In the Time of the Butterflies: Part 2

by Julia Alvarez
Based on the historical Mirabal sisters, this is a fictionalized account of why and how they decide to fight dictator Rafael Trujillo's oppressive regime in the Dominican Republic.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Epilogue
15 words 1185 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. sanction
    give authority or permission to
    What an embarrassment in her own backyard, as if she, Dedé, had sanctioned all this.
  2. doting
    extravagantly or foolishly loving and indulgent
    But who could control Jaimito, only son of his doting mother, unquestioned boss of his five sisters!
  3. subversive
    a radical supporter of political or social revolution
    She didn’t really know Lío was a communist, a subversive, all the other awful things the editorial had called him. She had never known an enemy of state before.
  4. reticence
    the trait of being uncommunicative
    She put off her sister’s reticence to that independent streak of hers.
  5. depose
    force to leave an office
    First, we mean to depose the dictator in this and this way.
  6. illicit
    contrary to or forbidden by law
    But they did want to know if he had ever offered me any kind of illicit materials.
  7. chastise
    scold or criticize severely
    “Ay, Jaimito!” Dedé chastised him for suggesting such a thing about her sister.
  8. ambivalence
    mixed feelings or emotions
    I forgot my earlier ambivalence, and I blamed Papá for everything: his young woman, his hurting Mamá, his cooping me up while he went gallivanting around.
  9. vehemence
    intensity or forcefulness of expression
    “Ay, Jefe, no," I plead with him. “Ours is the first university in the New World. It would be such a blow to the country!”
    He seems surprised by my vehemence.
  10. peruse
    examine or consider with attention and in detail
    The general picks up a page from the folder and peruses it.
  11. salient
    conspicuous, prominent, or important
    In the offices around him, official readers go through thick reports, boiling the information down to the salient paragraph.
  12. fatalistic
    accepting that everything that happens is inevitable
    We sit silently, listening to the rain on the thatched roof, a numb, damp, fatalistic feeling among us. Something has started none of us can stop.
  13. adamant
    impervious to pleas, persuasion, requests, or reason
    Also Jaimito had grown adamant — he didn’t want Dedé involved in whatever trouble Minerva and the others were cooking up.
  14. temporal
    characteristic of this world rather than the spiritual world
    The church, refusing as it did to get involved in temporal matters, remained the only sanctuary.
  15. patrimony
    an inheritance coming by right of birth
    His first born did not want this patrimony. Nelson had already put in his application for the university in the fall.
Created on Tue Nov 26 23:21:16 EST 2013 (updated Thu Jul 31 14:59:58 EDT 2025)

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