theorists and *hiloso*hers, )ho e,*lain ho) they thin- gender roles (or certain actions are categorized or in(luenced. Silver Damsen analyzes three )or-s o( literature to sho) the *resence o( se,ism, gender roles, gender !ehavior in each, )hile com*aring )hen they )ere )ritten.

Damsen o((ers the reader more in(ormation a!out genders and ho) they are used to structure our identities, !ut also ho) they can a((ect many o( us through e,*ectations and stereoty*ical images o( ho) )e are su**osed to act, dress, loo-, and thin-. These e,*ectations !ased on our gender is clearly seen in .ulia /lvarez's novel, In the Time of the Butterflies, )here the main characters, the 0ira!al sisters, are determined to change not only the *olitical o**ression, !ut the e,*ectations that !oth men and )omen have (or them. The e,am*les o( gender roles in literature that Damsen *rovides in his article gives the reader a sense o( variation in )hich genders can !e a((ected negatively, )hile allo)ing the reader to have his or her o)n o*inion.

Ruiz $ 0ills, Fiona. "In the Time of the Butterflies." Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. #ov. $%1&. e!. 1"

0ill's criticism and analysis on /lvarez's novel *rovides more insight(ul conte,t (or a reader )ho is un(amiliar to the o**ression that )as going on in the Dominican Re*u!lic in the 112%s. /nalyzing .ulia's em*hasis on the trans(ormation o( the role and im*ortance o( )omen during this time, 0ill e,*lains )hy the actions o( these )omen )ere seen as heroic and revolutionary. The )ay 0ill com*ares the innocent, (ear(ul girls (rom the !eginning o( the novel to the re!ellious )omen to)ards the end o( the novel, gives the reader a clear image o( the trans(ormation they )ent through.

0ill sho)s admiration to)ards /lvarez's meta*horic )riting, )here she com*ares the )omen to the revolution itsel(. /lvarez ta-es advantage o( the setting in her novelthe *olitical revolution in the Dominican Re*u!lic3to demonstrate the revolution o( )omen. 0ill o((ers e,am*les o( )hat seems to !e insigni(icant !ut a!undant transitions in the actions o( the )omen in the novel, !ut in reality they are !uilding !loc-s to the revolution o( the im*ortance o( )omen. 0ill's *ers*ective o( /lvarez's )riting encourages readers to e,*lore and analyze more thoroughly the revolutionary theme in In the Time of the Butterflies.

4auza, 5olleen. "s*irituality."Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc.

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4auza's article *rovides an e,*lanation and insight to )hat s*irituality is and ho) it is a *art

Ruiz & o( many *eo*le's lives and the )ay they identi(y themselves and their religious vie)s. /s 4auza states, )hether you !elieve in a *hysical or non *hysical )orld and a(terli(e, it is your s*irituality and is !ased on your senses, emotions and reality.

0a-ing a connection !et)een 5olleen 4auza's article )ith .ulia /lvarez's novel, In the Time of the Butterflies, the reader can more dee*ly and thoroughly analyze the im*ortance o( s*irituality in the Dominican Re*u!lic, es*ecially during the time in )hich the novel ta-es *lace. One o( the main characters, 4atria, )as very s*iritual as a girl, mostly in(luenced !y her mother's religious !elie(s. Throughout the novel her (aith !egan to lose its im*ortance and she started to !elieve that her mission in li(e )as to hel* im*rove the community, rather than live in her (aith and dedicate her li(e to the gos*el. 5olleen's article allo)s the reader to learn a!out ho) im*ortant it can !e (or an individual to have their o)n s*irituality to !e a *art o(.

Ramirez, 6uz 7lena. "In the Time of the Butterflies." Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. 1" #ov. $%1&.

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Ramirez *rovides a *ositive criticism )hile summarizing /lvarez's novel, In the Time of the Butterflies, )hile e,*laining her motives and the conte,t o( the situation in the Dominican Re*u!lic during its dictatorshi* )ith Ra(ael Tru8illo. Since the novel is loosely !ased on the true events o( the lives o( the 0ira!al sisters, Ramirez gives an e,*lanation to the (ictional events in /lvarez's *ers*ective to the lives o( these !rave )omen. Though, Ramirez a**lauds /lvarez's novel (or the !eauti(ully *ortrayed lives o( the 0ira!al sisters, she must recognize

Ruiz 2 and )arn the readers that it is (ictional and can not !e seen as a (act o( their history.

Ramirez o((ers a ne) *ers*ective to the )ay readers o( In the Time of the Butterflies ta-e in the in(ormation given !y .ulia /lvarez !y letting them -no) more conte,t !ehind the (ictional !iogra*hy, )hich uses only a (raction o( the (acts o( the 0ira!al sisters' lives. Through a summarizing *rocess o( the novel, Ramirez e,*lains (rom the !eginning that the novel is only a recreation o( the true events, and later e,*lains )hy some the character's actions )ould not !e seen as correct or even *ossi!le during this time. Since Ramirez -no)s and is a)are that /lvarez's *ur*ose )as not to create a non-(ictional !iogra*hy, she analyzes her )oradmiringly and encourages the reader to learn more a!out historic *olitical events, such as this dictatorshi*.

Snodgrass, 0ary 7llen. "/lvarez, .ulia." Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. $%1&.

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The !rie( !iogra*hy o( .ulia /lvarez, !y Snodgrass, creates a )indo) into /lvarez9s li(e. The readers can get a sense o( .ulia's ins*irations once they -no) more a!out her o)n li(e and e,*eriences. Snodgrass in(orms the readers a!out /lvarez's origins and ho) she uses it as a tool in her )riting. 0ost o( /lvarez's )riting has a Dominican Re*u!lic !ac-ground )hich (ocuses on +is*anic (eminism, )hich is one o( the main themes in her )riting.

Snodgrass *rovides in(ormation a!out .ulia /lvarez's li(e and ho) she uses her -no)ledge

Ruiz : a!out her country to recreate the lives o( the 0ira!al sisters. She creates a (ictional character, Ded;, )hich she *ro!a!ly uses to *lace hersel( in the story. Since .ulia has three sisters o( her o)n, she can imagine and relate to the 0ira!al (amily, through Ded;. /lvarez *rovides a ne) *ers*ective into the true story o( the heroic 0ira!al sisters using her individual e,*eriences )ith her o)n sisters.

erloc-, /!!y +. 4., 7d. "/lvarez, .ulia." Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. $%1&.

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The author o( this article, /!!y

erloc-, created a !iogra*hy a!out .ulia /lvarez's li(e and erloc-'s research on

mainly )riting career, )hich is )hat she is (amous (or. /ccording to

/lvarez, she )as !orn in the Dominican Re*u!lic, )here some o( her novels ta-e *lace, !ut moved to the <nited States )ith her (amily at a young age already -no)ing she )anted to !e a )riter. erloc- (ocuses on /lvarez's )or- and )hat motivated and ins*ired her to )rite.

6earning a!out the author o( a novel li-e In the Time of the Butterflies, through

erloc-'s

article, allo)s the reader to ma-e connections and to realize ho) the author managed to create such realistic characters and !uild their relationshi*s. erloc- states that /lvarez has

three sisters, and i( the reader thin-s dee*er into the novel, they )ill realize that /lvarez must have used her o)n e,*eriences )ith her sisters to create the relationshi*s !et)een the 0ira!al sisters, in her novel. That is only one e,am*le )here /lvarez uses her e,*eriences as an advantage to connect to her characters in order ma-e them more earthy and realistic.